How do you ascend double ropes?

Let's say I'm rappelling on double ropes into the unknown. How do I ascend back up if I need to? (Assume I have the standard aid gear on me: 2 ascenders, aiders, etc).

Ascend the rope you're not going to be pulling.

prusiks around both works too

use an atc guide, reverso or another plaquette device to rappel. They can easily be switched into "guide" mode mid rappel which will function as an ascender. Then throw on a foot prussik and you have your ascending mechanism.

Brent Butler wrote: use an atc guide, reverso or another plaquette device to rappel. They can easily be switched into "guide" mode mid rappel which will function as an ascender. Then throw on a foot prussik and you have your ascending mechanism.

This only works if you are rappeling on the toothed high friction side of the device.

A prussik around both ropes works. As for ascending the rope you aren't going to pull, that will work but use caution. Check out the petzl website on how to use a grigri on one strand for a double rope rappel to see the setup. If you just rely on the knot not slipping through the rings or links you are taking chance.

Brent Butler wrote: use an atc guide, reverso or another plaquette device to rappel. They can easily be switched into "guide" mode mid rappel which will function as an ascender. Then throw on a foot prussik and you have your ascending mechanism.

+1

Eli shows it here with 1 rope, but it can easily be done with 2 ropes (with a prussik around both ropes as Brent mentioned, versus the Tibloc shown in the video):
climbinglife.com/rope-rescu…

"use an atc guide, reverso or another plaquette device to rappel. They can easily be switched into "guide" mode mid rappel which will function as an ascender"

How do you mean?

I would put a prussik around the two strands above the atc with a foot sling and switch weighting the atc, then prussik....etc.

Is this what you are referring to as "guide" mode, or is there another sweet way to use the atc-guide for ascending that I am un-aware of! Thanks.

-Brett

EDIT: I just watched the video on the post before mine,,, got it!!!

Kenan wrote: +1 Eli shows it here with 1 rope, but it can easily be done with 2 ropes (with a prussik around both ropes as Brent mentioned, versus the Tibloc shown in the video): climbinglife.com/rope-rescu…

Thanks for posting the link to this video. I've used an ATC Guide for a while now and love it, but just learned something new.

There are a number of options, the easiest being prussiks. Do not use ascenders on half or twin ropes, they are too thin! Ascending a single 8 or 7mm rope with a toothed ascender is very risky to say the least.

The easiest answer has been stated above: 1 prusik around both with a foot loop on top and your ATC Guide, Petzl Reverso, etc rigged in autoblock mode.

IF... your rappel device is the regular atc tube and not the guide then you can use the prusik as the top one and a garda hitch (AKA carabiner clutch) as the bottom one. A carabiner clutch is rigged with two biners and you should look it up as a picture is worth a thousand words. The carabiner clutch is the old school progress capture device used for big wall hauling before wall haulers and traxions.

Thanks for the ideas everybody. To summarize what I'm hearing:

Ascending the single strand you're not going to pull is fine as long as you trust that the knot cannot possibly get pulled through or you have closed the system as recommended by Petzl when rappelling double ropes with a Grigri.

The other option is to attach a prussik to both strands with a foot loop and use your ATC-Guide or Reverso in auto-blocking mode (or a garda-hitch).

Would there be any reason not to use an ascender on each strand to substitute for the prussik? Just slide them up in unison.

Cruxic wrote: Would there be any reason not to use an ascender on each strand to substitute for the prussik? Just slide them up in unison.

According to physics this would work but you would need 4 ascenders then because that would mean a pair for each attachment which in this case includes a set for each. Unless you used a pair of ascenders for one set and the prussik around both ropes for the other. I am sure someone has tried it but I can't imagine using this at all. It sounds sketchy and confusing. The other thing to remember is that simplicity is almost always better. If your seriously ascending ropes up a wall, you need to be ready to transition to a descend method as well.

Cruxic wrote:Thanks for the ideas everybody. To summarize what I'm hearing: Ascending the single strand you're not going to pull is fine as long as you trust that the knot cannot possibly get pulled through or you have closed the system as recommended by Petzl when rappelling double ropes with a Grigri.

Since you said "or" I am not sure if you mean that either is an option but I would always use a closed system when rapping on one rope tied to another. Relying on a knot holding your weight against the rings is taking a significant and easily avoided risk. I don't know where but there is a story about someone who did that and after hearing a pop fell a few hundred feet to the ground.

I believe this incident was because he was swinging around a lot, but sometimes this is needed. Rap anchors aren't always where you expect them. Sometimes you need to reascend a rope. Adding a knot and a carabiner is worth it when rapping on one strand

For single rope rappels look up Reepschnur:

rockandice.com/articles/how…

Cruxic wrote:Would there be any reason not to use an ascender on each strand to substitute for the prussik? Just slide them up in unison.

chris7 wrote: According to physics this would work but you would need 4 ascenders...

No. If you were using the ATC guide mode method, you could use a pair of ascenders in unison above the ATC guide instead of a prussik. You're probably still better off just using the prussik though.

Vaughne wrote: No. If you were using the ATC guide mode method, you could use a pair of ascenders in unison above the ATC guide instead of a prussik. You're probably still better off just using the prussik though.

Yes, this is what I had in mind - not 4 ascenders. However, I'll take your advice and plan on using a prussik instead.

I just hand-over-hand it

i have had to do this before and i had ascenders on me, i just put both my jugs on the non-pulling side of the rope and my cinch as a backup on the other strand so if the knot did pull through i had a backup.

however the autoblock idea would work really well too

If you use the guide as an ascender also know how to get out of 'guide' mode if you have to descend again mid route while hanging (unable to unweighted rope) just sayin

Vaughne wrote: No. If you were using the ATC guide mode method, you could use a pair of ascenders in unison above the ATC guide instead of a prussik. You're probably still better off just using the prussik though.

I said exactly that if you would have read my entire post