Moderator: Tim White
chh wrote:Am I missing something?
ian mckenzie wrote:Descending is the easy part, shouldn't need any aids. Methinks the etrier is an unnecessary and distracting addition to an already awkward situation. Just try using your arms and knees to help get past the lip. Maybe pad the lip with an empty tackle bag, that will help with getting past it and will help protect your rope too.
Of course, the best solution is to rig a deflection (deviation) to pull the rope off the lip, if the situation permits.
NZcaver wrote:On a flat or moderately sloped surface leading to a lip, somebody can lift the rope to reduce edge problems for the person trying to descend (or climb) past the edge. Because of the angle of deflection, this takes surprisingly little effort. With the person at the edge of the drop (on rappel), clip in and position yourself 1-2 body lengths back from the edge. With gloved hands, lift the rope up to about thigh level (use your knees, not your back). The person can now begin descending over the edge either on their feet or knees, depending on the terrain and their experience/confidence level. Once they are past the point of no return, slowly lower the rope to ground and release your hands. This allows the person's descender to slide past the (padded) edge. Be sure to keep an eye on the position of their descender and hands while lowering the rope.
The same can be done with a climber approaching the edge. When the climber gets to the infamous "jam the descender into the rock and try to scramble for foot/knee traction to get over" point, simply lift the rope to help them over. Easy!
chh wrote:Um, all an aider is is a ladder. Walk down the ladder using your rappel device or even your qas. Do a changeover at the bottom of the ladder past the lip if you've used an ascending device. Am I missing something?
tncaver wrote:chh wrote:Um, all an aider is is a ladder. Walk down the ladder using your rappel device or even your qas. Do a changeover at the bottom of the ladder past the lip if you've used an ascending device. Am I missing something?
Maybe getting a ladder to the lip isn't feasable.
Dan Henry wrote:Sort of along the same lines, I have crossed some really nasty lips going down by using the footloop of the upper frog ascender as a step below the lip to get a bit of slack in the mainline to get the descender safely past the lip. Frog and Texas systems both utilize such a footloop, so you don't really need an etrier.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users