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How do you handle a stuck rope on rappel?

Original Post
Ryan Dirks · · Washington D.C. · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 5

I'm beginning to dabble in multipitch and/or trad climbing and have been wondering for a while what people do when they get a rope stuck during the descent. Assuming you're still a ways off the deck and there is nobody around to help out, do you either solo or jumar up the rope, unstick it, and build a bail anchor at that point?

Anyway, it got me thinking about a way to do this that offered some degree of protection. Here is the hypothetical situation: You and your partner are anchored at a belay ledge, you pull the rope and it gets stuck halfway up, and it is really stuck. It is getting dark and cold, and nobody else is likely to be coming down today. There is a protectable crack running up to where the rope is stuck, but it is not something you feel comfortable soloing. So this is what you do:

1. You prusik yourself to the stuck rope, and your partner puts you "on belay" below that point.
2. You climb up the crack, or ascend the rope, putting in occasional pieces below your prusik knot.
3. Repeat until you reach the stuck rope, where you either build a bail anchor or downclimb (you could tie in and you'd still be protected by the gear below).

In this situation, if the rope pulls while you are ascending, your fall should be caught by your prusik and the last piece of gear placed. Your partner can also give you a more dynamic belay than if you had simply tied off the rope to the anchor.

I'm guessing that this is a total noob question and there is a better way, but I've never seen one discussed. What would you do in this situation?

Abram Herman · · Grand Junction, CO · Joined May 2009 · Points: 20

I would not trust a prussik to catch a fall at all, they're really not intended for dynamic loading situations like that. Would probably just melt the prussik and/or rope.

In the situation you mentioned, I would lead up using as much rope as you have available to you (what's already pulled through). You could even ascend the fixed rope while being lead belayed on the free end of the same rope. That's my initial idea, at least... These hypothetical situations are really hard to talk about, as there are *so* many factors that will affect your decisions about the best way to proceed. The best thing is to know a *ton* of systems, and be able to apply them in new and creative ways. Learn how to rope solo, ascend a rope, aid climb, etc., etc. Learn as many hitches and knots as you can (just the ones that are actually useful for climbing, of course), and know what they're good for and how they can be used.

bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065
Abram Herman wrote:I would not trust a prussik to catch a fall at all, they're really not intended for dynamic loading situations like that. Would probably just melt the prussik and/or rope.
petzl documentation

;)
Mark R · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
bearbreeder wrote: ;)
Interesting that they used a 7mm prusik on a 9.7mm rope, seems to justttt violate the 3mm difference rule. Do you think the 7mm is required to hold the fall or would you go with a 6mm for better grip?
Larry S · · Easton, PA · Joined May 2010 · Points: 872

I was just going to suggest what Thomas said above me. If it's dire and you have a decent chunk of the rope and gear to make bail anchors, cut the rope and go with it.

If getting the rope back SAFELY is your goal, and time is on your side, I would not just start jugging the rope, it could go or be cut any time. You could improvise a lead-solo system to protect you while jugging the rope, or you could try and use what rope you have to lead back up (assuming it's climbable / aid-able), possibly making intermediate anchors to bring your partner up higher, freeing up more lead rope to get you to where it's stuck.

Abram Herman · · Grand Junction, CO · Joined May 2009 · Points: 20

Still wouldn't want to trust it, Bearbreeder. ;-) In that diagram the prussik is a last-resort failsafe, not the primary means of protection. Of course, I'd use it if I didn't have any other choice, but again, I wouldn't trust it.

Abram Herman · · Grand Junction, CO · Joined May 2009 · Points: 20
Larry S wrote: possibly making intermediate anchors to bring your partner up higher, freeing up more lead rope to get you to where it's stuck.
That's an interesting idea. Could be useful in some situations.
Larry S · · Easton, PA · Joined May 2010 · Points: 872

If you don't trust the prussik to catch a lead fall, you can just tie in and drop knots at intervals. The rope isn't running (the end you have should be tied to the anchor/your partner), but you should always have a bit of slack to work with. It's slower, but has the same affect. This is what i meant by "improvise a lead solo system". This wont' work if it's overhanging (you wont' be able to place pro), and it's possible you could end up in a pickle hanging on the middle of a rope that's fixed on both ends, so be prepared to get yourself out of that too.

bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065
MarktheCPA wrote: Interesting that they used a 7mm prusik on a 9.7mm rope, seems to justttt violate the 3mm difference rule. Do you think the 7mm is required to hold the fall or would you go with a 6mm for better grip?
i think 6mm is a bit thin strength wise for a lead fall

you could always use more wraps if youre worried ... or two prussiks ...

at a certain point yr right that the prussik wont hold well if the diameter difference is minimal

if the climb is moderate you can always lead up with a moving clove hitch, especially if you can aid it

;)
Larry S · · Easton, PA · Joined May 2010 · Points: 872
bearbreeder wrote: i think 6mm is a bit thin strength wise for a lead fall you could always use more wraps if youre worried ... or two prussiks ... at a certain point yr right that the prussik wont hold well if the diameter difference is minimal if the climb is moderate you can always lead up with a moving clove hitch, especially if you can aid it ;)
My (rarely used anymore) hexes are threaded with 6mm cord, and i trust those to hold a lead fall, and in that situation it's holding almost twice what that prussik must hold. I still don't like the idea of trusting a prussik on a lead fall though. Not so much that it will break, but it will slip and melt.
bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065
D.Buffum wrote:If you did a double-strand rappel (i.e. did not use a tag line), then you have enough rope sitting at your feet to lead back up to where the other end is stuck.
unless it was a diagonal rappel ... or something similar ...

