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If you're on a multi pitch route and you decide to abandon the climb and retreat(say the weather has turned unexpectedly). What is the minimum amount of gear you should leave behind as a rope anchor to effect a successful and safe retreat (abseil)?
Could cord be used as a sling over a sturdy flake or would you need to leave behind proper slings (nylon or dyneema), nuts or worse yet expensive camming devices?
The answer in my mind is simple and straight forward. Leave the minimum amount of gear required to make a good/acceptable anchor everytime. What that looks like will depend on the situation at hand.
In some cases this will be two carabiners and a sling, in others it will be three big cams and a cordelette. If you're lucky then it might be nothing due to a convenient string of rappel stations. If you're really unlucky you have to improvise an anchor out of materials on hand, and pray like hell.
If you're really worried about losing a couple of cams because they're expensive to replace, remember that just because you retreat today it doesn't mean you can't come back. I've had to retreat off of a route before due to poor planning, inexperience, youthful arrogance, and a rapidly descending sun. We left a few cams and a fixed rope on the route. I couldn't afford to lose that gear so you bet your butt we were at the base of the route at the crack of dawn the next day. It took us most of the day but we recovered all the gear.
The moral of the story is:
You leave behind gear sufficient to create a rappel anchor that is strong enough for any conceivable load that may be placed upon it. This is no different from any other properly constructed rappel anchor, the specifics of which vary with the placement and circumstance.
The only situation I can conceive that one would have to violate this rule is in a true emergency where you lack sufficient gear to safely complete the rappel, yet if you remain you have greater risk of death by exposure, fire, etc. Since you are asking about "nuts or worse yet expensive camming devices" this does not appear to be the case you are inquiring about. You value your life more than your SLCDs I hope.
The fact that you are asking this question leads me to believe that you are not sufficiently experienced with building anchors. Also, "Could cord be used as a sling ...?" leads me to believe you are not even familiar with the capability of your gear, and/or you do not know how to use it properly. Please seek professional instruction from a properly certified guide if you have any doubt.
My philosophy when bailing from routes is to first try and escape to an easier route. If that fails try and down climb/down lead. If all else fails, rappel off a single bomber piece. Ideally the single piece is a bolt or natural feature, but if not a nut. I have never left a cam.
My basic setup is as follows. Identify both a bomber placement and a second 2 or 3 piece anchor. All, but the lightest climber (possibly most experienced climber) rappel directly off the single piece, but backed up by the remaining anchor. The lightest climber cleans the backup anchor and then rappels gently on the single piece.
While you can argue that a life is worth more than a pair of cams, a bomber placement is designed to hold may times more force than body weight. By testing the piece while backed up, the risk of poor rock or misjudging the placement is drastically reduced.
