Page 166 - Rappelling

chapter nine

Rope Ascending Techniques

Improvised Rope Ascending: Prusiking is a verb for the act of ascending a
Prusiking rope using friction hitches. It’s a generic term, since
the prusik knot was the first friction hitch used for
One of my favorite movie scenes is in the James such purposes, although it’s still called prusiking if
Bond classic For Your Eyes Only, where Bond makes other friction hitches are used.
a preposterous roped solo climb up a towering rock When rappelling, there are a few situations
formation in Meteora, Greece. Before he can reach where improvised rope ascending skills will prove
the enemy stronghold, he (of course) takes a mon- indispensable. One situation is when something
strous fall, which was performed by stuntman and gets stuck and jammed in your rappel device, like
climber Rick Sylvester. Rick was a ballsy climber, an article of clothing or long hair. You’ll be unable
and the first person to ski off El Capitan (and pop to proceed, and to fix the problem you’ll need to
a parachute) before it was illegal. Rick performed take the weight off your rappel device. If the rappel
the same stunt in the opening of the Bond flick is low angle, it may be as simple as standing on the
The Spy Who Loved Me, skiing off Mount Asgard in rock to unweight your rappel device and yanking it
Baffin Island and popping a Union Jack parachute out. If it’s a steep or overhanging rappel, then you’ll
for the 4,000-foot ride down. But I digress. In For need to perform a basic self-rescue. First make sure
Your Eyes Only, Rick performed a 165-foot fall, tied you’ve backed up your brake hand, because you’ll
into two 11mm-diameter ropes that were rubber- need both hands free to perform this maneuver. If
banded together. In the movie, after Bond takes the you have previously rigged an autoblock backup,
catastrophic plunge, he dangles like a dazed spider simply slide the autoblock up until it engages. If
for a moment, collects himself, then unties his shoe- you don’t have an autobock backup rigged, a simple
laces to use for prusiking up the rope. At the top and fast backup is the leg wrap (see photo on page
he encounters a bad guy trying to bang out his sole 87). Tie a friction hitch (e.g., prusik or klemheist)
anchor piton with a gun, so Bond hurls a piton at on the rope about a foot above your device, then
him, knife-thrower style, which pierces the guy’s take a double-length sling (48 inches) or two
chest and sends him over the brink. 24-inch slings girth-hitched together and clip it
to the friction hitch. Stand in the sling so you can
unweight your device. Don’t grab the friction hitch
itself, as this can cause it to slide down the rope.
Another situation, sometimes encountered in
rock climbing and alpine climbing, is when you’ve
Shatzi Sovich jummars at the Lizard’s Mouth,
Santa Barbara, California. completed a double-rope rappel and proceed to
pull on one strand to retrieve your rope—and the
Pho to by Gre G ePPerson
rope is hopelessly jammed. This can happen when

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