Alpine Tips
My crevasse rescue gear
There are many approaches to crevasse rescue and many choices for what gear to bring. You need light weight, multifunction, and hopefully have teammates with similar kit to have an effective rescue. Here's my go-to crevasse rescue gear.
There are many different approaches to crevasse rescue, and a near infinite combination of gear that you could carry. The basic requirements are 1) being able to climb the rope if you fall in, and 2) rescuing your partner if you’re the lucky one on top, and they can’t climb out. Fortunately, modern tools and techniques lets you do both with a minimum of gear and weight.
The gear requirements can change depending on team size and general skill level, but here’s a pretty good starting point.
This is pretty much the bare minimum. The idea is with a three of four person team, if everyone carries more or less the same basic kit, rescuers can combine gear as needed.
If you're on a two person team (which is generally considered experts only) you might want to carry a few more items, like maybe another locker, or a120 cm sling.
My crevasse rescue gear
6 locking carabiners: Grivel Clepsydra S, Black Diamond oval, large HMS and three “D” - The Clepsydra works great to clip yourself to the rope, because you can never crossload it, and the gate is very secure. Also works as a progress capture with a a prusik, if you don't have any progress capture pulley like a Traxion. The oval locking carabiner is a time-tested workhorse, and plays well with devices like the Traxion and Tibloc. A larger HMS locking carabiner is helpful if you need to clip other things to it. Finally the D lockers covers any other secure connection you might need. (Yes, I probably have one more locker than I need, but Murphy's Law of rescues is you always need one more locking carabiner.)
1 small snapgate carabiner - you need to rack your screw on something. You can use a non-locking carabiner for non-critical connections, such as the “tractor” in a 3:1 Z drag.
Petzl Tibloc - handy and lightweight ascender and rope grab.
Petzl Nano Traxion (or Micro Traxion) - the modern standard for crevasse rescue gear. Yes, they are expensive, but so helpful in so many situations, they are pretty much becoming everyday carry.
17 cm aluminum Petzl Laser Speed Light ice screw - if you can get down to ice, this can be your anchor on the top. If you fall in, you might be able to place the screw and clip yourself to it to take your weight off of the rope, which can make life for your partners on top a LOT easier when they set up the rescue. Don't bring a screw shorter than about 16 cm.
About 3 meters of Sterling V-TX cord - typically used for equalizing a second anchor, ascending a rope, or securing yourself to the rope system. (Amazing cord; 5.4 mm and rated 15 kN). You don’t need the standard (7 mm 6 meters long) cordelette on a glacier.
Short friction hitch - for climbing up the rope if you fall in, and for making a “tractor” on your hauling system. Here I’m using a spliced eye 5mm hitch cord, which grips well on 6 mm rope. This is made by a cool company called RopeLite; check ‘em out for custom spliced ropework solutions. (There are many other options, such as a loop of 6mm cord or a Sterling Hollowblock.)
What about that picket? Pickets can be very helpful in building a snow anchor but they're not required. Pickets are commonly carried in North America, South America and New Zealand, but not so much in Europe. A more minimalist approach involves making a T-slot anchor with your buried ice axe, skis, or backpack. But to me the axe is a crucial piece of gear, and I'm not too excited to bury it in the snow in case I need it for something else.
When I do carry one, it's the SMC Pro Picket. This is reasonably lightweight, has a pointy end for going into the snow and a reinforced top for bashing on with a hammer. The nicest feature is a permanently attached metal cable on the middle hole, which is how pickets have maximum strength in either vertical or horizontal placements. (That means you need one less 120 cm sling.)
What I don’t bring: pulley, belay device, several “just in case” extra carabiners, designated waist or leg prusik loops. Need another pulley? Grab the Traxion from your partner. Need to rappel or give someone a belay? Use a Munter hitch on your HMS carabiner. The carabiners above are more than enough. And forget those old-school designated waist and leg prusiks; you can easily ascend a rope with the gear shown above.
Where to carry this gear? You want the gear you need to climb a rope easily accessible on your harness or pack gear loops, not inside your pack. For ascending a rope with the gear shown here, I’d keep the orange cord and the oval carabiner with the Tibloc and the Traxion on my harness at a minimum. The rest can probably go inside your pack. I’d also keep the screw on my harness. If you fall in, you might be able to place it and clip to it, removing your weight from the rope as mentioned above.
Harness: A minimalist mountaineering harness, I like the Petzl Tour. Leave that sport climbing harness with the five gear loops at home. You want lightweight, no padding because you have on lots of clothes and (hopefully) are not gonna be hanging in it, with leg loops that open so you can easily put it on while wearing crampons or skis.
Rope: Varies on team size and skill level. Good options include:
30 meter, 6 mm Petzl RADline
40 meter, 7.7 mm Sterling Dyad
50 meter, 7.1 mm Edelrid Skimmer (which is currently the lightest dynamic rope on the market)
The diameter, length, and static vs. dynamic issue of the “best” rope for glacier travel is a BIG topic. Here's a link to some articles on my website that take a closer look. 1) Petzl 6mm static RADLine, 2) static rope for glacier travel.
So, that's my kit. Simple, lightweight, everything has a function. With this I can build just about any flavor of mechanical advantage hauling system I might need, like a 2:1, 3:1, and 6:1.
Some examples of 6:1 systems are here.
Minus the picket, this is what everything weighs.
“Drop end 3:1” for crevasse rescue
The modern approach to crevasse rescue is to use a separate, unweighted rescue rope strand to pull out your unfortunate partner. Typically, this is done with a 2:1 “drop loop” system. Here's a variation with some improvements: dropping down one END of the rope, and hauling with a 3:1 mechanical advantage.
This article was reviewed by IFMGA Certified Guide Rob Coppolillo, co-author of “The Mountain Guide Manual” and author of “The Ski Guide Manual”. Connect with Rob: @vettamtnguides and his website.
Credit to AMGA Certified Rock Guide Ryan Tilley, who made a video about this method. Kevin Govan @govanathon and Pierre_Gtr @biderchurch also mentioned it to me.
There are two primary systems commonly used for crevasse rescue; the “drop loop C”, and the “Z drag.” While they each have their pros and cons, the drop loop C has become the modern standard. Here's a longer article with pro tips on the drop loop C.
