How to multi pitch rappel using a pre-rig rappelling system in combination with a quad anchor
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 เม.ย. 2021
- Chillino guide Fabi and student Stephan demonstrate the entire process of multi pitch rappelling from finishing the last pitch to rappelling down two-pitches/two-times.
The technique of using a pre-rigged rappelling system has the advantage of setting up the entire rappel system (for each climber/rappeller) in advance before the first rappeller leaves each anchor. This allows for a mutual system check as a team where everybody is present vs. each climber individually transitioning from anchor to rappelling.
Transitioning from a self-equalizing anchor to a pre-rigged system is also less gear intense since it only requires the use of one (quad/self-equalizing) anchor that the first rappeller “bumps” down to each new rappel station/anchor.
Using a self-equalizing anchor also has the advantage that the master point equalizes automatically to a variety of different anchor bolt positions. Even though, most rappel anchors tend to be horizontally aligned and no further apart than 45cm/18 inches, there is always a slight difference in bolt positions for each anchor (further apart horizontally and vertically). A self-equalizing anchor, such as the “quad”, has the characteristics to compensate for these differences and create an equalized master point.
Using a pre-rigged system in combination with a self-equalizing anchor (quad) also avoids inconvenient clipping into tight rappel rings/chains or hangers that are crowded with multiple carabiners at chains and hangers.
For pre-rigged rappelling we use an extension (PAS) to attach our rappel device to the harness. In most cases, the added distance between harness and rappel device creates enough room to not be pulled on by movement that is caused by the rappelling climber. If using a friction hitch back-up (as the second, 3rd or 4th rappeller), make sure to attach it to the brake strands after the tension has been taken off the rappel line/s - in order to not be inconveniently pulled by your friction hitch. Or ask your partner for a fireman’s backup (as demonstrated in the video).
The handling of an extended rappel device (with PAS) also tends to be more comfortable as it allows rappellers to hold their hands on the brake strands right in front of the chest (vs. lower than waist when not extnded). Also, an extended rappel device lowers the risk of getting “stuff” (such as, hair,..) stucked in the rappel device.
Legend has it that Stefan is still standing silently at the last rap station, happy that Fabi is chatting somewhere else in another faraway crag
Very nice video. I only have one additional recommendation -- it's a good idea to secure the rope to the next station before removing the ATC. Definitely do this before the second person on rappel removes his/her device at the next belay station!
At 13:55 there is a period were the rope is connected to the first anchor station above and NOT the climbers or the second anchor station. Dropping the rope would at this moment would leave the two climbers stranded without the rope. This could occur when the two anchor stations are not lined up vertically or if the wind blew the rope away.
This can be accomplished by the first climber on rappel by either (1) untying the stopper knot on one end of the rope, threading it through the rappel rings at the new anchor station, and retying the stopper knot or (2) taking the two strands below your rappel device, tying off a bight of rope (either overhand or figure 8 on a bight), and clipping it to the anchor. I like the second option because it keeps both ends of the rope closed at all times until the second reaches the next rappel station.
Your advise about the rope ends is solid. I knew a famous climber who tried to "throw" the rope ends across to a partner in another crack; they stopped halfway across, and the FC ended up down-soloing a 5.10, and running out to gather a local rescue group, to return and belay him back up to his hypothermic partner, stuck for several hours. Fame is no guarantee of competence.
The best way to check and see if your rappel is working is to put your full body weight on it. Transfer of weight is one of the most important things you can do when switching from one system to the next. Visually checking it is important, but if you don’t weight it , you don’t know if it’s actually working.
If you put your autoblock in first, you can suspend the rope weight on the autoblock, thus giving you some slack to easily put in your ATC. :)
@Tim T That's a great point. That will make it much easier to attach the rappel device to the rope 👍
Great video, very clear instruction and you explained each step well, plus adding little tips to make everything run smoothly. thanks again.
I’ve been searching for a video such as this that so clearly demonstrates and easily explains a multi-pitch rappel. Thank you so much for this video!
