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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Nov 10, 2011 - 01:48pm PT
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Good stuff here.
I like DMT's pull-test method, never thought of that.
I once learned a "trick," the hard way. In windy conditions, set up your ropes so the line you pull is upwind at the anchor. This makes it so the loose end (as you pull the ropes) blows away from the line you're pulling. This trick keeps the two lines from wrapping (rapping?) around each other.
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Guck
Trad climber
Santa Barbara, CA
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Nov 10, 2011 - 01:49pm PT
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A lot of climbers never think rap is an option and do not prepare for it. How many of us carry a rap ring and a junk sling for that eventuality? The ring is critical if you want to retrieve the rope!
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Branscomb
Trad climber
Lander, WY
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Nov 10, 2011 - 01:50pm PT
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I tie the prusix around both lines (2 rope rappel)and clip it into a large locking biner in my harness. Have to pay attention to keep it sliding with you so doesn't cinch up.
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Nov 10, 2011 - 01:53pm PT
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I've gotten in the habbit of carrying a rap ring or two when on a route I'm unfamiliar with, and I always have at least one knotted sling. A knife really should be included in your gear to cut off old tat.
The rap ring thing was ingrained in my brain after topping out on a local ice climb. There was an existing rap ring, but multiple dumbazzes decided to use it to top rope from, so it was nearly worn in 1/2.
So yeah, a couple of rings and a couple 6-7' lenghths of black or brown 1" webbing are part of the rack.
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
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Nov 10, 2011 - 02:02pm PT
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Another option is to rap with one rope, keeping the other as a spare. I've only done it a couple of times in dark and very windy conditions, but it's an option where a stuck rope is likely and would lead to a grim situation.
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ddriver
Trad climber
SLC, UT
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Nov 10, 2011 - 02:13pm PT
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One thing I often see is climbers who don't know how to throw a rope on rappels. I was taught by the kracken to gather the rope in roughly two halves and throw the middle first. You then can throw the end in a more directed and controlled manner. Let the most experienced, i.e. faster, person rappel first to deal with cleaning the throw so the team moves faster as a whole. Repeat.
Adopt an assembly line philosophy for bigger teams or where you're lowering a bag on retreat, so that you develop a rhythm and each person gets progressively better at their specific tasks.
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ME Climb
Trad climber
Behind the Orange Curtain
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Nov 10, 2011 - 02:43pm PT
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Great thoughts everyone....my biggest "Oh shit!" moment was while rapping.....Now I triple check everything!
Eric
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neversummer
Trad climber
30 mins. from suicide USA
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Nov 10, 2011 - 02:52pm PT
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K-man that is good advice.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Nov 10, 2011 - 02:54pm PT
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A small folding knife is always a useful thing to have when climbing. One can be handy for cleaning up old slings, cutting sewn slings (if needed), and also while actually on rappel, for example to cut things that get stuck in your rappel gadget, or even a jammed prusik.
Other things to keep in mind:
 Know how to do a carabiner brake rappel, and have enough equipment to do one if needed. (Modern tiny and wire gate carabiners don't work well.)
Know how to do a body rappel, in an extremity.
Communications can be a real problem.
Make sure your rappel gadget matches the diameter of your ropes.
Think about falling rocks, as lots of stuff gets dislodged while rappelling, both by the humans, and the rope. Wear a helmet!
Many rappel routes follow natural lines of weakness, and so may be more exposed to weathering, rockfall, etc.
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crunch
Social climber
CO
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Nov 10, 2011 - 03:04pm PT
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Hey, Jim,
That's a great summing up of rappel safety.
Thanks!
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Nov 10, 2011 - 03:09pm PT
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Jim, you caught all my rapp cautions except one (which you did imply).
TAKE your TIME!
which includes.
Get it right each time.
Communicate with your partner at EACH rapp. Make a plan and review it for each pitch. This only takes 30 seconds.
When the dookie is hitting the fan SLOW down even more. Be as sure as possible what you're doing before you do it.
Tossing one half of the rope first is an old trick taught to me by my Father: WWII Royal Navy destroyer officer. That's the ONLY way they did it. Done right you release the second coil just as the slack is gone so the lead end keeps going. Of course it assumes both coils are neat.
Test pulling the rapp. I'm surprised so many don't do it. My mentors taught me this first thing and I've used it ever since. Ditto for pulling the knot over constrictions/restrictions before the last rapper weights it.
I refused to rap rope to nylon sling last trip out, made them leave a biner. Two sides to this one Jeff.
From the safety point of view, the rope through a good sling is fine to rappel on. It's pulling the rope that screws up the sling, but not the rope. I carry a rapp ring and am willing to leave a biner. It's OK in extremis to just use the sling. Retrieving the rope can also be more difficult due to the friction.