“Drop loop C” - 2:1 mechanical advantage
Pro: Brake knots in the rope don’t interfere with your hauling system.
Pro: You can prepare the crevasse lip to more easily pull out your unfortunate partner.
Pro: Puts the lowest load onto the anchor; (approx 1x your pulling force.)
Con: You usually need to carry at least twice the length of rope that’s between team members to be able to drop a loop. This usually means a two person team needs at least a 60 meter rope.
Con: if the middle person falls in on a 3 person team, this might be a problem, because the end person may not have enough rescue rope to reach them.
“Z drag” - 3:1 mechanical advantage
Pros: You can set up the haul system with a small amount of extra rope. This can allow teams to travel on a shorter rope.
Cons: Pretty much the mirror image of the 2:1 system: Brake knots can cause problems, and the rope often cuts into the lip of the crevasse.
Cons: Puts a larger load on to the anchor, (approx 2x your pulling force.)
However, these aren’t your only options. What if you could combine these systems to get most of the benefits and few of the downsides?
That's what you get with a “drop end 3:1”.
Benefits of the drop end 3:1:
Lets you prepare the lip so the rescue line doesn’t cut into the snow.
Brake knots are not an issue, ignore them.
Gives you more pulling power than a 2:1. (Both systems are easy to convert to a 6:1 if you need too.)
Easily reversible to a lower if needed.
Requires a LOT less rope! No need to have twice the amount of rope between partners, like with a drop loop.
Can be easier to rescue the middle person (that dirty little secret of crevasse rescue that often is not discussed when using a drop loop C.)
Allows a team to use a shorter rope. For a two person team using the drop C method, to maintain adequate spacing, maybe tie 3 or 4 brake knots (which take about 1 meter of rope each) AND for each partner to carry at least twice the length of rope as rescue coils, you pretty much need a 60 meter rope at a minimum. (This is counterintuitive for most people; a two person team needs a 60 meter rope, while a three person team can use a 50 meter rope!)
This also lets a three person team use a shorter rope. For example, you could have a three person team on a 40 meter rope: (11-9-middle-9-11) 9 meters between each climber, and each end person carrying 11 meters of rope.
Allows a greater spacing between climbers with the same length of rope. For example, in an area with large crevasses, a three person team might choose to use a 60 meter rope, and have 14 meters between climbers (16-14-middle-14-16) with this system. With a drop loop C system, you'd need to do at least 20-10-middle-10-20, with 10 meters between each climber, in case of a middle climber fall.
You learn ONE primary system that works in just about every scenario, instead of learning two different systems that may not work in every case and can be confusing to learn and remember, years later, in the heat of battle.
Drop end 3:1 crevasse rescue sequence (team of three):
Unfortunate Climber 1 falls in a crevasse. (The climbers on top remember that Climber 1 has the car keys, so they decide to pull ‘em out.)
Climber 2 (middle) and Climber 3 (end) on top arrest the fall.
Climber 2 builds an anchor and transfers the load by clipping their clip in bight knot to the anchor. Climber 1 is now secure on the anchor.
Climber 3 puts a friction hitch onto the rope to secure themselves, unclips from their clip in knot, and unties their clip in knot.
Climber 3, sliding their friction hitch along the rope to secure themselves, approaches the edge of the crevasse to check on climber 1.
Climber 1 calls up that they want/need to be hauled out.
Climber 3 ties a bight knot in the END of the rope, clips a locking carabiner to it, lowers the carabiner down to climber 1, and tells them to clip the carabiner to their belay loop.
Meanwhile, Climber 2 builds a 3:1 Z drag anywhere that’s convenient, such as on the backside of the bight knot that's clipped to the anchor.
Climber 3 prepares the lip of the crevasse a bit off to one side by carefully knocking off loose snow, and puts their ice axe onto the edge of the crevasse so the rescue rope won’t dig in.
Climber 2 and Climber 3 start hauling, climber 1 gets pulled up.
If this 3:1 for some reason doesn’t give enough pulling power, it's easy to convert it to a (theoretical) 6:1.
Assuming a 3 person team with a 50 meter rope, here’s the process in photos.
The rigging in these photos is compressed into a small area for the demo. In reality this is stretched out over much more rope.
The team is rigged and ready for glacier travel:
The middle person is clipped to the middle of the rope. (Side note: a good rope for glacier travel is a dry treated half rope. One good option is the Sterling Duetto 8.4 mm, which comes in convenient lengths like 30, 40, and 50 meters.)
The lead and end climbers, also clipped to the rope, are about 11 meters away (about 7 full arm spans, for me) either direction from the middle person.
The end climbers carry the extra rope (about 14 meters each) as rescue coils. This gives a rope spacing of 14-11-middle-11-14.
The team has brake knots between each climber to hopefully limit the fall distance. (This is optional for a three person team, but can be a good idea in some situations.)
Whoops, the lead climber (Klimber Kettlebell), falls into a crevasse!
The partners on top arrest the fall. The middle climber builds an anchor and transfers the load by clipping their clip in bight knot to the anchor. The end climber on top secures themselves to the rope with a friction hitch, unties their clip-in knot, and unties any remaining brake knots. This frees up all of the remaining rope (25 meters) to use for a rescue.
On the back side of the connection to the anchor, tie a butterfly knot as a secondary anchor point. This is optional, but has some benefits: it makes an easy-to-clip, uncluttered anchor point, can help keep rope strands from pinching/twisting/crossing, and makes it easy to build a 6:1 mechanical advantage system if you need it later.
Approach the lip of the crevasse carefully, you don't want to knock down a bunch of snow onto your partner. They’re already having a bad day, don't make it worse. Be sure you’re secured to the rope with a friction hitch.
Ask your partner what they need. In this case, let's assume they yell, “Pull me up!”
In the END of the rescue rope, tie a bight knot and clip a locking carabiner to it. Do not lock it.
Lower this locker to your unfortunate partner.
“Drop end”, get it?
Unfortunate partner clips locker to their belay loop and locks it. They are now secure on the “dropped” strand and are ready to be hauled out on this strand.
Prepare the lip of the crevasse.
