Jason_Martin

The easiest way to initiate a crevasse rescue on a small team -- i.e. two or sometimes even three people -- is for the person closest to the fallen climber to place a picket or fluke and then to tie his prussik leg loops into that piece. He may then slowly back up and allow the piece to take the weight. If the rope is running up through a chest harness, this becomes impossible. Jason

Good post. Chest harnesses -- particularly those that are created by webbing or slings -- have been responsible for strangulations. In addition to this, they make crevasse rescue more difficult on small teams. If you are really worried about being flipped over, then the Kiwi Coil is the way to go... Jason

I often build an anchor, equalize it, and then clip a locker to the powerpoint. At the powerpoint I will tie a munter hitch. The rope goes from the munter hitch to the climber. After the system is set up, the climber may approach the edge of the crevase while on belay. Once he reaches the edge, he can kick off any lip or snow that might fall down on him while he's climbing. Then he can "pad" the lip with an extra ice axe. This axe will keep the rope from cutting into the lip to far. To avoid losing this axe down the hole, be sure to clip it to the rope that you are lowering on. After the lip is padded, the belayer will lower the climber in until he says stop. Then the belayer will belay him out. Note: If your on bare glacier ice, there is no need to pad the lip. Jason

I haven't tried it with a back-up. They show using a munter hitch after the steps that I essentially described. I can see where it might be safer to use this than without and have to recommend it for your early experiments with lowering. One great advantage to the Petzl system shown is that once the reverso's angle is changed you can simply lower the person to the ground without the jerky ride that the system I described generally entails. Jason

It's uncommon to have to give slack to a person while another is hanging. As both people are ascending and not descending, it's usually not an issue. But... If one person is actually hanging it is quite difficult to give slack to the other. The easiest thing to do would be to tell the hanging person to unweight the rope while you pull some slack for the other. If this is not possible, you will have to rig the reverso for a lower...this is where things get tricky. To lower a person on a reverso: 1) Girth hitch a cordellete to the carabiner that the rope is running through on the back of the reverso. 2) Run the end of the cordellete up through a strong point in the anchor -- ideally the shelf or powerpoint. 3) Now that the cordellete is redirected through a piece, rig a loop in the end of it. 4) Carefully step in the loop. This will pull back the biner which is locking off the climber. Don't stand in the loop, just put a little weight on it and then release. Do this slowly and carefully so that you don't lose control of the climber. If you mess around with a reverso enough, most of the problems people have complained about here will go away. If you climb in three man teams a lot with reversos, you'll eventually be climbing as fast as a two man team. Jason

I've read a lot and heard a lot about the greasing. I don't know anything about a pig. Could someone expand? Jason

Is this true or hearsay? Jason

I'm going to try to get in touch with them. Are you aware of whether or not either of them led it? Jason

I'm currently working on an article about Index for a Seattle newspaper and I want to try to get a few facts straight. I'm interested in knowing if anybody is aware of any free ascents of City Park in Index since Todd Skinner and Hugh Herr in 1986? If you are aware of a free ascent, who was involved? Jason

There are a few other reasons a guide might be downhill. He or she might be downhill if there is a white-out. He or she might be downhill if there is difficult routefinding. And lastly, he or she might be downhill if the terrain is easy but the clients are slow. In this last example, the guide can move quickly and thus force the students to move more quickly as well. The three rules of guiding only apply to about twenty percent of the clients. Most absorb the training they are given prior to an ascent. However there are a few who simply can't understand the most basic instruction no matter how slow it is spelled out for them. Jason

Regardless of whether or not the loop was full strength, to tie into that particular area is just plain stupid. Jason

Regardless of the amount. It's a step toward the European situation. Red Rock has a similar deal, they allow ten ten day permits out every year to individuals or companies that don't have full time permits. Usually about twenty people or organizations apply for these. Joshua Tree and Smith are two other places where a number of Certified Guides currently do some work for themselves legally. As far as I understand there are no limits on those locations. Jason

One of the plans for the future of Rainier includes access for certified guides. Jason

American climbers are not as ingraned in the ski culture as they are in Europe. As a result, the american and canadian systems are better for our terrain. The biggest problem with certification right now is access. Slowly certification is being recognized by land managers. As they see the advantages -- less accidents and professional standards -- they will probably begin to require certification. Ideally certification will allow individual guides to access parks and the like without the support of a company. Were this to happen, more guides could make a real living like they do in Europe. Certification -- particulary in the U.S. -- doesn't necessarily provide you with that many benefits right now. The largest benefit is that you can market yourself as a professional whereas most others don't have the credentials to back-up that particular claim. I believe that in the long run we'll follow European standards. Jason

