Have you heard of the anti-cam? + cool video

[squamish climber]

Came across this web climbing video project called The Seasonsand I thought I'd share because Episode 6 released last week features Squamish local Matt Maddaloni.

The Seasons is a 22 episode web television project that follows five athletes from BC and Washington through a season. Episode 7 profiles Matt Maddaloni and his goal to climb Up from the Skies free. Matt makes an experimental piece of climbing gear called the anti cam to protect a massive hollow flake.

Here are some stills from the video

Matt deep water soloing


Matts Anti-cam


On the rack

[erock]

It's a pretty creative idea! Must be scary as hell to fall on.

Seriously though, no one else is going to free climb it again unless it gets a bolt. Not too many people are making their own "anti-cams". Still, I like how the route stays in the same condition as it was as an aid climb. Actually that makes me wonder: When you climb it on aid is it just body weight cam placements in the expando?

mmmm Seasons...

[Dru]

I know there was a guy from Bellingham who was making something similar - a spring loaded flake pincher - and I believe even applied for a US patent for it about 6-7 years ago.

[Optimally-Primed]

I made an anticam (actually 3 different prototypes), with Jay Burbee, during my undergrad degree as a project. That was 2002 (8 years ago). That said I got the idea from John, who had come up with it with Matt. If you google "anticam climbing", we are the first hit (we won first prize in the senior engineering physics project for it).

[squamish climber]

I guess the idea isn't new. Do you still have the proto-types Jeremy? A cool idea with a very specific use. How well do they work?

Does anybody know if Matt made completed a free ascent of Up from the Skies?

[Optimally-Primed]

I do still have our third prototype (the other two were reduced to scrap... test to failure). How well do they work? Depends on what you want them to do. Matt's flake is the easiest sort of thing to pinch because it has a big space behind it. Flakes with narrower spaces between them and the wall pose a greater problem. The failure mechanism is complex; it took us several pages and a lot of physics to explain it. Bu the bottom line is that if space behind the flake is a concern, then failure occurs by slipping and the materials of the frame are critical. Ours held 900 lbs when it slipped off. But again, it all depends on the flake.

[matt maddaloni]

Hi guys. John Millar and I came up with the idea of the Anticam about 10 years ago.

Jeremy Frimer and Jay Burbee did a project on it in school. Their machine very did well but it wasn't highly expandable or allowed for one handed operation. It was these two very specific problems that stumped me for those 10 years until recently.

The Guillotine Flake has never been aided or freed because cams will make the flake break off, even body weight!!! but it is such an obvious trad climb feature... there had to be something that would allow one to protect it without bolting... Voila, solutions to an engineering problem and a place to test the ideas, so the game began.

Now hopefully time for the first ascent... we'll see. Stay tuned on the Season to see the finish to this story. Cheers.
mm

[squamish climber]

Matt,

Thanks for dropping by. The anti-cam sounds very cool. I'd like to hear more about Guillotine Flake and it's history. Has this route been climbed before? And it would be great to see some pictures of the anti-cam and the of the flake.

Good luck!

Dave Jones

[Brendan]

Has this route been climbed before?

The Guillotine Flake has never been aided or freed...