If you can do this off to the side a bit from your unfortunate partner, that's a good thing.
Knock down loose snow that’s under the rescue strand, and put an ice axe or something similar under the rope so it doesn't cut into the snow. Onto the original strand your partner fell on, secure your axe so it doesn't fall in and get lost. (Securing the axe is not shown in the photo).
Pro tip: if you think you need to rappel into the hole to render assistance, it's easy to add your rappel device with an extension below your friction hitch, which greatly simplifies getting back out of the hole in guide mode. Here's a detailed article on that technique.
Build a 3:1 Z drag haul system with the rescue rope. Use the butterfly knot you tied as the anchor point. You need a progress capture in the system; here I'm using a Petzl Micro Traxion.
Pro tip: dig out a little hole with your hands under the Traxion pulley. This prevents snow/ice from jamming into the toothed cam. =^)
In this example, we assume that the two partners doing the rescue have a Traxion and a pulley to use. Using both of these, you get a calculated mechanical advantage of 2.7 to 1. Not quite a 3:1, but about as good as it gets. Quite a bit better than the calculated mechanical advantage of a drop loop C, which is 1.9 to 1.
Note that in the real world, the friction over the lip of the crevasse will further reduce the actual efficiency any hauling system.
Nice! You’re ready to haul.
Push the “tractor” friction hitch as far as you can toward the edge of the crevasse.
Start pulling on your 3:1. With a 3:1 system, the load on the anchor is two times the force of your pulling. So, keep that pulling force slow and steady by trying to walk slowly and continuously backward, rather than doing a “1,2,3 HEAVE,” type of pull, which can put a higher peak load on the anchor.
As your victim gets close, be sure to check on them often to be sure they don't get pulled up into the crevasse lip.
keep a good eye on them.
Reset the system as needed.
Here's a close-up of the 3:1 Z drag.
If you need more pulling power, it's easy to convert this into a 6:1 system.
There are various ways to do this, here's one that's pretty simple. Add a clove hitch, prusik loop or rope grab onto the pull strand, and clip the backside of the rope coming off of your secondary anchor to this.
You have now have a 2:1 on top of the 3:1, giving you a 6:1 theoretical mechanical advantage. To move the load 1 meter, you need to pull 6 meters of rope through the system.
This puts a load on the anchor of approximately five times the amount of pulling force you’re applying. If you're gonna use a 6:1, be sure your anchor system is as solid as you can make it. If you started with a single buried deadman anchor, you might want to add another one and try to equalize the two pieces.
The calculated mechanical advantage of this is around 4.7 to 1. If you had one additional pulley, you could put it on the purple carabiner, and increase your mechanical advantage to around 5.1 to 1. Friction at every change of direction reduces your efficiency. The more pulleys you can use, the better your efficiency.
Tip to increase pulling efficiency: if you have one pulley, it's best to put it closest to the strand that is getting the initial pulling force. In this case, I moved the pulley from the initial 3:1 friction hitch onto this new rope grab.
Here's a close-up of the 6:1 mechanical advantage rigging, called a “C on a Z”.
We built a 2:1 on top of the 3:1. This is called a compound pulley system. You multiply the two forces together to get a 6:1.
Here, I pretended I was a bit short on gear, so I used a clove hitch on the pull strand. Yes, resetting that means untying and retying, which is a hassle. Any sort of rope grab (prusik, Tibloc, Traxion) works better, but hey, be resourceful and use what you have.
So, that's a look at the drop end 3:1 for crevasse rescue.
It's fast to set up, it's one simple system that you can use in just about any scenario, it requires minimal gear, and you can easily increase it to a 6 to 1 if you need the turbo pull.
Is this “better’ than the drop C? Could the drop end 3:1 become the new standard practice?
Now I get it, there are many different approaches to crevasse rescue and I have no illusions that this is suddenly going to become to go to method. People are very attached to what they’ve learned. But methods evolve, better systems are invented, and it's good to keep an open mind about something that just might work better than the way you're doing it.
Give them both a try and see which one works for you.
Crevasse rescue: "drop loop C" tips
A popular approach to crevasse rescue is to use a 2:1 “drop C” as the primary mechanical advantage system. Learn some of the advantages of the drop C over the 3:1 Z drag, some easy hacks to make it work even better, and how to overcome a couple of potential problems.
There are many approaches to crevasse rescue. The traditional method of a 3:1 mechanical advantage “Z drag” was the standard, and it’s still worth learning.
(There's actually a more modern approach to the Z drag where you drop one end of the rescue rope to the victim and set up a 3:1. Here's a complete article about the drop end 3:1 method.
A popular (and modern) method is to use a 2:1 “drop loop / drop C” system.
Advantages of the 2:1 drop loop over the traditional 3:1 Z drag:
Can avoid the often significant problem and friction of the loaded rope cutting into the lip of the crevasse.
Puts the lowest possible load on the anchor. The lower the mechanical advantage, the less force goes onto the anchor. This could be a good thing in crevasse rescue.
Victim can assist by pulling on one strand of the dropped loop, more below.
If you have brake knots in the rope, you can bypass them.
It can be easier to set up.
Downsides:
Can require more rope (but with some crafty rope tricks, not always, see below.)
Notes . . .
With a 2:1 system like this, two reasonably strong team members on top should be able to pull out one person who's in the hole, especially if the victim can assist in the process by pulling down on the load strand of the rope. Doing this creates a little slack, and reduces friction on the lip.
In reasonable conditions, ONE fairly strong person on top may be able lift the person in the crevasse. The technique for this is rather than simply pulling with your hands, drape the rope over your neck, bend your knees, and do squats. If you can deadlift 100 pounds or so, you ought to be able to lift your partner. Remember, you have a (theoretical) 2:1 MA. Here's a short Instagram video clip demonstrating this.
Alternatively, you can lower a carabiner or pulley to your victim and have the progress capture on the top. There are pros and cons to both of these methods, we’ll cover those below.
Progress capture on top, or on the victim?
With the drop loop C, you have two options where to put the progress capture pulley: 1) You can lower it down on the rope to your unfortunate partner, or 2) you can have it up on top. There are a few advantages to having it on the top.
