Prusik Knots > Different Types Explained
Prusik Knots > Different Types Explained A prusik (also known as a friction hitch) is a short piece of cord which can be wrapped around your climbing rope to add friction. They can slide up…
Search Results for: Knots
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Knots
Knots
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How To Climb a Big Wall > Short-Fixing
How To Climb a Big Wall > Short-Fixing To speed up the ascent, some climbers prefer to lead in blocks (the same person leads several consecutive pitches), with the leader short-fixing (self-belaying the first section…
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How To Climb a Big Wall > Fixing Pitches
How To Climb a Big Wall > Fixing Pitches When to Fix Pitches on a Big Wall It is common to fix ropes on a big wall. Often this is because you’ve climbed the first…
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How To Climb a Big Wall > Living on the Wall
How To Climb a Big Wall > Living on the Wall Portaledge Setups You should position your portaledge in such a way that it is easy to access things from inside your haulbags. The main…
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How To Climb a Big Wall > Descending
How To Climb a Big Wall > Descending The same principles are used when descending from a big wall as when descending from a multi-pitch trad route. The only real difference is the added weight…
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How To Climb a Big Wall > Hauling (Part 2)
How To Climb a Big Wall > Hauling (Part 2) Docking the Haulbag Once the haulbag is at the belay, you’ll need to ‘dock’ it. This means attaching the haulbag to the belay in such…
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How To Climb a Big Wall > Following
How To Climb a Big Wall > Following Cleaning an aid pitch is different than cleaning a trad pitch. Instead of climbing the rock, you will use jumars to ascend the rope. There are two…
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How To Climb a Big Wall > The Belay
How To Climb a Big Wall > The Belay Setting up a big wall belay is more complicated than a standard trad belay but follows some of the same principles. Belays are bolted on most…
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How To Climb a Big Wall > Leading
How To Climb a Big Wall > Leading Step 1 – On BelayBefore you leave the belay (or ground), you’ll need to get set up for the lead. Both climbers tie into the rope and…
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Aid Climbing and Big Wall Gear
Big wall gear: In addition to regular trad gear, you’ll need some specialist stuff to aid climb. Here is a full description of everything you need.
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Improvised Aid Climbing
Improvised Aid Climbing * This article is about using improvised basic aid techniques while trad climbing. To learn more about aid climbing on big walls, see our articles here. Using protection pieces as hand or…
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Abseiling > How to Deal with Stuck Ropes
Abseiling > How to Deal with Stuck Ropes You try to retrieve your ropes after abseiling and they get stuck. What do you do? Stuck Ropes – Prevention If you are about to abseil down…
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Abseiling > How To Abseil Past a Knot
Abseiling > How To Abseil Past a Knot Times when you might need to abseil past a knot:– When descending a single strand ‘fixed’ rope, where a knot has been tied to isolate a damaged…
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Abseiling > How To Abseil with a Damaged Rope
Abseiling > How To Abseil with a Damaged Rope If you climb long enough, you will inevitably end up having to abseil with a damaged rope at some point. Unfortunately, getting a core-shot (when the…
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The Munter Hitch > How To Belay Without a Belay Device
The Munter Hitch > How To Belay Without a Belay Device Uses:– Belaying without a belay device– Abseiling without a belay device– Creating a releasable knot when escaping the belay The munter hitch tends to…
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Self Rescue > Prusiking Up a Rope
Self Rescue > Prusiking Up a Rope Knowing how to prusik up a rope transforms a potential epic into a mere inconvenience. This article explains how to ascend a rope using prusiks, assuming that you…
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Self Rescue > Rope Soloing
Self Rescue > Rope Soloing Rope soloing is a technique where you belay yourself instead of being belayed by your partner. You can use this technique to lead or top rope belay. More complicated techniques…
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Self Rescue > Mid-Pitch Retreat
