Page 77 - Nate Fitch, Ron Funderburke "Climbing Knots"

Guide’s Insight

When I first began to climb, I didn’t see why I
needed to understand such a finicky and awk-
ward knot as the mule. It seemed obvious to me
that if I ever needed to let go of the brake strand
while using an ATC, I could just tie an overhand
knot and let that knot jam against the belay plate.
When rappelling, I had learned to use a leg wrap
to go hands free. I did not understand why the
mule knot was insisted upon. When I began to
mentor others, and eventually to teach climbing
professionally, I discovered that it is not always
that easy to get the climber’s weight off the rope,
and sometimes belayers don’t want the climb-
er’s weight to shift a single inch. When I was rap-
pelling, I discovered a need for a more secure
closure of a rappel system, so the leg wrap didn’t
seem as practicable anymore. As the contexts of
my climbing deepened and became more com-
plicated, the mule knot emerged as the best way
to close a belay.
If I had learned to use the knot in the first
place, I might have avoided the day when a
good friend dangled off of Pilot Mountain while I
attempted to dislodge an overhand with a bight
from my ATC. I might have been more secure as
I swung back and forth, cleaning quickdraws as
a leg-wrapped rappel constricted my thigh. But,
mostly, I might not have looked, to all observers
and fellow climbers, like such a total goofball.
—RF

64 CLIMBING: KNOTS