If you set it up backwards, you can easily fix it. A progress capture pulley like the Traxion has to be set up correctly, otherwise you will not be able to pull. This might seem simple when you're training on a nice sunny day, but in the pressure of a rescue it can be easy to set it up incorrectly. If you do that on top, it's simple to flip it around and correct your mistake.
It’s easy to reverse the direction of pull. If for any reason you decide you need to lower your victim, you can easily do this on top by disengaging the cam. It’s much more complicated to do this if the Traxion is on your victim. Important: when your victim gets close to the top, have someone monitoring them carefully to be sure they don't get pulled into the lip of the crevasse.
Less chance of snow/ice getting jammed in the cam mechanism. As the Traxion gets pulled up near the lip of the crevasse, there's a chance that snow could get jammed into the cam mechanism, and potentially cause it not to engage properly. Pro tip: If the Traxion is on top, you can dig out a little hole underneath with your hands so the pulley is pretty much hanging in the air, and is not in contact at all with the snow.
The victim can help out
With the drop loop system, half of the rope is being pulled up and half is not moving. If the victim is functional, they can help the process a lot by pulling down on the side that’s not moving. This greatly reduces the pulling force required by the hauling team on top. If you do this, be careful not to get your hand or glove sucked into the pulley.
Another option is that the victim can pull down or even start ascending on the original rope strand they fell in on. Doing this can pretty much completely remove their weight from of the drop loop C, which again makes hauling online easier for the people on top.
A 2:1 drop C creates the lowest forces on the anchor
In crevasse rescue, your anchor might be an ice ax buried in a quickly excavated T-slot. Depending on snow conditions, how deep you’re digging, and whether you stomped down the area in front of the ax, the strength of this anchor can vary a lot.
So, given that you're anchor might be less than ideal, it might be a good idea to have rigging that puts the least possible force on the anchor. That's what you get with a 2:1 - about 1x of your pulling force gets applied to the anchor.
To explain this, I’m going to take a quote directly from the outstanding book, “The Mountain Guide Manual”, by Rob Coppolillo and Marc Chauvin (pg. 216).
“When not moving, the climber is suspended on two strands and the friction on the lip removes forces on the anchor. What's the haul begins, only one side of the loop moves, meaning that only half of the friction needs to be overcome while the other half of the friction continues to aid the anchor.”
A redirect makes a 3X force on the anchor
You might be tempted to put a progress capture pulley on to the anchor, run the pulling strand through that, and then pull toward the victim. This can work. But, this redirect puts a load on the anchor that's about three times your pulling force. Minimizing load on the anchor in a crevasse rescue is usually a good thing, so be mindful of this.
Alternative way to rig it is with the progress capture on the anchor, but then you pull in line with the rope rather than a redirect. This minimizes friction, and put a load on the anchor only (about) one times your pulling force.
Friction hitches work for a progress capture
Check out this nice diagram from Ortovox. A prusik hitch goes on each side of the drop loop. As you pull up, the blue helmet rescuer advances the prusik, capturing the load. (See the video at bottom for a demo of this.)
If you look carefully at the close up diagram in the circle, you can see that this progress capture friction hitch is attached to the same friction hitch that is securing the blue helmet rescuer.
Here's a video that shows this in action. This particular technique starts at about 4:10.
image: https://www.ortovox.com/uk/safety-academy-lab-ice/chapter-3/rescuing-a-companion
Easily convert a 2:1 to a 6:1
If you need additional pulling power, it's easy to convert this drop loop 2:1 into a 6:1 mechanical advantage system. Here's an article about how to do that.
Clip an additional carabiner to the anchor to serve as a redirect. As mentioned above, this does increase force on the anchor, compared to your original 2:1.
Add a friction hitch, carabiner and pulley (if you have one) to the previous pull strand.
Clip the tail to the pulley. You created a 3:1 on top of a 2:1. Multiply these values together to get a 6:1 compound system. (If you have only one pulley, it should go on the part of the system that's closest to your hand that's doing the pulling. This creates the greatest efficiency in your haul system. This system also works if you only have carabiners and no pulleys, but it's less efficient.)
Here's a pro tip for rigging a drop C more easily, from IFMGA Guide Ben Markhart.
Add a locking carabiner to the pulley, clip a sling to this, and then clip another locker to the end of the sling. Instruct your crevasse rescue victim to clip the bottom locker onto their harness. This can be helpful in a couple of ways:
Provides a nice hand hold for the victim, which can help keep them more upright.
Can help “extend” the dropped loop rope if the rope is too short. (More on that below.)
(The downside to doing this is that the victim is not able to pull down on the half of the loop that’s fixed, which can make hauling for your buddies on top quite a bit easier. Like most things in climbing, there's a trade off.)
Check out Ben’s short Instagram video here.
Ben explains:
“Your instinct is to want to hold onto something, and it makes it lot more comfortable on your core muscles. So this makes people want to grab about 8-12 inches above the pulley if there is no extension, now the rope has to slide though your hand to haul and is easy to get sucked into the pulley if your not careful. This way you hold onto the sling, much more comfortable.”
screen grab from Ben markhart, https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd_OOQJJeHh/?hl=en
What if you don't have enough rope to reach the victim with a drop loop?
Solution #1: Extend the pulley
This is one of the most common concerns and potential downsides of using a drop loop system. Here are several solutions.
In the last photo above, I extended the drop loop with a 60 cm sling and a locker. How about extending it with something longer? Like maybe a cordelette, either in a tied loop or a single strand with a bight knot at both ends? Doing this extends the clipping point so it reaches your victim. Nothing in the rulebook says that the lowered pulley has to be clipped directly to the harness of your victim. Lower the pulley as far as you can, and extend it with whatever slings/cordelette you have the rest of the way if needed.
A possible downside to doing this is that the pulley might get wedged into the snow at the lip of the crevasse. If you knock down a lot of the loose snow and prepare the lip properly, this hopefully is not an issue.
Also, the anchor needs to be back from the edge at least the distance of your cordelette. If you don't do this, you will run out of rope to pull while your victim is still below the lip.