;)
Russ Keane · · Salt Lake · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 392

"You and your partner are anchored at a belay ledge, you pull the rope and it gets stuck halfway up, and it is really stuck."

Wait, I'm confused. You are going down multi-rappel, and you are pulling the rope back down from the previous station? And it gets stuck?

You probably can't see where/how it is stuck, right? Certainly you can't start climbing or ascending on that rope. It could just be precariously caught on a little lip or something.

I see why this is tricky..

Ed Wright · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2006 · Points: 285

How? Very carefully.

Ryan Dirks · · Washington D.C. · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 5

I didn't think about the fact that even if your rope gets stuck at the anchor it is pulled from, you'll still have half a rope length to protect you while you climb up and free it. So it seems the best option is to lead back to where the rope is stuck, belayed by the other end of the rope. Next option would be cutting it and doing short rappels. But since the rap routes are usually different than the climbing route, there is always the chance you will be stuck below something you can't climb / aid past. Maybe what I described above could be a solution of last resort in that scenario...

Other examples of personal experience are always good to hear!

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330
bearbreeder wrote: unless it was a diagonal rappel ... or something similar ... ;)
Or you cannot lead the terrain you just rappelled.
Daniel Winder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 101
csproul wrote: Or you cannot lead the terrain you just rappelled.
Hope you brought a bolt kit then. If the area is remote and no other parties will be coming your way before you're out of water, then jumaring back up the line may be the only option.
Ryan Coulter · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2012 · Points: 5

This happened to me a few weeks back. Setting up the last rap out of 3 and when we pulled the rope it got stuck half way back up the wall. There was no way we were ascending a rope that was just stuck in a crack or something so one of us started leading back up and the other one clipped in when we ran out of rope. Then we simulclimbed the rest of the way and got the rope unstuck and ascended to the anchor and rapped back down. this method is assuming your partner most likely wont fall while simulclimbing.

climber57 Jones · · Saint John, NB · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 60
rgold · · Poughkeepsie, NY · Joined Feb 2008 · Points: 526

If there is a possibility of placing protection periodically on a line that ascends to the rappel point, then the "inchworm" technique allows a climber to do this with a belay from below, even though the amount of rope available is limited. The price paid is that the leader in this situation will periodically have to change his or her tie-in point.

Here's what you do.

1. Move the belayer as high as possible and pull down all the slack. The leader clips in (two lockers gates reversed) to a figure-eight on bight---the rope from the leader's knot to the stuck point above is nearly taut; the belayer has control of all the available slack.

2. The leader leads and places pro normally. As this happens, the belayer is paying out slack and a loop of slack is also forming in front of the leader. Sometime before all the slack has been used up, the leader stops (possibly hanging from pro), ties a new figure-eight in the rope in front of him or her so that the rope from the knot to the stuck point has no slack in it, clips in to the new figure eight and unclips the old one and unties it, thereby releasing below the slack that had accumulated in the rope above. The belayer hastily reels in the newly created slack and the leader sets off again.

3. Repeat step 2 as many times as necessary.

Of course the leader can also be running a prusik on the stuck rope and can be prussiking on the stuck rope for some or all of the time rather than climbing the rock. If four carabiners (preferably lockers) are available for the leader, then the knot transfer can be done without having to remove the old knot from the same biners the new knot has been clipped to.

The technique is increasing efficient the more slack is initially available, i.e. the more rope had been pulled down before it got stuck. If the rappel hung with not much rope pulled down, then the leader will have to stop and retie frequently. However, this only has to be done until the other end can be reached; after that the leader can safely prussik on both strands.

JeffL · · Salt Lake City · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 65

Prevent the situation from happening. I used to be very creative about getting ropes unstuck. Now I just do everything in my power to minimize the chance of sticking the rope in the first place. Every rap station I leave I look for things that might get the rope stuck. I always choose to pull the side that won't cause the rope to get stuck, and the possibility is always on my mind when I've only got 1 rope. sometimes I pull hard, but usually I just pull slow and evenly.

Ian Cavanaugh · · Ketchum, ID · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 620

I have been in this situation several times. one we knew we were in a long rappel situation and required a second rope. We brought a 8mm half rope. when our lead rope became stuck we lead back up on the half rope while constantly pulling hard on the lead line which was through a gri gri. 3/4 the way up the pitch the lead line broke free, the leader took a big fall on the half rope but all was ok. back cleaned (down climbed) the pitch and continued with no other problems.
another time, also on two rope rappel, we got a couple of us on a gri gri and pulled the rope with all our weight. the gri gri was on an anchor and pulled with a prussik. this worked well enough to get one rope down to the point where we could untie the two ropes. then we lead back up and freed the other line. This was on soft sandstone. the rope had found a groove and kept grinding till it was stuck.
I have also lead back up a pitch on the left over rope in order to retrieve a single line.
every situation is different and requires a wealth of knowledge of equipment and imagination on how to use what you have to create the best possible scenario. a good option would be to lead up as high as you can while trying to pull the rest our. once the end of your free line is reached either do what you can to free the line or fix and anchor and cut the rope. I would never simply jug or prussik up a rope. In many situations the rope that was stuck was simply a twist in the cord or a simple pinch between rock. that is the last situation i would want to be on with no gear back up. putting in gear along the way would be the best bet. these situations are never fun but a fact of life, learn to get creative and always stay calm and think things through. never make a rash decision and enjoy the adventure!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Trad Climbing
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