On multipitch, I always carry a sling tied with a knot in case I need it for a rapp anchor.
I use an Autoblock as a backup below my rapp device when I need it. Make sure the fixed end is short enough that the knot can't get into the brake. This is one special purpose tool I carry on my harness: a pre-tied loop for a Autoblock of the correct length.
An excellent reference on the use of auto block, prusik, Klemheist here:
http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/ProtectingAnAbseil.htm
http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/prusik.htm#Autoblock
EDIT: lowering directly off a sling with no 'biner, ring, etc, is of course attempted suicide.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Nov 10, 2011 - 03:50pm PT
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Once had to do a forced rap down the face of Mt. Wilson with Scary Larry and Texplorer. We were lucky to have our shoe laces by the time we got down and all the anchors were single slung shrubberies. Not a good time...
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WallMan
Trad climber
Denver, CO
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Nov 10, 2011 - 05:02pm PT
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Great post, Jim. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
Wally
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OldEric
Trad climber
Westboro, MA
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Nov 10, 2011 - 05:16pm PT
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Italic TextRapping from less than ideal anchors in order to save a few bucks is a zero sum game.Italic Text
I don't think this means exactly what you think it does. It does sound pretty hip though - certainly more then the tired old chestnut -Italic Text How much is your life worth?Italic Text
Mostly sound advice if a bit simplistic and not exactly earth shattering.
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Nov 10, 2011 - 05:24pm PT
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I'm going to be a posterboy for Jim to rant about....
When dealing with questionable rap anchors, sometimes I have a more expensive backup piece with some slack, then let the first person rap with that backup, and if it looks good I clear the backup piece and rap.
These are definitely the worst moments of climbing for me, coming down with unhappy thoughts and hoping it stays in place. If there is anything about my climbing habits I'd like to change, it would be to rap first in these situations! Or just be less cheap and build a better anchor for both ;)
I usually try to bring extra 9/16" bulk webbing and cut-to-length as needed for trees/etc. during the descent.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Nov 10, 2011 - 05:31pm PT
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A lot of climbers never think rap is an option and do not prepare for it. How many of us carry a rap ring and a junk sling for that eventuality? The ring is critical if you want to retrieve the rope!
I'm not real big on carrying "the ten essentials", whatever they may be, but the two I do carry are a knife and a rap ring. I've always made sure my chalkbag is the kind with the little zippered key pocket, and a tiny knife and one or two aluminum rap rings live there. I don't have to think about it, they're just always there.
Saved my ass once, and have been handy more than once.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 10, 2011 - 05:34pm PT
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I have done a lot of raps with a backup piece that gets removed for the last person after the anchor seems to check out. Unfortunately, I am usually the lightest and therefore the last to go. It's always a bit nerve racking.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Nov 10, 2011 - 05:42pm PT
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An added tweak in that situation is that the rappeler(s) at the next station should wherever possible not just get the next station ready for the next rappel, but tie the rope(s) off to it. That way, if the rappeler pulls the upper station, she/he may go 80 or 100 m, but may live when the rope eventually catches. In other words, don't thread the rope for the next rappel, tie it off. Obviously also in the others' interests, as assuming that their anchor is sound, they at least keep the rope(s).
A variation, if there's time and the rock allows, is for the first rappeler to place intermediate anchors, and clip one of the rappel ropes to them. Again, pretty marginal, and if the last rappeler's main anchor fails, would probably create a fustercluck. But it might just work.
I've had to do both, and have 1% of donini's experience, if that.
Speaking of slings, it's surprising how many "white" slings you cut off of anchors, which turn out to be coloured inside.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Nov 10, 2011 - 05:48pm PT
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* Climbers (this amazes me) tend to be overly frugal about leaving gear behind. I see climbers who obsess about belay anchors rappel from marginal anchors because they don't want to loose gear. How much is your life worth?
Guilty as charged, but never again.
One simple and crucial act of vigilance: always inspect every part of fixed slings or ropes before you trust them, especially the parts you can't see at first glance.
Never let yourself go into auto mode when clipping a fixed anchor - inspect inspect inspect, including bolts - whether on After Six of an 07 on the obscurity scale. Complacency in this is common, I've been guilty of it far too much.
Check the span of webbing on the back side of the tree, or rotate webbing through fixed pins/bolts to see wear.
I couldn't believe the condition of the fixed pendulum on the Robbins traverse up on RNWF this summer. The main sling holding the fixed rope had completely blown, a la the vid upstream of the guy ripping bleached webbing with his hands, and the rope was held only by the water knot that had marginally caught in the rapid-link.
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