Solution #2: Your progress capture doesn’t need to be on the actual anchor
When you drop a loop of rope to your partner, one side of the “C” is fixed to the anchor, and the other side is what you pull on. If you don't have twice the length of rope between you and your victim, you can tie a bight knot anywhere on the fixed side of the “C” and clip your progress capture to this knot. This might let you stand in more convenient position, to maybe more easily monitor your victim. This can also mean that you don’t need twice the length of rope between you and your victim. Maybe only 1.5 times, as shown in the photo below.
What if the victim is unconscious, and can’t attach the pulley to themselves?
First off, if your partner is in really bad shape, your first step in rescue might be to rappel into the crevasse and try to do some first aid, at least be sure they’re breathing. If you do this, you might be able to attach a hauling system to their harness.
If you have a Petzl Tibloc, and can lean over the edge of the crevasse to reach free hanging rope, here’s an option. (If these two things are not possible, you might be better off doing a traditional 3:1 Z drag from the top, or maybe having a rescuer rappel down to the victim and attach the pulley.)
Put the drop loop through a Traxion (or a pulley) and engage the cam.
Clip the Traxion with a locker to a Tibloc installed upside down on the rope strand going down to your victim.
The Tibloc will (hopefully) slide down the rope toward the victim and stop when you run out of rope, or it rests on their tie in knot . Then you can 2:1 haul with a progress capture, without the pulley actually being attached to the victim. See photo below.
screen grab from: https://youtu.be/lsTihq92IlQ
Here's a nice video from some expert German guides showing how to do this, along with some other great techniques. This particular “lower the Tibloc trick starts about 5:30.
Tip for loading the rope correctly into the Traxion: “teeth to tail”
It's very easy to load the rope into the progress capture pulley the wrong way, especially if it's in a strange angle or you're stressed from a rescue.
A good mnemonic to remember the right way: “teeth to tail”. That means the toothed part of the spring-loaded cam goes to the tail of the rope, or the part that you need to pull. Here's a photo.
Ice climbing top rope? Consider a V-thread
Setting up a top rope anchor for ice climbing? Bolts or trees may give the fastest and most secure option. If all you have is the ice, be aware that screws can melt out very quickly. To increase anchor security and longevity, consider using one or even two V-threads. Guest post by Canadian ice climbing expert Sean Isaac @seanisaacguiding.
Photos from Tim Banfield @timbanfield and article (used with permission) are from Sean Isaac. Sean is an ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) certified Alpine guide, a former professional climber, and author of the “Ice Leader Field Handbook” and “How to Ice Climb” (2nd ed.) Follow @seanisaacguiding and @howtoiceclimb for more great tech tips.
From Sean:
“It’s shocking how fast ice screws can melt out on a warm (> 0 C) day especially when under tension in a top-rope context. Even on very cold days, direct solar affect at the critical angle of incidence will loosen ice screws quickly.
I’ve seen top-rope ice screw anchors melt out on -25 C days in January in 30 minutes due to the sun. If warm temperatures or solar exposure is anticipated then melt out should be a concern.
Using bolted or tree anchors is the obvious solution, but if an ice anchor is the only option then mitigate melt out by using V-threads instead of ice screws for one or all anchor points. The nylon cord/webbing does not conduct heat like metal screws so therefore do not melt out as rapidly.
It sometimes can take days for V-threads to melt out. The cord can then be retrieved at the end of the top rope session and a no-thread used to rappel.
Packing snow over the top of ice screws is not a recommended treatment since it does very little to negate melt out”
Some V-thread considerations:
Threads should never be used as a single-point anchor. Make a second point as show here (screw or another thread), and equalize them.
Threads should be made with a 21-22 cm screw.
All angles are 60 degrees making an equilateral triangle that is as deep as it is wide.
Aluminum screws make constructing V-threads easier due to their larger tube diameter.
7mm cord is the minimum recommended diameter. Not because of its strength but because of it’s surface area.
Webbing makes a stronger thread than cord, due to its broad surface area spreading the load at the back of the V.
Horizontal threads test at an average of 11kN in good quality ice.
Vertical threads (A-threads) tests 3kN stronger because most of the force is on the upper hole, placing more total surface area in compression in a single vector.
Remove cord from threads when possible to minimize plastic garbage in the mountains.
V-thread equalized with single screw.
Another option: use a pair of V threads. If you carry a cordelette that's open (a.k.a. untied), you can thread the end through ALL the holes and tie it off. #CraftyRopeTrick!
Modern crevasse rescue techniques
There are many different approaches to crevasse rescue. Some older methods are cumbersome, slow to set up, and add unnecessary clutter. With modern tools like a progress capture pulley and micro ascenders, crevasse rescue is usually faster and simpler. Let's look at some techniques and video from pro European guides showing how it's done.
image: screen grab from https://youtu.be/lsTihq92IlQ
The German Mountain and Ski Guides Association (“Verband Deutscher Berg und Skiführer” or “VDBS”) has a well-deserved reputation for professionalism and technical expertise.
Petzl and Ortovox created a superb series of instructional videos featuring some top VDBS guides. They show a few crevasse rescue techniques that were new to me, and you may find them helpful also. (Side note, there are many other solid videos in this Ortovox series: lab snow, lab ice, lab rock, and first aid.)
I’ll say up front: there are many approaches to crevasse rescue. While most of them can get the job done, some are definitely more elegant, easier and faster to execute, and result in less harness clutter than others.
Old-school crevasse rescue (at least in my corner of the world in the Pacific Northwest) was centered for a long time on several principles:
Using a 3:1 “Z drag” as the main mechanical advantage system.
Always having a designated waist and leg prusik either on the rope, or at least on your harness.
Using these prusik to (usually awkwardly) transfer the load to the anchor.
Tie in to the ends of the rope.
More modern technique, shown in these videos, is a lot different:
Using a 2:1 “drop C” mechanical advantage system as the primary tool.
No one is climbing with a designated waist or leg prusik. Yes, friction hitches are used, but they’re made from an open (aka untied) cordelette when needed, and are NOT attached to the rope while you’re climbing. (Check out the diagram below: the cord is carried untied, then prussiked to the rope and tied through the belay loop only if needed.)
Load transfer to the anchor involves no prusiks; simply clip your clip in bight knot to the anchor. Simple and fast.