Such a good instructional video, criminal you don't have more views.
@Jordan Green Thanks for your comment! This makes us very happy 🤗💫🏞
Awesome vid. Love how you did the rappel cycle from start to finish demonstrating how to do it. Very easy to understand. 🙌
Very nice. Thank you for taking the time to put this video together.
Your videos are very informative!! I’m going on my first multi-pitch climb in a few weeks and feel more comfortable now that i kind of know what’s going on. Thanks for the great content.
Best multi-pitch rappelling video I've seen on TH-cam!! Would have loved to see something like this before I went out for my first guided multi pitch, would have made me much less apprehensive.
Excellent demo. 👌
Thank you! Best instruction I’ve seen on this.
Thanks for your comment. This is so awesome to hear! The motivates us to post more videos 🤗
That’s an excellent tutorial video. Yes, there’s a few minor things that you might’ve done different/a bit better, but it’s 98% solid.
1:20 removing that rope without it being attached to anything. I would not dare handle my most important piece of gear loose like that out of fear of dropping it and being stuck for the rest of the day waiting for rescue
Great job. Clear, conscice and well done.
@Robert Blowers Thanks for your feedback. This motivated us to create more tech tips videos
Love this, super helpful
nice video very informative.
as always with any climbing video tutorial here is a recommendation:
Before attaching your abseil device is a good habit to put on your third hand first, this will make it easier to attach your atc etc to your rope among a few more advantages.
cheers
Very nice informative video. Would love to see this with twin/half ropes :)
Thanks for your comment. We love hearing your positive feedback. And certainly a great suggestion to use twin/half ropes for multi pitch use when long dbl. rope rappels are required. For this technique the video misses to show how to join two ropes together. Our suggestion with a flat oerhand bend (EDK ;)
Such a killer video, you covered everything. Best I’ve seen! Keep it up 👍 do you guys do training in the same area?
Thanks for your amazing comment. That makes us go out and create more videos. And yes! We train and teach classes in San Diego area (as in vid) and Joshua Tree 👍🏻
@@Chillinorockclimbingsandiego what’s the best way to contact you for classes?
Is this mission control 5.8? Thanks for making it!
Hey one big question . What can I do if my rope gets stuck with something when I’m pulling it down from the rappel station above me?
how long should be the quad equalizing rope you use for the anchor point in meters? Could I use a 5,5 mm Kevlar cord for that purpose?
Not sure about the Kevlar material but the cord length before tying should be around 16-20ft. Shorter for sport anchors, longer for trad anchors. The cord used in the video is kind of long for rappel anchors. I prefer a 180cm Dynema sling tied into a quad (same anchor type as video)
And the rings stay there?
if i reach an anchor point with or without a ledge, i would prefer to have my own backup...and i would only hook into the descendsystem when the rope is free...
do you think it is too dangerous to load only one anchorpoint when rappelling?
i mean if you are the first to descend and you don't have a balance anchor on it or quad anchor..
but i don't think there is a general solution...
there are so many ways to do it.
thanks for your thoughts
You should definitely avoid trusting a single piece of rock protection, even a bolt. If you don't have something like a quad to use, make a second personal anchor out of something like a double-length sling.
One absolutely "bombproof" piece has been trusted thousands of times; and yet a few score of those have failed. A paradox is that modern bolted anchors are impossible to assess, aside from condition and appearance, while say a 9 hex sunk out of sight in a solid tapering crack is probably stronger than a single 1/2" bolt.
Rappelling carefully creates loads barely above body weight; anchors set for belay stations should withstand twenty times that force. Natural trad is a whole different world, and tidy fixed stations may not exist. Reality dictates your options, and most I've rappelled from were "distributed," so the load would transfer from one piece to the other with minimal drop or shifting; this always felt logically sounder than "equalizing," which actually seems as if you can't tell a better piece from a crappy one, and so almost guarantee one will fail. I've also rapped from single wired stoppers, and shallow bashed square nuts on sling, because nothing else was available. I am still amazed the latter held; not recommended.
