BasicClimbingRescueTechniques
0.Glossary
When you set up a belay, there are two ends of the rope leading away from the belay. The "load line" is the end that goes to the climber, and the "tail" is the free end that you usually need to hold with your brake hand. As you feed rope through the belay while belaying the climber, the tail will get longer and the load line will get shorter. Clipping a carabiner (and/or device attached to a carabiner) to your harness after you’re done using it is called “racking” the carabiner. 1.TheMunterhitch
The Munter Hitch is a great knot to know in case you ever lose your belay/rappel device. It can also be important in rescue situations when you need to bypass your one and only belay device but still be able to belay. There are at least 3 ways to tie the Munter hitch. The easiest way I've seen is tying it onto a carabiner. There are instructions at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munter_hitch. But the "How to tie a Munter Hitch with One Hand" link in the External Links section has what looks like an even easier method (if there isn't any tension in the rope) of tying the hitch without even touching the rope with your hands. *Very cool!* 2.Going"Handsfree"
The first step in most rescue situations is locking off the belay so you can use both hands for whatever you need to do next. There are different ways to do this depending on what type of belay device you're using. 2a.LockingoffanATC
The Mule Overhand combo is the best way to tie off a belay device so that you can go "hands free." Feed a loop of the "tail" of the rope through the carabiner and then tie an overhand knot around the load line. There's a photo of this technique at http://www.uoregon.edu/~opp/climbing/topics/belayescape.pdf (the first photo on the second page), but the other photos and instructions are confusing to me so I'm not suggesting you follow them. 2b.LockingoffaGriGri
The Mule doesn't work well for the GriGri because it requires that both the load line and tail be parallel. Instead, just tie an overhand on a bight with the tail. 2c.LockingoffaMunterHitch
There's a good video of the technique at http://alpineinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/02/rock‐rescue‐munter‐mule.html (though I think the methods that use a carabiner are a bad idea. The guy in the video uses a non‐locking carabiner, which seems to me like it would be very easy to slip off. And if you use a locking carabiner, I think it would be much harder and take longer to unlock the biner, remove it, and rack it on your harness rather than just untie an overhand knot. Plus you need an extra carabiner.) 3.LoadHauling
If the climber isn’t injured but simply can't climb through a particularly tough section, you can use a load hauling system to pull them up. It’s rare that you’ll need to pull an injured climber up a wall (e.g. the climber fell into a crevasse and you need to get them out, the wall is along a river with no dry ground below, or you're almost at the top of a long multi‐pitch climb and going up will actually be easier than going down). 3a.Loadhaulingwitha2:1system(withhelpofclimber)
Requires 1 carabiner and enough slack in the tail to reach the climber and back. First, tie off the belay (e.g. Mule Overhand) so you can go hands‐free. Clip a carabiner to the tail of the rope and to the load line and let it slide down the load line to the climber. Have the climber unclip it from the load line (but keep the carabiner clipped to the tail) and clip it to the belay loop on their harness. Then pull on the tail and have the climber pull on the load line (the line tied into their harness, not the line attached to the carabiner. You can convert the 2:1 system to a 3:1 system by clipping another carabiner to the anchor and putting the tail through that carabiner. The rope should now form a Z going from the belay device, to the climber, and back to the second carabiner. This system (whether doing 2:1 or 3:1) is meant to be done while the belay is still tied off, so *ONLY* use this for short distances. Once the climber is through the crux and can hold on to something, have them unclip the carabiner from their harness, pull up the slack, rack the carabiner(s), and then untie the knot locking off the belay and go back to belaying them as normal. 3b.Loadhaulingwitha3:1system(withhelpofclimber)
It's like the above (the 3:1 system) except you untie the knot locking off the belay before you start hauling. This allows you to haul the climber a longer distance because you're actually pulling the slack through the belay device. This wasn't something that New River Guides taught to us. I think that's because if you need to haul the climber more than a few feet, you probably won't be able to send the tail down to the climber. But if you can do it, this technique is a bit better than the 3:1 system described below because you don't have to stop to slide the prussik. 3c.Loadhaulingwitha3:1system(withoutaidofclimber)
Requires a prussik (shorter is better) and an extra carabiner. This works similar to the above except instead of connecting to the climber, you’re connected to the prussik. It has the advantage of allowing you to haul up the climber as far as necessary, but may not be as quick to set up as the previous system. First, tie off the belay (e.g. Mule Overhand) so you can go hands‐free. Put a prussik on the load line, put a carabiner on the prussik, and then clip the tail through the carabiner. Then release the belay, and pull the tail (the end that's through the carabiner on the prussik). When the prussik knot gets too close to the belay, just stop and slide it down the load line as far as it will go. There's a video of this technique at http://www.5min.com/Video/How‐to‐Carry‐Someone‐172949475. 4.Ascendingtherope
There are lots of ways to do this, and lots of example videos online. One simple method (using a single leg loop), is described in a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KinRfew1B0M. A method that I found pretty easy, using one prussik and a GriGri, is sorta described at http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/Jug.htm (except they use a specialized ascending device called a Jumar instead of a prussik). There’s also the Texas Prusik. There’s a good diagram of how to tie it at http://www.cascadeadventures.net/images/climb_school/texas_prusik.pdf (which I'm pretty sure was copied out of the Freedom of the Hillls book). 5.MakingaParisianBaudrierchestharness
This quick chest harness will keep you from flipping upside down when on rappel. It should really only be necessary if you need to rappel with an injured or unconscious person. Take a double‐length (8 foot) sling and pass one arm through the loop. Bring the rest of it around your back, underneath your other arm, and then tie the tail in an overhand knot around the initial loop. Clip a carabiner into the tail and then clip it onto the rope that you're going to ascend.