Climbers clip to the rope at a fairly short distance apart. The end climbers carry the extra rope coiled in the pack to use in a rescue if needed.
image: https://www.ortovox.com/uk/safety-academy-lab-ice/chapter-3/rescuing-a-companion
The drop C requires you have extra rescue rope, which should be no problem if you have a 60 meter rope and a 3 person team. Here's a whole article on how to rig your rope for a two, three, or four person team.
One simple approach for rigging with a three person team: middle person ties a bight knot in the middle of the rope and clips it to their harness. From the middle, the two end people measure out seven or eight double arm lengths of rope, tie two more bight knots, and clip ‘em to their harness. The remaining rope gets tied into butterfly coils and put into the packs of the end people.
Usually, it's best practice for glacier travel to have everyone clipped to the rope, not tied into the rope. You can use any sort of bight not you like - overhand, figure 8, or butterfly.
These methods are made a lot easier with some modern tools such as a Petzl Micro Traxion or Edelrid Spoc progress capture pulley, and a micro ascender such as a Petzl Tibloc.
Below are links to three videos. (They have a LOT of information, I’ve watched each one several times. Like most everything with climbing, these techniques are better learned from video or live demonstration than from a written description.)
Drop C 2:1 rescue
Self rescue from the victim’s perspective
The “team pull” rescue, with 3+ people on top
Video #1 - Crevasse rescue with the 2:1 “drop-C”
No pre-rigging with prusiks on the rope, so no need to bring separately tied chest prusik, leg prusik, etc. This means less gear to carry and less cluster on the rope and harness.
Instead, each climber carries about 5 meters of 5mm or 6mm cord, and uses this to tie friction hitches as needed.
After arresting the fall, the last person initially holds the load. (This assumes one of the end people has fallen in the crevasse. Rescuing the middle person is more problematic.)
The middle person uses an open (untied) cordelette to make a friction hitch between themselves and the victim. They tie an overhand knot to create a clipping point, pass one end of the cord through their harness, tie another overhand to secure themselves to the rope, then unclip from their figure 8 loop. Doing this lets them stand up and move around to make the anchor, while being secure and no longer clipped to a fixed loop of rope.
The middle person makes an anchor: a single ice axe buried in a T slot. Important, stomp down the snow between the anchor and the crevasse. No pickets needed.
Interesting way to transfer the load onto the anchor: clip the friction hitch onto the anchor, end person gives a little bit of slack, and then the tie in loop for the middle person get clipped to the anchor.
Using modern tools like a Petzl Micro Traxion progress capture pulley to make a drop C 2:1. With this method, the progress capture is on the victim, not on the anchor.
Using the drop-C as the primary raising system. An advantage to the drop C is that you can prepare the lip of the crevasse to minimize the rescue rope cutting into the snow.
With a 3 person rope team, you can probably haul your partner out of a crevasse with a 2:1. This is a LOT easier if the victim can pull down on the rope they fell in on, which generates a bit of slack. (If you can’t pull the victim up with a 2:1, it’s easy to make the drop-C into a 6:1.)
Alternative if you don’t have a traxion pulley: drop a C loop with carabiner (or pulley) to the victim, and add a progress capture prusik above.
Clever way to lower a Tibloc down the rope to set up the drop loop if your victim is unconscious, or if you’re short on rope.
Video #2 - Self-rescue for the victim
Again, no one is climbing with prusiks already attached onto the rope. In fact, they don't recommend prusiks at all. Instead, use a Tibloc or other type of micro ascender, then clip a sling to it. In the video they suggest a 90 cm sling, a bit hard to find in the United States. Use a 120 cm and tie a knot to shorten it up.
Using ascenders means you can easily pass them around any brake knots that might be on the loaded rope.
For your foot (or climbing) prusik, put a Micro Traxion on the rope below the Tibloc, then clip a long sling to this.
To get past the crevasse lip, remove the foot loop, clip the Micro Traxion on your harness, and run the tail of the rope through the Tibloc. This gives you a 3:1 mechanical advantage and you can literally haul yourself up the rope and hopefully past the lip.
Here's a more detailed article about using the Traxion and Tibloc in two different combinations to climb a rope.
Video #3 - crevasse rescue with the “team pull”
A larger team, with three or more people on top, can usually pull out a victim with simply walking backwards. It's very important when doing this to have one person monitoring the victim at the edge of the crevasse, and pulling in a coordinated and controlled manner. Do NOT pull your victim into the lip of the crevasse!
The team rescue does not have to happen just with your team. If another group is nearby, they can step up to help.
The right (and wrong) ways to backup a V thread anchor
V-threads are used for rappelling on ice when you don't have bolts, trees, or established rappel stations. While they can be very strong, a redundant backup is usually a good idea. There are some best practices for doing this correctly. Learn them here, from Canadian Guide and ice climbing expert Sean Isaac, @seanisaacguiding
Photos from Tim Banfield @timbanfield and article (used with permission) are from Sean Isaac. Sean is an ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) certified Alpine guide, a former professional climber, and author of the “Ice Leader Field Handbook” and “How to Ice Climb” (2nd ed.) Follow @seanisaacguiding and @howtoiceclimb for more great tech tips.
Learn this and much more on Sean’s Ice Leader Camps and Ice Series Clinics through Yamnuska Mountain Adventures @yamnuskamtnadv.
PHOTO CREDIT: @TIMBANFIELD AND @SEANISAACGUIDING
Hopefully this is obvious, but this is for RAPPEL ONLY. You should NEVER top rope through cord like this, the friction from the weighted rope could cut through the cord!
Sean writes:
“V-threads (invented by Soviet climber Vitaly Abalakov) are used for rappelling on ice when fixed anchors like bolts or trees are not present. Like any anchor, redundancy is important, so rappelling from two equalized V-threads might make sense in some situations. These can be equalized to a master point or simply in series where one takes the load while the other exists as a backup. Unfortunately, this would also mean leaving behind a lot of cord that ultimately becomes garbage.
With experience, it is acceptable to rappel off a single V-thread, but always implement an unweighted backup anchor clipped loosely to the rappel rope for the first person(s) down to fully test the V-thread. The last person to rappel removes the unweighted backup, relying only on the tested V-thread.
