Page 174 - Rappelling

The Yosemite Method off the top ascender. With the bottom ascender
The Yosemite method is based on safety and sim- placed just below the top one, bend your leg at a
plicity. Both ascenders are attached to the harness 90-degree angle and place it into a foot loop on your
with slings, and both ascenders have etriers (aka etrier. When you straighten out your leg and stand
aiders) clipped to them. An etrier is a stirrup-style up, simultaneously slide the top ascender up as far as
ladder of foot loops made from nylon webbing. you can, then immediately lean back and sit in your
For the slings you can use daisy chains, a PAS, or harness. Use your leg strength, not your arm strength.
regular slings. I recommend nylon over Dyneema Jumaring takes some practice, but once you get the
or Spectra for any sling connection, since nylon hang of it, you can zip up a fixed line quickly.
has a bit of stretch, whereas Dyneema and Spectra When I teach someone jumaring for the first
have no stretch. The daisy chain or PAS allows you time, I give them only one etrier (for the bottom
to adjust the distance easily by clipping in to differ- ascender) and break it down like this: “Stand on
ent loops. Whatever style of sling you use, attach it the bottom ascender and sit on the top ascender.”
to your harness, not with a carabiner but by girth- Once you get this concept down, you’ll be much
hitching it into both tie-in points on your harness more proficient and use far less arm strength while
(the same two points where you thread the rope to jumaring. The best angle to learn on is a fixed line
tie in). This method eliminates a carabiner connec- on a wall or cliff that is slightly less than vertical.
tion, thus removing the possibility for inadvertent Adjusting the length of the slings connecting the
un-clipping. ascenders to your harness will make the process
Attach each ascender to its sling with a locking more efficient. The rule is this: The lower the angle,
carabiner. I like to attach my etriers with a non- the longer the sling; the steeper the angle, the
locking carabiner clipped to the locking carabiner shorter the sling. Again, the sling connecting the
on my ascenders (biner to biner), so I can quickly top ascender to your harness is the critical length.
remove the etriers without unlocking the carabiner A good technique for free-hanging jumaring is
that attaches the jumars to my harness. to place both etriers on the bottom ascender and
Mechanical ascenders can be bought as a pair, keep the sling to your top ascender very short. Start
one designated “right hand” and the other “left with both knees bent at 90 degrees in the etriers.
hand,” because the release lever is designed for the When you straighten out both legs in unison,
thumb side of the hand for quick and efficient simultaneously and quickly slide the top ascender
removal and reattachment to the rope. I always lead up, immediately hang in your harness, then repeat
with my left-hand ascender on top, even though the process.
I’m right-handed, probably because that’s the way I I consider two mechanical ascenders on the rope
learned, but go with whatever hand you feel most to be safe; one ascender, not safe. So if you take one
comfortable. I use my right leg in the etrier on the ascender off the rope, you should have a backup,
bottom ascender. like clipping in short by tying a loop knot below
The key to efficient jumaring is the length of the the ascenders and clipping it to your harness belay
slings and where you position your feet in the etriers. loop with a locking carabiner, or tethering to an
The top sling should be adjusted so that when you’re anchor with a sling if you’re passing an anchor point.
hanging in your harness off the top ascender, you can Remember, mechanical ascenders are designed for
reach up and comfortably grasp the handle of the body weight only and are not intended to hold the
ascender with your hand. The sling connection from force of a fall. Most mechanical ascenders will shear
the bottom ascender to your harness is not critical, off the sheath of the rope at around 5 kN (1,124 lbs.)
since when you’re hanging, you’ll always be hanging of force.

Rope Ascending Techniques 163

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