Page 177 - Rappelling
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cold shuts: metal hooks commonly found in pairs   Friend: the name of the original spring-loaded
                     as anchors atop short sport climbs to facilitate   camming device (SLCD) designed by Ray
                     lowering off; can be open, with gates, or      Jardine and marketed by the Wild Country
                     welded shut                                    Company in 1977. The word friend became a
                 cordelette: a short length of cord, normally 18 to   generic term for any SLCD.
                     25 feet in length, often tied into a loop, used   girth-hitch: a hitch used to connect webbing or
                     to equalize multiple anchor points. For nylon   cord around a feature or to another sling by
                     cord, 7mm is the standard diameter. High-      looping around the object then back through
                     strength (Technora or Dyneema) cord is often   the webbing or cord
                     used in 5mm or 6mm diameter.               Grigri: an assisted braking device manufactured by
                 crack: a fissure in the rock varying from extremely   Petzl
                     thin and narrow to as wide as a chimney    jumar: the original mechancical ascender, first
                 crag: another name for a cliff or rock formation   introduced in the 1960s; also a generic term for
                 dynamic rope: a climbing rope with built-in        a mechanical ascender; also used as a verb, e.g.,
                     stretch to absorb the energy of a fall, typically   “jumar up a fixed line”
                     around 9 percent stretch under body weight   jumaring: the act of ascending a fixed rope with
                     and up to 30 percent in a big fall             mechanical ascenders
                 EN: European Norm                              magic X: see sliding X
                 etrier (pronounced a-tree-a): a stirrup-like ladder   master point: the equalized point in an anchor
                     made of nylon webbing, used with mechanical    system; the point a climber clips into; also
                     ascenders                                      called power point
                 fireman’s belay: a technique used to belay a   MBS: minimum breaking strength
                     rappelling climber by pulling down on the rope   Munter hitch: a hitch used for belaying or
                     below the rappeller, creating tension that stops   rappelling that requires no gear other than a
                     the rappeller from further movement down the   carabiner
                     rope                                       natural anchor: an anchor made from a feature
                 fixed anchor: any permanent anchor left for all    occurring in nature, such as a chockstone, rock
                     rappellers to utilize, typically bolts or pitons  tunnel, horn, tree, boulder, etc.
                 flaking a rope: uncoiling a rope into a loose pile,   N.F.P.A.: The National Fire Protection Association,
                     with one end on the bottom and the other end   which is an organization that develops safety
                     on the top of the pile; also called “stacking” a   standards for the fire department that are
                     rope                                           widely adopted by departments involved in life
                 friction hitch: one of several hitches tied around   safety and search and rescue
                     a rope using a piece of smaller cord or a sling,   nut: a wedged-shaped piece of metal designed to be
                     which grips when weight is applied but can be   used as an anchor in a crack; also called a chock
                     loosened and slid up the rope when not under   pegs: see pitons
                     tension; commonly used to ascend a rope and
                     in self-rescue techniques                  pins: see pitons






                 166   Glossary








            Rappelling_i-174_3pp_CS55le.indd   166                                                         7/24/13   10:19 AM
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