1. Don't forget to ascend without your rappel device. But if you do forget, your belayer will tie it to the rope and send it up to you, but only after laughing and taking pictures of your stranded ass. (At this time you do not know how to tie a Munter hitch or any other improvised device so you are forced to accept the ridicule.)
2. Clip in direct(ly) to the top bolts. If you're me you use a single sling and notice a nascent kernel of panic as you ease your some of your weight on to it, wondering about the age of this borrowed equipment. Then the next day, you go out and buy two slings and vow never to use just one.
3. You are going to untie from your harness, so to prevent you from dropping the rope, you knot and clip the rope to a quickdraw on a left gearloop of your harness. Ask your belayer for sufficient slack as you do this.
4. Untie the rope from your harness and let your belayer know they can take you off belay. Your weight is now fully supported by the sling. Observe and control your panic response as you contemplate the risk exposure of a single point of failure. Remember again to go buy two slings.
5. Feed the rope end through the anchors (not the quickdraws!) from left to right. Through the anchors, not the draws. Left to right.
6. Knot and clip the rope into a (quick)draw on a right-side gearloop. You're doing this because you are about to unclip/untie from your left side, and this will prevent you from dropping the rope.
7. Unclip and untie the knot at your left.
8. Draw the rope through the anchors, from left to right, until you've brought the center of the rope to you; it's marked with a dye.
9. Set up your rappel device.
10. Since the rope is now secured by your rappel device, unclip and untie the rope from the draw on your right harness gearloop.
11. If there are any draws clipped to the top anchors, remove them and clip them to a gearloop.
12. Using your rappel device, cinch yourself upwards to put slack in the sling(s). Keep the brakes on. Unclip the slings. Your life is now in your brake hand. It's a good idea to let the folks on the ground know that you're now "off direct."
13. Easing off the brakes, descend to and pause at the next bolt, unclip the draw from the bolt, but leave it clipped to the rope. Drop the draw and let it slide down the rope to the next bolt where it will stop.
14. Repeat until you arrive at the first bolt.
15. All the draws you've just cleaned will have piled up at the first bolt. Instead of unclipping the last draw thereby letting them all clatter unceremoniously to the earth, first clip the many piled-up draws to your harness. Then unclip the final draw from its bolt and clip it to your harness.
16. Ease yourself to the ground.
17. Detach yourself from the rope, and pull the rope through the top anchors, right to left. Before the rope starts falling, warn the people around with a call of "ROPE!"
18. Bonus exercise: catch the end of the falling rope and you're owed a beer. Catch it such that the end is hidden inside your fist and you're owed a case. Need clarification on from whom these beers are owed.
19. Thank your belayer for a lesson well taught.
20. Bask in the relief of safety and the afterglow of adrenaline.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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