Well.......

[billcoe]

I outlived Michael Jackson....who'd have thunk it? Made it home alive from this weekend and want to blog about the Petzl Stop. It works so good that it will almost cause you to pee your pants in excitement.

 

I'd bought a used one in the valley last month for cheap from someone who needed money more than they needed a heavy dedicated rap device and I only just had occasion to use it. It's very specifically ONLY a descender. They say you can use it to ascend as well, but on a new phat 11.2 mil static rope, it's going to be so difficult to pull the line up through the device as you ascent that it's effectively for emergency use only...if that.

 

I was on a 300' mostly overhanging cliff this weekend trying to drill bolts and I have to say that this device is the best I have ever used for rappelling. Ever, ever, ever. I'd rap down and let go, and be STOPPED right where I wanted to be. I've never used a caving rack, but have tried about every common climbing device. For example, I own the Petzl Shunt, 2 Trango Cinchs, The Edelrid Eddy, and a Faders Sum. I've used Gri-gris till the cows have come home as well and the Stop beats them all hands down for rappelling.

 

 

 

I had seen that this was Gary Storricks device of choice. In case you live in a cave and are not aware, he owns every device ever made. If you don't see it here, it's likely it ain't made. http://storrick.cnchost.com/VerticalDevicesPage/VerticalHome.shtml I now understand why it is so. Specifically, it's easy, fast and near flawless to set up. If you need to take it off to switch ropes, you can do it without totally removing it off your carabiner as the Stop has an integral clip you undo and gain access to the rope. This clip makes it next to impossible to drop: even if your paws are like little cramped up useless claws like mine were by the time I needed to swap ropes on a tiny belay stance. Small caveat: fat carabiners like the DMM Boa in the picture below won't work as well for this feature.

 

At this point, I decided I'd haul up the free rope below me and lower my backpack down so I could swing in the overhang and get a stance to drill another bolt. I barely was able to pull the rope up I was so worked, so when the backpack met the loop on the way down and got tangled and unable to reach the deck, pulling on the already heavy rope and giving me an involuntary Fireman's Belay: I just hung there spent muttering F* F* F*.....yet I was surprised that the Stop, which seemed to have great braking power when I needed to stop, was still able to continue to smoothly allow me to continue flowing towards the ground without much effort.

 

Sharing some pictures of Cathedral, here solo at the top of pitch one.

 

Which looks like this:

 

Better view of the scenery:

 

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Random picture of a couple of yahoos the week previously after finishing the 5 star 2 pitch 5.7 route "Conga Line" at Jimmies.