Not a big issue at all with practice. Jason

Exactly, you're not climbing on double ropes the way I described it. You could do a double rope system, but then you have to tie directly in with both ropes. With double ropes or half ropes -- as opposed to two ropes that are rated individually for individual use -- it's a bit more of a pain in the ass. One person must often climb around the rope as he or she reaches the belay station in order to untwist the ropes. If you're concerned about weight, this might be okay with you. If you're concerned about time, the other method might be better. In theory, it's not so good to be belaying an individual climber on a single half-rope. We all know that it's probably okay, but it's not recommended. Jason

I guess I'm not making myself clear. You never load the belay loop with a locker attached to it. This is merely to pull the other rope up while you're climbing. This is the simul-belay style that is currently being taught by the AMGA and the ACMG. Jason

Could you re-explain this one please? The whole idea here is to tie an overhand eight into the end of one rope (rope #1) and to tie directly into the other (rope #2). Clip the overhand eight to your belay loop with a locking biner on rope #1. You will be belayed on rope #2 because you will be tied directly into it. Because you are able to unclip rope #1 it will be easy to deal with snarls, twists and tangles at belay stations. To deal with them you simply must unclip the rope from your harness and unsnarl the rope. Once the rope is fine, you may reclip and climb your next pitch. Jason

Once you have a reverso or a gigi, the game has just started. Actually belaying two people simultaniously and keeping the rope from becoming a snarled mess are the real difficulties behind these pieces of equipment. So here are a few hints: 1) Make sure your ropes are relatively close to the same length. A few feet different is no big deal, but a fifty meter rope and a sixty meter rope together tend to cause problems. 2) Stack the ropes together. Many people try to separate them into two different piles, but if the ropes are similar in length, then it won't be such a big deal. 3) Tie into one rope. Clip the other rope to your belay loop with a locking biner. This way when the tangles start to appear you will be able to deal with them by simply unclipping and untangling, then reclipping. Obviously you should be belayed on the rope that you are actually tied to. 4) At the end of each pitch, restack the rope so that you might lead again. You don't have to separate the ropes when you restack them, but if you run them through your fingers, separating the strands and then laying them down together, ultimately any twists will come back to your end of the rope where they can be easily managed by unclipping from the rope hooked to you with a locking biner. 5) Lead in blocks. It's dumb to constantly switch around who's tied to what when you get to your belay station. Make a decision about how many pitches each person will lead and then lead them all in one shot. Switch leaders in places where it's easy to do so, usually on ledges. 6) At hanging belays the ropes are generally draped over the anchor point where the belayer is tied in. The belayer will belay, but the other climber can help him by making sure that the rope feeds nicely without any snarls or snags working their way up the rope. 7) If you are leading off of a hanging belay, expect a moment here or there where you have to stop while the belayers deal with a snarl in the system. 8) And lastly, belaying two people at the same time can be very difficult. It is not uncommon for one person to climb faster than the other. If you are with beginners, put the stronger climber behind the weaker climber. The stronger climber will be responsible for cleaning gear and coaching the weaker climber periodically. This order will keep them from going radically different speeds. Jason

Sorry to contribute to the rumor mill, but Burdo told me that there would be a new book by this summer. Jason

Though it was stated in the linked post, it bears repeating. The biggest problem with tied runners is that they can untie themselves due to cyclic loading. The tails slowly get closer and closer to the knot until they pull through. This isn't a big deal if you pay attention to your runners and retie them every once in awhile. But it is imperative that you do pay attention to the runners and their knots over time. Jason

Partners for Red Rock

Mike, I just ran your word count through my computer and it came out at over 3,500 words. This is a huge article to get published. Normal features in newspapers are usually between 1,000 and 2,000 words. I make part of my living selling articles to newspapers and magazines. And believe me, it is far easier to sell something that's short than something that's long. 500 words however is super-tight. I think this article can easily be cut in half. It can probably be brought down into the 1,000-1,500 word level, at which point it will be more marketable to both newspapers and magazines. From a critical perspective, there are three elements to the article: 1) Accident and Rescue, 2) Recovery, 3) Relationship. If you choose to tighten the article and focus on one of these three issues more concisely, I think you could sell the article. Certainly climbing related magazines and websites are more interested in the accident itself. Other venues are going to be interested in what happened afterwards or how it impacted your relationship. By no means should anybody's suggestions be taken as THE WAY to write your article. Ultimately it is your work and you have every right to keep it the way it is. Every suggestion made should be taken as a grain of salt. That is, unless you feel the suggestions really will help your ultimate writing goals. Jason

At least you get a second chance so that you might learn the right way. Jason

Honestly, there are so many accidents based on lack of knowledge that it is impossible to argue against such a harness. It's an excellent piece of gear for a novice or for a person who thinks he knows it all and refuses to read the Manufacturer's recommendations on climbing gear. Beginning level climbers constantly tie in to the wrong things. They belay from the wrong places. There's a lot to remember. Why not recommend such a harness to such a person? Jason