Page 151 - Rappelling

rope above him. Investigators later pointed out that the rope about 5 feet below the knot, then clip
the figure eight descender he was using was actu- it into your harness belay loop with a locking
ally large enough for the knot to pass through the carabiner. This is your backup knot.
device without him unclipping it. Dragan muscled 2. Rig a friction knot (e.g., prusik or klemheist) on
himself up by pulling up on the climbing rope to a prusik cord just above your rappel device and
take his weight off the jumar, then unclipped his clip a pear-shaped locking carabiner to the cord.
jumar ascender from the rope. In the process his 3. Clip a nylon cordelette to your harness belay
figure eight descender also unclipped from his har- loop with a locking carabiner, then Munter/
ness, which the investigation revealed was attached mule the cordelette to the pear-shaped locking
to the harness with a non-locking carabiner. Now carabiner clipped to the prusik cord. When
Dragan was hanging from the rope by both hands, you clip the cordelette to your harness, make
his strength ebbing, unable to clip back into the sure the double fisherman’s knot on your
rope. His last words just before he lost his grip were cordelette is on the other end of it, giving you
“Now I will die,” then he took a long and final fall. the maximum length of cordelette to work with
Yosemite park ranger Kim Aufhauser com- without the double fisherman’s knot coming
mented that Rogic was “an experienced free into play.
climber but lacked experience on long routes, use
of ascenders, and passing knots.” Aufhauser added 4. Rappel down a few inches on your original
that “passing a knot while on rappel is not a diffi- rappel device until all your weight is on the
cult or uncommon practice, and he had all the gear Munter/mule.
needed to perform this maneuver safely.” 5. Pull some slack through your rappel device,
then take the device off the rope.
Passing a Knot with a Cordelette
6. Clip your rappel device into the rope just below
Additional equipment required: the knot tying the two ropes together, and back
• Cordelette: A standard 18- to 20-foot (unknotted it up with an autoblock.
length) 7mm-diameter nylon cord tied into a 7. Release the mule knot and lower yourself down
loop with a double fisherman’s knot. on the Munter hitch until all your weight is
• Prusik cord (5mm or 6mm soft nylon cord): on your rappel device (backed up with the
I buy a cut length of 4 feet, then tie it with a autoblock).
double fisherman’s knot. 8. Reach up and untie the prusik so you can take
• Several locking carabiners, including one large, it with you.
pear-shaped locking carabiner for tying the 9. Double-check your system, unclip/untie the
Munter/mule on. backup knot, then continue the rappel.
If you’re using a standard rappelling device (fig-
ure eight descender, tube or plate device, carabiner Passing a Knot with a
brake, etc.), rig an autoblock backup in advance. If Self-locking Rappel Device,
you’re using a Grigri or Cinch or an auto-locking Mechanical Ascenders, and Etriers
device, you don’t need the autoblock backup. Rap- Rappel down to just a few feet above the knot
pel down to just a few feet above the knot where where the ropes are tied together. If you don’t have
the ropes are tied together. mechancial ascenders, you can substitute a prusik
1. Pull up some rope and tie a figure eight loop on instead.

140 RAPPELLING

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