What would you do in a situation whereby your second anchor might not have a ledge for you to stand on? Would you have to just hang on the anchor while you created your next rappel?
Never climbed before, so unsure if this is a situation you may never find yourself in.
@J that's a great question. Your scenarion described - a 'HANGING BELAY' is a very realistic scanario and surely only makes it more complicated. In this case there are a few things to consider specifically:
a) make sure you don't lower too far below the masterpoint! You want to be able to reach the masterpoint with your PAS - otherwise you are dangling below the masterpoint not being able to clip in (without ascending the rope, another technical system). The same clunts for the second or third rappeller coming down.
b) we mentioned it in the video: particularly when clipping into a hanging belay, make sure to clip the 'quad/self-equalizing' anchor above the rappel rings into the hangers. If you clip them below the rappel rings and then transition into rappel your device and rope, you will pinch your quad anchor with your bodyweight to the hangers and it will be awkward and difficult to unclip your quad.
Also, you better like your climbing partner as you will be hanging tightly next to each other, hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder.
What is a quad anchor?
On the second anchor, just clip a large HMS carabiner to the ring as a masterpoint, quad not required. The ring is attached to two bolts via the chain so you have redundancy. Everything else in the system would fail, including your spine, before you could generate enough force to break that ring.
I would really like to hear why an extended belay is so important, thx.
I saw today one video of a guy showing the difference in setting the belay and prussik in different setups. I hope it helps you as it helped me.
th-cam.com/video/WPrcUv3mc8M/w-d-xo.html
The extension is important because in this scenario several rappellers are simultaneously attached to the rope (pre-rigged rappelling). When the first rappeller goes down, she will move the rope left or right (depending on the rappel line - sometimes it is necessary to pendulum far over). Each movement that is out of the fall line of the anchor (left or right) will create movement on the entire rope. If the top rappeller (waiting at the anchor) does not have an extension, he/she would be pulled (to the left or right) by the movement of the lower rappeller.
Consequently the extension acts as a buffer to compensate for (out of the fall line) movement created by the rappelling person below.
The main reason for an extension is to ensue your auto-block does not touch the rappel device when weighted. If the auto-block is too close to the device, then your device will push the auto block down; thus, allowing the rope to slide freely. This is a very crucial piece to understand when relying an auto block. (An extension from your belay loop to your device of about 1.5' with an auto block tied closely to your harness should create enough space too ensure your auto-block and rappel device do not touch.) Longer is better than shorter in this when it comes to your extension; As long as your device is well within reach, around chest height when weighted, you're good to go.
The extension is also used to mitigate discomfort for anyone else on the line, although this is not what I consider to be *the* reason for an extension as it is not a life threat to be yanked around by the person below you, only super annoying XD.
Hope this helps!
I was taught the same as @Will Wilson. Essentially, without an extension there is a potential for the friction hitch to get sucked up into the plaquette causing the friction hitch to fail. With the extension, the friction hitch cannot get sucked into the plaquette, thus avoiding this point of failure.
At 8:20 the other climber does not have their auto block on, is that intentional? The main person has theirs on, and they are below, but If the top climber let go of their rope they would slide down and crash into the below person
You address this at 9:46, but at that point they still are not redundant at all until you are down and start fireman’s belay. Perhaps keep them attached to the anchor?
@@gorbot2686 While the first climber is rappelling his entire body weight is on the rope. This locks off the second climber's belay device.
@@gorbot2686 Even before the first climber is weighting the rope, he's backing up the second one in the same way that a catastrophe knot would: the second can't rappel past the first, who is backed up by the autoblock.
@@kilpatjr But a total newbie could certainly unclip from the system. I don't like the lack of any direct anchor in any case.
Gos this seems like a lot of work.
where is there a multipitch in Mission Trails?
