Practice your prusik skills before you hit places like this, the Petit Dru near Chamonix, France.
›EXPERT Q & A
Our abseiling expert is Jon Garside. Jon is the BMC/MLTE Training Offi cer. He’s been climbing for twenty years and has had more abseils than hot dinners. Contact him at
jon@thebmc.co.uk with any tricky questions.
arrive at the next anchor you can hold the rope from below to further protect them. Remember the further you are down the rope the less weight of rope below you and the less friction you will have. Often, if doing multiple abseils, I use a pair of thin leather gloves. Be careful when abseiling with a sack, as it can make you top heavy and vulnerable to tipping upside down.
Know your route
Descent routes are fairly obvious on sports climbs, but on bigger mountain routes the line of descent might be less obvious. Sometimes it’s benefi cial to lower the fi rst person down to search out the route. If it’s really windy this is also a good way of getting your ropes to the correct place, rather than wrapped round some spike of rock. The steeper the route down, the less edge and friction problems there will be in retrieval. Before descent, check exactly which rope you are going to pull on to retrieve (having different coloured ropes will help). The fi rst person down should check that the ropes are going to pull OK before the next person heads down.
Stay focused
So, back to my two near misses. The fi rst was in the south of France, on the descent of a big wall. Three abseils down, I swung into a ledge to join my partner, unclipped my belay device and prusik and promptly leant out to check the ropes before pulling them down, only to be grabbed fi rmly by my central belay loop. I’d forgotten to clip my cowstail in on arrival, and wasn’t attached to anything. I can tell you my heart rate was racing for a few minutes! The second was descending the Old Man of Hoy. I’d fi ddled our ropes through a huge mass of slings but had actually only threaded through one side of the anchors. Again my climbing partner’s vigilance stopped me before I set off. So, learn from my mistakes; stay focussed and work as a team, checking each other until you are both safely on the deck.
Words: Mike Margeson (BA, MIC, IML) runs his own business, Mountain Recreation
(
info@mountainrecreation.co.uk). He is also Professional Offi cer for AMI and the Training Offi cer for Mountain Rescue England and Wales.
Q. Can I abseil with my belay device? A. The issue is not whether a belay device can be used for abseiling, but if the device you have is appropriate for the rope you’re using. Whilst rope diameter is likely to be the greatest factor affecting the amount of friction created in a belay device, a rope’s fl exibility and coatings also come into play. As a basic rule, do not blindly assume that any one belay device is appropriate for all ropes, and read the manufacturer’s advice on the minimum and maximum rope diameters to be used with your device. Q. What length and diameter of rope should a prusik loop be? A. For abseiling, 1.5m of 5mm climbing cord is suffi cient. It should be tied in a loop using a ‘double fi sherman’s bend’ knot Q. How should I use a French prusik? A. With your abseil device attached to you central loop, it’s common practice to attach the prusik loop to the leg loop of your harness on your dominant side. This will help to keep the prusik knot away from the belay device, where it could jam. When abseiling, place your hand over the prusik loop to prevent it from grabbing the rope. Q. What is ‘abseil’ rope? Should I use that? A. You can buy low stretch semi-static rope in climbing shops, but this is only used for abseiling (e.g. for outdoor groups, fi lming etc). You can’t climb on it, so best stick with your normal climbing ropes. Q. Can I abseil on my Gri – gri? A. Yes, you can. If you have only one rope, tie into an end and then lower yourself, just as you would lower someone from a climbing wall. You can only use this method if lowering off a karabiner (or other smooth metal fi xing such as a maillon) and ensure a knot is tied in the other end of the rope. If you have two ropes, thread the one you intend to abseil on through the anchor, tie a fi gure-of-eight on the bight in the end, and attach that back to the rope below the anchor with a karabiner. The other rope is also attached to the fi gure-of-eight on the bight and hangs free. With a knot in the end of the abseil rope, descend it, and when at the bottom, pull on the other rope to retrieve both ropes. Practice this before using. Q. Do you need to tie a knot in the end of the abseil ropes? A. Defi nitely. Tying a knot in the end of your abseil ropes is an essential safety precaution.
›FURTHER INFO
DOWNLOAD: Abseiling Leafl et Want to know more about marrying up a belay device with a rope, or how to tie a French prusik? Download our free leafl et.
www.thebmc.co.uk/abseiling
WATCH:
How to abseil Watch the How to abseil fi lm on BMC TV
tv.thebmc.co.uk/channel/skills
SUMMIT ONLINE ALPINE SPECIAL #01 | SUMMER 2014 | 43
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.
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