Tying the ends of the rope to your harness while rappeling...

bearbreeder wrote: twisted ropes easily lead to stuck ropes there was a recent fatal accident where a party got a rope stuck and had to reascent ... the leader fell and blew the anchor apart having to reascend a rappel only line (not the climb) can be quite dangerous

How so? (Ascending a rap) The ascending itself, or the possibility of fu's? I was taught how to ascend (with purcells) maybe even before belaying, so always interested in sucking up more info. Throw me towards a different thread, if more appropriate! Thanks, bearbreeder and company!

He doesn't mean ascending the rappel rope, he means ascending the line of the rappel (when the rappel ropes hang after coming free of the anchor). The rap line might not be down the climbing route and might be hard (or impossible) and if doable then poorly protected.

If the rappel ropes won't budge, you can ascend them using any number of knots and/or gadgets. There is still considerable potential danger, not from falling, but from the time it takes and the position that puts the party in later on.

If things hang up once an end is out of reach or when the ropes have come free of the anchor, ascending the rappel rope is almost always going to be way too dangerous an option to consider, and then the party will have to somehow and somewhere climb back up to get their ropes, or else continue down, leaving a rope or part of a rope behind.

Thanks!

weston bierma wrote:Jordan thanks for the input. To clarify the most common way we have been doing this is tying the ends off and then throwing the remaining rope coil as you normally would. This way tying the knot/clove to your harness is really the only added step.

On multi-pitch rappels you would still need to pull up 200+ft of rope every time in order to tie off the end of the rope that pulled through the anchor on the previous rap.

I will sometimes tie off the ends of the rope, or even multiple bites of rope if I am rapping down a route with parties below me (so I don't throw the ropes on top of them) or if it is super windy (so the ropes don't get blown way around a corner or something). But in general I don't use any type of backup when rappelling, I just pay attention to the amount of rope below me and treat it like I would any free solo.

I do like to go first and fix the ropes at the next anchor for my partner's safety.

good thread.

i've tried a few of the ideas here. +1 for the rope kinking when you tie it to your harness and rap. saddlebagging seems like it would work, the only times i've tried it i've managed to stack it like shit....so it worked about that well for me.

the two that have been the most successful for me in high wind situations are:
a- with a backpack, tie stopper knots on ends and stuff in backpack, hang backpack from a shoulder length sling from harness and feed out rope as you rap.
b- no backpack, biner block rope, lower your partner to next rap station, tie the pull side of your biner block to your harness and rap. if the rap is a little longer than your rope, you can then extend your pull line with slings/cord/what have you.

Bryan G:

Only the leader would tie off the rope, those following would rap as normal. Plus you don't have to pull it up since you just toss it tied. I will have to see if it my rope eventually becomes to twirled or kinky to continue this.

kennoyce wrote: Maybe in the UK, but on this side of the pond, most raps are a full rope length so twisting can be a pretty annoying issue.

As I said in my post, as soon as twists start, jettison the ropes off the harness. I have found this normally only happens near the end of rap (slabs might be different), once one has located the next set of chains.