Certainly not a multi pitch climbing area but with many tiers of rock there are a few options where yo8 can add a second (usually short) pitch. For example:
1." Crack of dust" into "Quack of ducks"
2. "The owl" into "Mission Gorge Traverse"
3. "Skyline Arete" or "Beautiful" into "skyline Pinnacle/chimney"
4. "The Stairs" into "the climb above" the anchor
@@Chillinorockclimbingsandiego Nice! i was looking to practice my multipitch skills and I was like WHAAA? i didnt think there was any multipitch so close in mission trails. Good to know for when i get into trad
Nice video, but... it only works with bomber bolts or a good station. In a more harsh real-life scenario, only the last person should completely weight the station. Need to have additional pieces to enforce the station until the very end. Not good for guide-client scenario. Also, the rope needs to be attached to the lower station as well in case the upper station breaks, as already pointed out.
Mission gorge?
Yes! This is at Mission Trails Regional Park (Mission Gorge) in San Diego. The first anchor we rappel from is the anchor of "Prime Directive, 5.10c" or just to the right of the 2nd pitch of "Lilly's Delight, 5.7". The second anchor we rappel from (to the ground) is the top of several routes, such as "Empathy, 5.10b" or the first pitch of "Lilly's Delight, 5.7"
I have no serious qualms with anything here, but must say, after over fifty years of climbing, with never any rappelling incidents, I find a lot of the modern methods to be an odd mix of over-complication, and yet less cautious in other aspects. At any trustworthy fixed bolted anchors, using any sort of equalizing quad is becoming needlessly overengineered - especially where only forces from toproping or rappelling are created. Such established anchors are expected to be solid, capable of withstanding severe leader fall impacts from above; equalizing is logical only where neither piece is trusted alone, but must be used, i.e. alpine epics, poor trad gear and such. And once the quad is taken down, the remaining pieces of the rap station are not going to be "equalized," anyway.
Equalization has been found to be dubious, as sliding systems look fancy but often increase drops and shocks, if one leg were to fail - but they can also confuse and complicate the clients ability to understand the anchor.
In this video, setting up both parties on rappel, but then removing the entire anchor, seems off - at least have a PAS to the anchor directly until weighting the rappel rope proves sound. If the first to rappel has a problem, the other is already locked into the ropes, and will be struggling with ropes under tension.
At the second station, the eye ring is already a "Master point;" it doesn't hurt to create an independent system, but eventually that single ring is going to be trusted absolutely for at least the weight of one rappeller, and equalizing off it gains nothing, except postponing the moment it takes the full load.
In short, all the new modern methods can seem rather mindless, if just applied automatically each and every time. Instead, think about what might back up the rap rope, i.e. a separate draw directly to the higher bolt, clipped to the rope in case the lower ring or bolt fails, at least until it has held the first descender.
Visual inspection is essential, but actually weighting the rap rope before unclipping is also crucial, as that can move things around and reveal more mistakes that could be catastrophic - a ranger friend caught his mis-threaded ATC this way, and 40 years of climbing is no guarantee that mistakes aren't still possible.
Bad practice!
Thanks for your comment. Can you please explain why so that we understand the 'bad practice' characteristic of this multi-pitch rappelling technique?
Looks efficient and safe to me. What do you see?
Looks good to me???
Maybe cuz the guy didn't back up the autoblock at the 2nd anchor?
Helmets? Actually backing up the rappel? Making sure his 2nd threaded his device correctly? This video is far better than most... Enjoy life
@@Chillinorockclimbingsandiego
A very cool and useful video.
The presented method is very good for mountain guides.
If you are doing multi pitch rappel in an experienced team, it would be better to:
-do not use fireman backup - dangerous as you do not see your partner
-the second one removes the stand
-we always start with autoblock in first
-you should always load the rappel system before unplugging the personal anchor - visual check is not good enough
It is also a good practice to attach the rope to the hangers at the next station. Thanks to this, if something goes wrong during the descent or your partner makes a mistake, it will prevent him from falling to the base of the wall