The V-thread backup must be clipped to the rappel rope and not to the V-thread cord. A locker draw is very useful for the backup as long as the length is satisfactory. It also must be slack enough that it does not take any weight, but not so slack that if the V-thread were to fail there would be a major shock load to the backup anchor.
No-threads—also called zero threads or naked threads—are V-threads where the rope is fed directly through the bored holes, eliminating the need for leaving cord behind. This is environmentally more friendly but should only be done in dry ice to prevent the ropes from freezing in place. No threads also need an unweighted backup to test its integrity.”
What about using just one screw as a backup?
“We often see parties using a one screw connection point where the entire team anchors to on a descent. Think about the weight here, the medium we are in, and the issues that may present. Does it hold, yes, but are there great security margins here for the medium we are on? We'd say no. Incorporating another screw to build a stronger anchor it takes seconds and significantly increases the team security.”
Let's look at a few examples.
Here's the right way to do it.
The backup is two screws, statically equalized.
It has a locker draw, for extra security.
It's clipped to the climbing rope, not the thread.
It's clipped with minimal slack.
photo credit: @timbanfield and @seanisaacguiding
The same principle applies for a no thread / naked thread anchor, where the rope goes directly through the ice instead of cord.
photo credit: @timbanfield and @seanisaacguiding
Now, some common mistakes . . .
Whoops! Backup is clipped to the threaded cord, not the rope. Initially this might not appear to be a problem. However, if the V thread fails, your backup, and thus you, are putting a sudden large load on some 6-ish mm static cord, rather than the larger diameter, stretchy dynamic rope. Better to remove the this cord altogether, and clip the back up directly to the rope.
PHOTO CREDIT: @TIMBANFIELD AND @SEANISAACGUIDING
Whoops! Backup is partially holding the weight of the climber, instead of having the full weight on the thread. This never properly tests the anchor for the last person.
PHOTO CREDIT: @TIMBANFIELD AND @SEANISAACGUIDING
Whoops! The backup is too long. If the thread fails, you could have a big shock load on that sling.
PHOTO CREDIT: @TIMBANFIELD AND @SEANISAACGUIDING
How to ice climb - video tutorial series by Will Gadd
Canadian ice climbing expert Will Gadd posted an excellent series of ice climbing tutorial videos on Youtube. Video production is excellent, and Will’s vast experience, good humor and teaching ability comes through in every one. Highly recommended!
image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwl4XAdIKGM
Canadian ice climbing expert Will Gadd and Black Diamond teamed up to make an excellent introductory video series about ice climbing techniques. There are nine videos in the series, most are about 10 minutes long. (Pretty sure these came out just as I write this, late November 2022.)
Topics include:
footwork
how to swing
steep ice technique
dry tooling
screws
clearing bulges
V threads
pick sharpening
Will radiates his usual positive energy, vast experience, good sense of humor (and humility), and overall stoke. Solid tips from a solid guy, good video production quality, highly recommended!
Search YouTube for “Will Gadd how to ice climb”, or see the whole playlist from this link.
Rigging your rope for glacier travel
Here's a fast, clever and easy-to-remember way to ensure proper spacing between team members when traveling on a glacier. Plus, a diagram and photo to show actual distances for three and four person teams.
Image: from the highly recommended and hilarious book, “The Illustrated Guide to Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue, by Andy Tyson and Mike Clelland. Anyone setting foot on a glacier would do well to get this book. The method shown is a bit outdated, but it's still a great drawing!
(There are a few different book editions with different covers. They're all good, get whichever one you can.)
credit: Mike Clelland
I remember when I first learned crevasse rescue WayBackWhen, it was pretty darn simple. Two people tie to each end, one person ties to the middle, and off you go! 50 meter rope, 25 meters between everybody.
Turns out that has a few problems:
Communication can be difficult because people are further apart.
All the extra rope gets hung up on ice blobs and snow-sickles.
How do you do a rescue if the middle person falls in?
Happily we’ve moved into the modern era, where you climb a bit closer together (at least in my neighborhood, the Pacific Northwest), and the end people carry extra rope to initiate a rescue. But, that still leaves a few questions:
What distance should you have between climbers?
It sort of depends on the potential size of the crevasses you may be facing, but for moderate sized crevasses typical of the Pacific NW, here’s a quick and easy to remember how to set up the rope spacing. It varies a little bit, depending on the size of your team.
Take the number of people on your rope team, and subtract that from 10. That gives you the number of double “arm spans” between climbers
2 climbers: 10-2 = 8 - 8 arm spans of rope between climbers
3 climbers: 10-3 = 7 - 7 arm spans of rope between climbers
4 climbers: 10-4 = 6 - 6 arm spans of rope between climbers
Notes . . .
This is known in some circles as the “10 minus equation.”
If you’re on a two person team, it’s best practice to tie 4-5 brake knots in the rope between each climber. It's optional for 3 and 4 person teams, but if the terrain is hairy then go ahead and tie some.
Generally, you want to put the least experienced person(s) in the middle, and the two more experienced/skilled people on the end. The end people will be more responsible for route finding and probably initiating a rescue if you need one.
Note - there are lots of different ways to rig your rope team for glacier travel. This is one of many that works. In areas with larger crevasses, like Alaska and the Himalaya, you’d probably want more distance between people than what I’m describing here.
Pro tip: If you're doing an alpine start, rig your your rope with knots and coils the night before. It's one less thing to do at 0:dark:30 by headlamp when you're sleepy.
Generally, it's best practice to have all team members clip to a knot with a locking carabiner, rather than tying the rope through the harness. Doing this allows you to unclip from the rope more easily, which is convenient when performing a rescue.
The end people need a good way to secure the extra rope. Some people advocate stuffing it in your pack. Bad idea, because every time you want to get in and out of your pack you have lots of annoying rope coils. Much better is to secure the rope in a small butterfly coil, I like to secure the coil with a Voile ski strap. Yes, I know how to tie off a butterfly coil, but using a ski strap is faster and easier. I don’t like the coils around my neck unless there’s a good reason to do so, like moving from glacier to rock, where you need to take in coils and walk close together.
The standard approach to clipping to the rope is to use two carabiners, opposite and opposed usually with at least one a locker. Here's my alternative, using the odd-looking Grivel Clepsydra S carabiner. It has a wire clippy thing so it can never be cross loaded, and it has a double gate that will never freeze shut or wiggle open during a day of tromping around on the glacier. It's my new favorite.
