Holding crevasse falls on skis

[Nick_B]

I never gave much thought to catching a fall while roped up on skis. I don't ski with tools or an ax out, whippets might not be a bad idea. Any thoughts?

[AlpineK]

I've never roped up on a glacier. Pick your descent line carefully. I've followed this plan for years; I've scared myself a couple times, but I've always made it through.

 

Roping up while skiing just leads to clusterfucks.

[dylan_taylor]

Follow your instincts.

 

Keep your edges between you and the hole your friend is hanging in.

 

skins make it harder.

 

Hard snow makes it harder. Soft snow - easier.

 

Yes, whippets can be a great idea when snow is firmer or angle is steeper.

 

Yes, roping up while skiing sucks, but in a whiteout on a glacier, or when your choice of route is constrained by tough glacial terrain, or in a low snow year, etc, you will want a rope.

 

There are many times where a rope may be appropriate for the way up if you are unfamiliar with the terrain, but you may feel it is unneccesary once you have scoped the safest line.

 

tie butterfly knots in the rope every meter or two.

 

Fat skis are harder to arrest on than skinny skis.

 

Twin tips suck for "I", "N", and "H" ski anchors.

 

good luck.

 

 

[Nick_B]

I was thinking about skinning while roped, not descending. Knots are a good idea.

[Kraken]

i question the knot idea for one reason: if you have a fall and full tension, then a line of 10 or so knots, do you really expect to be able to untie them when operating the pulley system? (considering the one in the hole can't extract himself?)

 

This is probably only an issue if it involves a two man team though.

[iain]

In a two-person team, the idea is that the knots keeping at least one person topside outweigh the problems of dealing with the knots. An easily-rigged mech adv. system is pretty useless if you are both in the hole.

 

You can rig a second line to deal with the haul. But the whole point of the knots is to stop the fall early enough that hauling is irrelevant. A fall requiring a full-on mech adv. system is actually pretty rare, but of course you have to be ready for that. You might even be able to ad-lib some mech adv. using the knots themselves with a little ingenuity. But having extra line to set up a new edge would make life easy. You have to go in with some problem-solving skills and be flexible in all these situations.

 

Any snowy area where you are falling into holes unexpectedly on skis means your rope has probably cut in so far to the edge to be unusable as haul line anyways.

 

The bottom line is your whole team can't go down in the hole.

[iain]

I'd also add skiing in a whiteout on a known-crevassed glacier or above terrain is perhaps the single dumbest thing you can do in the mountains.

 

That or climbing Mt. Hood in winter, which is obviously a death sentence.

[skykilo]

You lack imagination. I can get much more stupider.

[DirtyHarry]

Wut up Sky. Skiied those cliffs again yesterday. It was frigging sweet. I even launched some shit. No crevasse falls though.

[skykilo]

Noice. An exceptional retard could manage to fall in the creek.

 

The landings are so fawking fat, it shouldn't even count as hucking right now.

[Cobra_Commander]

forgot about creek ski steeplechase moves. next whiteout I am there. have to hit the gym to wrestle the alder

[DirtyHarry]

Toss in some archery and you've got the next Olympic sport.

[JayB]

Tales of landings so fat that it doesn't even count as hucking are not helping with the East Coast despair.

 

Currently resorting to snowboarding in the opposite stance, and rotating both ways on 1-footed 360-degree rotations on the strips of artificial snow for amusement. Will soon start shuffling through the web to dredge up some ballet moves. Things have been so warm and wet that the grass is still green on the bare slopes, in the White Mountains. If things continue I may get desperate enough to consider teaching myself how to telemark.

[Nick_B]

I feel your pain, I am on the east coast for the next month and there is nothing here! Most ice routes are still forming, and there is little snow to slide on even in the Whites. There is not even enough snow to warrent avi forecasts on Mt Washington.

[dylan_taylor]

i question the knot idea for one reason: if you have a fall and full tension, then a line of 10 or so knots, do you really expect to be able to untie them when operating the pulley system? (considering the one in the hole can't extract himself?)

 

This is probably only an issue if it involves a two man team though.

A climber or ski mountaineer's crevasse rescue repetoire should always include versions of the drop-C, among other techniques - not just the standard Z or Z to C that many people learn first, then decide to not learn anything else. You can save a lot of hauling effort by prepping a new lip, and dropping a fresh line. Not to mention the rescuer needs to have options for descending into the hole in order to perform 1st aid, etc, then ascend out prior to hauling.

Edited December 27, 2006 by dylan_taylor