Page 139 - Rappelling

Here I rigged a separate master point with the red cordelette, which we clipped into while we untied
from the rope and rigged the rappel rope. The green sling is my partner’s tether. Once I’ve rappelled
to the next anchor, he’ll de-rig the cordelette and begin his rappel.

way you’ll have most of the thin rope already down ends. Also, use metal rap rings instead of rope over
before you have to let go of the other end, and the webbing, as the friction of a shifting rope creates
thicker rope will be the last to come down. I’ve heat that can melt the webbing.
found that a thicker rope is less likely to get tangled As the second rappeller descends, she should
or hung up than a thinner rope. take care that the rope is not twisting above her, as
Beware if rapping on ropes of drastically differ- this can make the pull-down difficult, if not impos-
ent diameters (say 10.5mm with 7mm) and ropes sible. A simple trick is to take a sling attached to the
with different percentages of stretch (like a dynamic harness and clip into one strand, with a carabiner
paired with a static), as this can cause the ropes to above the rappel device.
shift at the rappel anchor and change the lengths at When the second rappeller arrives at the stance,
the end points—another good reason to knot the she clips in with her tether before unclipping from

128 RAPPELLING

Rappelling_i-174_3pp_CS55le.indd 128 7/24/13 10:18 AM