Rescue
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Just curious for the climbers out there that do multi pith, how much self rescue do you know? What do you feel are some required skills to know before multi pitching? What about multi pitching with beginners? |
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Know how to escape the belay. Get to immobilized climber and perform a tandem rappel for starters. |
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+1 jake ^^^^^ personally I do practice all of what he listed on a regular basis, more in part of teaching newbies than keeping myself proficient. I think there is a huge gap in climbing training where the self rescue is talked about but rarely taught to newbies and thats why I make a point to teach it to any new climbers I run with. I have a local crag with a 100'+ near vertical 5.5 and chains on top that I find best for practicing and teaching the tech about such, very controlled to prevent the lesson from becoming a real rescue. |
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I would echo what Jake said. Here's my priority list based on the possible scenarios: |
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i think that a lot of climbers talk big about self rescue and insist they can do it ... but they dont go and practice it enough and in a real world situation, theyll have real issues ... the reality is that if yr a in popular area and yr climber is really hurt, yr calling 911 if you can ... get the EMTs on the scene as soon as possible and dont risk further injuries to the climbers because of a "self rescue" ego thing ... if you are in a more remote area ... both of you should know enough and be experienced ... and honestly a PLB is not a bad investment at that point the best thing to do of course is avoid getting in a rescue situation ... |
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I recommend starting with the basics that you are most likely to use. Escaping a belay is good to know but I have never had to use that skill in 12 years of multipitch climbing. I recommend starting with the things you are more likely to encounter: |
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Excellent. Thanks for all te responses. I was asking because its kind of scary when a new climber asks why they need to know to multi pitch and these skills aren't even mentioned. |
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+1 for practice. |
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Jake Jones wrote:+1 to both bear and Eric. That's a good book, and I go through it every couple months or so when I get bored. You're right too bear. I think a lot of people thumb through shit, look at it and think "ok, that seems simple enough" and never really get out and practice it. As with anything else, you get your gear out and practice and find out that once practical application starts, it's not all that simple and to be proficient, you have to do it over and over again. Add to that the stress of shitting a meat axe when something goes horribly wrong, and you have yourself a grade A nightmare on your hands. The two most common I've seen are stuck ropes, and dropped belay devices- not really the stuff of nightmares, but if you're not prepared to handle the situation, it can be bad. I have been involved in a rescue where a friend broke his ankle pretty badly. Thankfully, he was able to be lowered and stabilized. We were in a pretty remote location with a three hour approach with low fifth class sections. He ended up being plucked off by a helo, but we had a raising system and gear-anchored tethers at the top ready in case the helo couldn't get to him. I'm glad it did. I was dreading that raise and the litter trip back down the mountain. Needless to say, I spent the next couple of weeks brushing up on self rescue, and my buddy ended up buying me and the other guy climbing with us Mini Traxions for administering first aid and freezing our asses off all night with him. Here's a link to the story if anyone's interested. The comments are somewhat entertaining.Damn! I was curious where this was and didn't realize it was right next to home for me! Yeah, bringing someone down Old Rag in a litter would be awful, I don't even want to think about it. Props for staying and helping to get him down. |
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I love listening to other people explain how to escape a belay - they make it way too complicated. I have read that red self rescue book, it is pretty good. However, the author spends three pages just showing you how to escape the belay with some complicated 15 step method. Escaping the belay, especially with a locking belay device, really is not that hard and it can be accomplished in only a few steps. |
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know a ton. |
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Just buy a SPOT. |
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20 kN wrote:I love listening to other people explain how to escape a belay - they make it way too complicated. I have read that red self rescue book, it is pretty good. However, the author spends three pages just showing you how to escape the belay with some complicated 15 step method. Escaping the belay, especially with a locking belay device, really is not that hard and it can be accomplished in only a few steps.Then uncomplicated it for us. I'd love to hear your explanation on escaping a belay. Supra |
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I've seen at least 2 reputable climbing movies where the belayer cuts the rope and it worked out ok for some of the folks. |
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Munther mule overhand =MMO |