1. Everything Under Control
Rappelling is probably one of the most dangerous aspects of climbing. It does appear to be one of the more fun aspects, because you can fly down the rope with apparent control. There are many dangers associated with this activity though. Climbing is a dangerous sport all the way around, but you must go into it with your eyes open. Enjoy the sport, but be smart and be safe in your participation. The simplest rappel is from a top-roped situation. The environment is controlled and set to teach the technique. Attach the rope to at least two points of protection, or anchors, down the face of a section of rock. The climber clips into the rope and using a belay device, control his rate of descent by allowing the rope to slip through the belay device. He can walk down the rock face or can progress down in small controlled jumps down the face.
2. Rapid Retreat From the Rock
While on a climb on a route up the face of rock it may become important to retreat off the rock in a very quick fashion. This may be caused by bad weather hitting the area you are climbing in or because one of the climbers becomes injured. Usually the fastest descent possible is to rappel down the rest of the route from your current position and head home or to safety. Depending on the length of the route that you have been climbing, it is possible that the rappel may be more than one rope length to the bottom. In this case, the climbers will rappel down multiple pitches. Tie a knot in the end of the rope so that the climber can't slip off the end of the rope when he reaches the bottom. At the bottom of the first rappel, the climber will establish a stopping point and prepare for the next climber to rappel to this point. Once all climbers have reached this point, rappel down another section of rock until you are completely off the rock.
3. Easy Way Around
If you decide to climb a route that is at your level of expertise or just above it, you may reach a point on the rock that you can't make it up a certain section of the route due to your lack of skill, so you must retreat. When this happens, you have two choices. One, you can rappel back down the route and try another one and come back to this one in the future, or second, you can rappel down far enough to take a slightly different route up the rock. Either way, you will establish a rappel point and head down the rock. In this case, you may end up leaving a piece of hardware on the rock as it will serve as a piece of protection.
Member Comments