Top-roping creates the single greatest agent of wear on permanent anchors due to rope running through the anchors under tension. The rope, embedded with grains of grit in its sheath from contact with the rock, creates a type of file capable of wearing the steel rap points of the anchor. This shortens the life of the anchor and often requires new holes drilled. To prevent this, it is critical for climbers to top rope through their own equipment, with the last climber cleaning and rappelling. The safety inherent in the action of cleaning and rappelling is a matter of proper training. There are plenty of experienced local climbers that one may learn from, or qualified guiding services and college outdoor programs. Originally rappelling was learned right from the start, when learning to climb; there is no reason why this can’t still be the norm. We’d like to remind our readers that one of the single most important safety measures we have is communication. Climbers, always make sure your belayer knows exactly what you plan to do at the anchor, and how you plan to get down. Belayers, make sure you know your climber’s plans exactly. Over the past few years, several climbers have died because they planned on lowering while their belayers thought their climbers were rappelling. This is a 100% avoidable tragedy. We request a lead climber lower from their own gear to set up the top rope. Then, after top roping is finished, the climber can climb to the anchor and reset the rope through the fixed gear. At this point the climber has the option to lower or to rappel. Always double-checking (or more) your anchor and rappel set ups is absolutely key to mitigating the dangers that can possibly happen during climbing, lowering and rappelling. Rappelling saves further wear and tear on the permanent anchor, since the rope is static while under tension, and moves through the anchor only when no longer under tension. Therefore, it is always best to set personal gear for top-roping and rappel after cleaning when possible. One exception to this is when the anchor is equipped with Mussy hooks. Those are the big hooks that are quite thick and have a small, thin gate. Due to their thickness, they last much longer than rap rings or quick links. Most route developers that use them do so with the opinion that it is okay to top rope through them. That said, if you TR through your own gear and only have the last person lower through the hooks, you’ll be doing your part to extend the life of the anchor. If you come across removable gear on an anchor, it could be there because someone did not know how to otherwise safely lower, or had to bail. Or it could have been left by a route developer working their new line. This second point is similar to why you sometimes see carabiners clipped to chains that hang from the lead bolts (usually on harder, overhanging routes). Best practice here is to consider all removable gear on bolts, lead or anchor, to be permanent and therefore left in place, unless the gear is unsafe to use (tattered nylon etc. or metal that has been worn through too far). If the gear is unsafe, replace it if you can, or bring it to our attention for replacement. One last thought – if you are concerned with the wear and tear that top-roping would put on your personal gear, consider buying steel carabiners for your temporary anchor’s master points. They’re not that much more expensive, and last a lot longer than aluminum.