The field of the invention is miscellaneous supports and the present invention is particularly concerned with retrieving a climbing aid.
The state of the art of climbing aids may be ascertained by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,657, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In the sport of mountain climbing it is common practice to secure the climbers together by a rope and to anchor the rope on the face of rock walls being climbed. It is known to use natural anchors such as rock spikes, flakes, and chockstones jammed in rocks. Artificial anchors such as bolts and pitons are also known to be used as firm anchors for climbing ropes.
The climbing aid of U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,657, was introduced as an artificial anchor for use in smooth sided and parallel sided cracks where it is difficult to use chockstones, bolts and pitons.
One problem experienced with the use of the climbing aid of U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,657 is that it becomes lodged in a smooth sided crack and cannot be retrieved. This results in the loss of a valuable climbing aid.