Abalakov anchors (or V Threads) are used by ice climbers for rappelling on steep, smooth ice. If constructed properly they can be amazingly strong and very quick and easy to build. To that end I felt I needed to practice and I didn’t want to wait until I got out to the mountains so a few weeks ago I got the idea to freeze a large block of ice in my backyard and practice building v-threads. Here’s the result.

I think they key is to find a large bucket or one that is rectangular in shape. My block took several days to freeze but it took a really cold span of a few days before it was frozen all the way through so don’t expect anything overnight.

Next you want to clean the ice like any good ice climber and place your first screw. I’m using a 22cm screw.

Leaving the first screw in I start the second screw to complete the holes which will make up my v-thread.

Next I take my 6mm accessory cord and place it in one hole and use a v-thread tool to fish it out there other end.

Once I get the other end out I tie off the end using double or triple fisherman knots and I’m ready to rappel.

I have admit it’s a lot easier than it looks. Granted I’m not hanging on a steep pitch of grade 5 waterfall ice but I was surprised how easy you can make the holes line up, even when I thought I had blown it the first time.

The beauty of this test block of ice is that I can build several anchors before having to refreeze the block. I just filled in the holes with water and we’ll see how it goes and whether I can reuse this block for practice. Stay tuned.