Unplanned Ascending of a Rope

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You can use a kleimheist with a sling rather than a tibloc ... And a grigri, or any other autoblocking device instead of the reverso

;)

So after you've ascended to where you want to start climbing again, what is the sequence you and your belayer use to get you off that setup and remove all the slack in the rope that you created?

Hubert Cumberdale wrote:So after you've ascended to where you want to start climbing again, what is the sequence you and your belayer use to get you off that setup and remove all the slack in the rope that you created?

Clip in short to a bolt or bomber piece

Take off the ascension rig

Belayer takes in the slack

If u have a grigri you can feed the rope up while the belayer takes in the slack then take it off when most of the slack is out

If the piece aint bomber there are other ways but it gets more complex

;)

SlowTrad wrote:Palisade Head has an escape route that goes at 5.6, two full grades easier than the next easiest route. If they can't make that climb they shouldn't be climbing there. Shovel point is different, since a lower off would involve swimming. But they are all slab routes that a little tension on the rope would assist in completing the climb(with the exception of Gold Plated a 5.10+ overhanging stemming route). My very first climb out doors was a route called "Danger High Voltage" at Palisade Head, a 5.8 that I struggled mightily with at the wide-ish detached pillar at the bottom...it was a character building moment. I think if someone would have hauled me out, that would have been the end of my climbing career...DON'T DO IT. A better option would be to have a more experienced climber rap down to the stranded n00b and talk them through it, maybe show them some technique? Seriously, I have never seen anyone in 20 years get hauled out of the North Shore. Maybe go to Area 13 or Wolf Lake if you can't make the climbs on the North Shore.

I think this is more of a piece of mind question than anything else. I've only been climbing a few years and I've taken some of my very casual climbing friends to Shovel Point a few times. No one has failed to get up a climb (maybe a few leaned on the rope), but they sure liked the piece of mind I could give them by saying that I had a back up plan for them to ascend the rappel line if need be. I'm not sure I could have convinced them to drop in if there wasn't a plan B.

Also, since they are still on a belay, my plan B be was simply to send them a shoulder length and double length (2ft and 4ft) nylon slings down the belay line on locking biners. Have them make the harness prussik out of the shoulder and the foot prussik out of the double. Although it's not the most ideal ascending system, it works well enough that they aren't scared of not spending a night on the rock face.

Tiblocs are the lightest micro ascenders out there and I always carry two on my rescue biner when I multi pitch along with a couple of prusics. They are the easiest lightweight device there is when ascending a single strand. I assume the routes aren't bolted, otherwise you can aid quite a bit with a single draw.

J Q wrote:The answer is: take off that stupid strap on your chalk bag and replace it with prussic chord. Now you can prussic when it's unplanned. Simple

Awesome idea!

Mark Hudon wrote: Awesome idea!

Thanks, but I wish it was a selfless one. I have always been scared of pulling off a rock and killing my belayer, so, as a human with rational self interest, this is the most effective way to live if you kill your belayer while sport climbing.

And of course they are using a gri-gri.

J Q wrote: ....this is the most effective way to live if you kill your belayer while sport climbing. And of course they are using a gri-gri.

Good point, hadn't thought of that.

You've got a second rope hanging next to you? Then you can get up pretty effectively with no equipment.

Tie an overhand loop in the free rope around thigh level. Put both feet in it and stand up, screaming "take!" at the belayer who yards in the rope with as much tension as possible. Take your feet out of the loop (you are now hanging at or near the higher level achieved by standing up in the overhand loop), untie it (or not if you are really pumped) and tie a new overhand loop at your new higher thigh level. Repeat until you can continue climbing or until you reach the top.

If your feet can take the pressure, you can forget the overhand loop and just wrap the hanging line around your feet four or five times and stand up on that. (You bring your knees to your chest and do the wrapping in that position so you get a good stand-up.) It will probably get painful if you have to repeat this many times, but if you only have to gain a ten feet or so to get out of trouble, this will work.

Try to get your feet as high as possible while still being able to stand up, because you will lose some ground to rope stretch. (If the hanging line is a static rope, so much the better.)

If there is a second person up there who can belay, then they can go on belay on the second rope and haul the original foot loop up every time you unweight it by hanging on the original belay line. This method goes pretty quickly.

All that said, ascending a rope with prussiks (or other friction knots) is a basic skill that all climbers need to be able to do.

Kyle, since you have two ropes and I assume the climbing is not overhanging, I would simply keep them on a direct belay and get them to batman up the fixed line with their feet on the rock as you belay them up. If their hands are soft, aid gloves will help.

This means that they can get over the hard bits but still enjoy the rest of the climb and don't need to know how to do anything or faff around clipping stuff on and off the rope.

J Q wrote:The answer is: take off that stupid strap on your chalk bag and replace it with prussic chord. Now you can prussic when it's unplanned. Simple

Bingo. Besides you get to feel like macgyver when you use it. Handy for replacing/ backing up raps too.

Kyle Robson wrote:Googling 2-1 drop loops isn't giving me much. Can anyone share a link?

Some good advice in this thread. My vote is carry some Prusiks or use the second line you rappelled on. But, since you asked about the drop loop method, here are some links:

Page 129 here: tinyurl.com/ldbw4p2
Page 72 here: tinyurl.com/me5cdgq

Get some training and/or practice in a safe place. I Googled "drop loop self rescue"