Self Rescue > Mid-Pitch Retreat Sometimes, a climb may prove to be too difficult, forcing you into a mid-pitch retreat. This is fairly straightforward if you:– Can downclimb– Are less than half a rope length…
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Self Rescue > Escaping the Belay
Self Rescue > Escaping the Belay The belay escape is a technique whereby the belayer frees themselves from the responsibilities of belaying. This fundamental skill is necessary for many rescue situations. Situations when you may…
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Trad Climbing > Accident Prevention
Trad Climbing > Accident Prevention The vast majority of climbing accidents are preventable. They typically happen due to a series of bad choices. A single bad decision is often not a problem – if you…
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Advanced Trad Anchors > The Quad Anchor
Advanced Trad Anchors > The Quad Anchor The ‘Quad Anchor’ is an anchor system which self-adjusts to keep an equal force on each anchor point. It can be better than other methods of equalizing in…
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Advanced Trad Anchors > The Sliding-X
Advanced Trad Anchors > The Sliding-X AdvantagesThe main advantage of using a self-equalizing anchor is that it continues to distribute the load equally between the anchor pieces as the loading direction changes. This maintains a…
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Attaching to the Anchor > Slings, Daisy Chains and Common Mistakes
Attaching to the Anchor – Slings, Daisy Chains and Common Mistakes Attaching to the Anchor: The Top Shelf To free up space at the central point, you can clip in to the ‘top shelf’ of…
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How To Abseil (Rappel)
Abseiling (or rappelling) is a technique used to descend climbing ropes. This article explains how to attach yourself to the anchor, and abseil with an ATC.
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Trad Anchors > Attaching to the Anchor
Trad Anchors – Attaching to the Anchor You’ll need to attach yourself to the anchor in a way that you can see your partner as they follow the pitch and brace yourself if they fall….
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Nylon or Dyneema Slings?
Nylon or Dyneema Slings? Nylon Climbing Slings Usually around 16-20mm wide, nylon climbing slings are much bulkier (and more durable) than lightweight 6-14mm Dyneema slings. This makes them the best choice for situations such as…
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Abseiling > How To Abseil On Two Ropes With a GriGri
How To Abseil On Two Ropes With a GriGri Sometimes you may want both hands free while abseiling to do things like clean a route, free a stuck rope or swing under an overhang. Using a…
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Sport Climbing > How To Descend
Sport Climbing – How To Descend Lower, Abseil or Walk Off? There are basically three ways to descend; walk off, lower or abseil (rappel). You will either lower or abseil to get down from most…
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Sport Anchors > Cleaning the Anchor
Sport Anchors – Cleaning the Anchor ‘Cleaning’ a sport anchor means removing all of your gear from it. Three of the main ways to do this are described below. Which you choose depends on the…
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How To Coil a Climbing Rope
How To Coil a Climbing Rope If you are storing your rope for a while or stuffing it away in a back pack, coiling a climbing rope is worth the effort and will save you…
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The Double Fisherman’s Bend
The Double Fisherman’s Bend The double fisherman’s bend is used to tie two ends of equal diameter cord together to make a prusik or cordelette. It can also be used as an alternative to the…
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Glacier Travel Fundamentals
Glacier Travel Fundamentals Travelling on a glacier is an exciting element of exploring the high mountains. Many alpine rock climbs can only be accessed by travelling across glaciers, or the glacier itself may be the…
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Glacier Travel > Using the Rope
Glacier Travel > Using the Rope It can be tempting to cross a glacier without bothering to get the rope out, especially if it looks easy or if other climbers have crossed without problems before….
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Crevasse Rescue > Raising Systems
Crevasse Rescue > Raising Systems Imagine you are travelling on a glacier as a team of two, and your partner in front suddenly disappears down into the snow. Step 1The first and most important thing…
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Crevasse Rescue > Prusiking
Crevasse Rescue > Prusiking Prusiking Out of a Crevasse Falling into the dark, icy depths of a crevasse sounds like a scene from a bad movie or a worse nightmare. But this is a real…
