Mountain Project Logo

Leaving rope in the first draw

Original Post
Aleksei Potov · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 391

So, I stick clipped the first draw, climbed a route and being lowered. Is there a trick to leave the rope in the first draw when it's being pulled down, so my partner can climb with first bolt preclipped as well?
Even if I pull rope down slowly, weight of the rope just pulls it out of the first draw.
Thanks!

reboot · · . · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 125

Unclip the 2nd-4th draw as you are getting lowered...

Aleksei Potov · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 391
reboot wrote:Unclip the 2nd-4th draw as you are getting lowered...
doh, thanks! sounds so obvious now :)
M Sprague · · New England · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 5,090

Use your stick to pull a loop of rope down from above the first bolt, then pull the rest of the rope above down by hand.

Edward Medina · · Ridgway, CO · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 1,061

As you are being lowered you can grab the rope between bolts one and two and bring a bight down with you to the ground.

S. Neoh · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 35

If you are being lowered off a very steep route, you may not be able to reach the 2nd and third draw. In this case, use Mark's suggestion of a stick or stick-clip to get the rope above the 1st draw.

Abel Jones · · Bishop, CA · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 576

I witnessed a situation where clipping the rope between draws almost resulted in a ground fall. The 1st bolt was extremely high and the route was tall which resulted in all of the rope being used up with the climber still 15ft in the air. The belayer and onlookers caught the near mistake with an inch of rope still in the gri-gri. Some shenanigans followed in order to fix the situation. Using the other methods described would have prevented this.

slim · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2004 · Points: 1,103
Edward Medina wrote:As you are being lowered you can grab the rope between bolts one and two and bring a bight down with you to the ground.
i don't recommend this. i saw a person do this a while back, and when she was about 5 feet off the ground she lost the rope out of her hand. the resulting loop of slack dumped her on the ground. she didn't get hurt, luckily.

M sprague's suggestion works well.
drock3 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 13

instead of grabbing it, use a quickdraw to clip it to your belay loop.

But unclipping the 2-4th draws on your way down is probably the easier way.

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 35

Rock climbing is complicated!!

chuffnugget · · Bolder, CO · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 0

cheating is complicated.

doligo · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 264

^^^ you would think it wasn't, especially sport climbing. At least not enough to fill the book, but I borrowed Andrew Bisharat's book from the library and found it quite informative.

Wally · · Denver · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 0

This is called a "courtesy clip".

Peter Franzen · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,730

I just unclip the next few 'draws above the first before pulling the rope.

You don't get to impress the rest of the crag with your badass rodeo-clipping skills, but such is life.

Capt. Impatient · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 0

Couldn't you clip the chains, while lowering unclip all bolts but the last. At the first bolt clip into the bolt, tie an overhand knot that won't go through the biner, unclip your runner, lower to the ground. When you pull the rope the knot should keep the rope from pullin through the first draw then. Then pull the knot side down in tie the knot and reset the rope for the next climber. Looking back that's a lot of work just get good at stick clipping.

Boissal . · · Small Lake, UT · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 1,541

Re-using the stick clip may be an option no?

Frank Stein · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 205

Okay, very easy. Lower to ground, hook rope above first draw with stick clip, and pull on stick clip until you can grab rope by hand. Pull rope.

PatCleary · · Boston, MA · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 0

The one time I ran into this problem I lowered to the first draw, went in direct on it, untied, pulled the rope down to where I was, retied and lowered the rest of the way. Don't know if it was worth the effort, but I didn't have a stick clip with me, so I made do. Probably want to swap the draw for a couple lockers though.

Seems like a couple feet of cord (enough to get back to the ground) and a carabiner above the first clip would be the easiest way to get the rope back down from there.

Ryan Kempf · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 371

^^^

...

thomas ellis · · abq · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 2,615

Holy shit....

Jon Zucco · · Denver, CO · Joined Aug 2008 · Points: 245

why does this thread continue past reboot's first response or M Sprague's secondary method for overhanging/meandering routes where accessing the 2nd-4th draws on lower is impossible?

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Sport Climbing
Post a Reply to "Leaving rope in the first draw"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.