A team of two can require a longer rope (60 meter minimum) than a team of three or even four.
Yes, this is a little counterintuitive! If you're using the modern standard of a drop loop C, that means you need about twice the distance between climbers at a minimum for a typical rescue. A party of three or four will ideally build an anchor at the closest team member to the fallen person. This allows them to use the rope between the other team members for the drop loop and thus they can carry fewer rescue coils on each end. A team of two is probably not able to do this.
This means that it's best practice for a two person team to be on a 60 meter rope at a minimum, while a three person or four person team can probably use a 50 meter rope.
Check out the below diagram for a two person team. With 8 arms spans between climbers, and with 4 brake knots which each take about 1 meter, that leaves just 15 meters in rescue coils for each person to carry.
The good news is, if your drop loop turns out to be a little bit short, it's easy to extend it with whatever extra slings, cordelettes, etc. you might have available. This means that a two person team does NOT always need to carry twice the amount of rope between climbers. (Another alternative for a two person team with a shorter rope is that they do not use a drop C and instead use a drop end 3:1, which comes with its own set of problems and benefits. Here's a detailed article on this technique.
Either way, the bigger picture, if you’re a two person team in serious crevasse terrain, you absolutely have to have your systems dialed and be completely self-sufficient to perform a rescue. Two person glacier travel is recommended for experts only.
Rope rigging for a THREE person team (with at least two experienced climbers):
Find the middle of the rope, tie a butterfly knot for the middle person.
Measure about seven full arm spans from this middle knot towards one end, and tie a butterfly knot. Repat for the other half of the rope. These are the clip in points for the two end people. The end people coil the remaining rope for use in a possible rescue.
If you have only one experienced person on your rope team, then the novices should probably clip in starting at one end of the rope with seven arm spans between them, and the more experienced person should carry all the the remaining rope. Let’s hope they don’t fall in . . .
Rope rigging for a FOUR person team:
Find the middle of the rope.
Measure three arm spans to the right of the rope middle, and tie a butterfly knot.
Measure three arm spans to the left of the rope middle, and tie another butterfly knot.
Finally, measure six arm spans from each of these knots toward end of the rope, and tie your final two butterfly knots for the end climbers. Again, the two end climbers should ideally be more experienced people capable of route finding and crevasse rescue. They also carry the remaining rope, either coiled over their shoulder or stuffed into a backpack.
Distance wise, this works out to be about 10 meters between climbers.
(Note the orange Voile ski strap securing the coils for the climber on the right, a quick and secure way to tame extra rope.)
Check out the nice video from AMGA Guide Jeff Ward to see how this works.
Pre thread your crampon strap
Want to set up your crampons so it's faster and less hassle to put them on? Simply pre-thread the strap through your toe piece and the buckle.
When putting crampons on your boots, especially with gloves and/or cold fingers, threading the strap through the buckle can be quite the back-twisting hassle.
Here's a simple solution: pre-thread the strap through the toe section and the buckle BEFORE you step into it. Tie an overhand knot in the end of the strap so it can't pull through. Plus, the overhand gives you something to grab when you have gloves on.
Insert your boot through the loop, engage the heel lever, and grab the knot, and crank down the buckle. Done!
I have to say, when I first saw the video below it was one of those face-palm moments of, “Why have I been doing it wrong for all this time?!”
Here's a nice video from IFMGA Guide Karsten Delap showing how it's done.
Shovel blade as an emergency snowshoe
Lost or broke a ski? With a shovel blade and a ski strap or two, you just might make it back to the trailhead. Tip and photos from our friends at @graybirdguiding.
This clever tip and photos (shared with permission) come from Graybird Guiding, a Seattle based guide company that not only leads some sweet ski trips, but also has an Instagram full of solid advice. Connect with them at their website and on Instagram. (Check out their hashtag #sknowmore for specific backcountry ski tips.)
Lost your ski in the deep stuff? Broken ski? This clever tip just might get you back to the trailhead with minimal postholing.
If you have a long ski strap or two, and a shovel with some holes in it, you can probably improvise a mini snowshoe and clomp your way back out. The larger the shovel, the less you’ll sink in. Yet another reason why caring a couple of extra ski straps is a fine idea! Here's a whole article on that topic.
I must say this is a pretty clever trick; I don't think I ever would've thought of this!
Dealing with brake knots in crevasse rescue
For two person glacier travel, best practice is to have three or four bulky “brake knots” between climbers, intended to minimize the length of a crevasse fall. If you need to do a rescue and want to lift your partner, you may need to remove these knots from your hauling system. Here's a simple way to do it, courtesy of Petzl.
Credit to the Petzl graphic design experts for the diagrams below, from the always terrific Petzl website.
IMAGE: HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=QHW9AM7AHLA
As a climber, when might you have to deal with knots in a hauling system? Maybe in two person crevasse rescue, where you’re following best practice (with one other highly skilled partner, who has all needed gear, and their rescue skills dialed) and using brake knots in the rope. Or maybe big wall climbing, where you want to do a super long haul from the ground tying several ropes together, to get your bags up several pitches all with one haul.
Untying a knot from a loaded rope (or getting a knot past the hauling pulley) can be tricky, but it doesn't have to be if you follow the steps below. This is one of various ways to do it. Initially this might look a little complicated, but it's actually a simple procedure. Study it for a bit and I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.
Note: In this example, for a 3:1 mechanical advantage (MA) system crevasse rescue, the knots are being untied. For big wall load hauling, you’ll probably be using a 2:1 MA, the knots will very likely stay in the rope, and a different procedure is needed, which were not going to completely cover in this article.)
In the diagram, they’re using the Petzl Micro Traxion as a progress capture pulley on the anchor point, and a Tibloc as the “tractor” pulley to actually pull the load. These are two great pieces of gear and work fine here. However, you could also use pretty much any other sort of pulley, prusik and rope grab combination.
If you have more than one knot you need to pass, such as in a two person crevasse rescue, using the Tibloc is going to be faster, because you don't have to fumble with re-tying a prusik hitch at each knot pass. Best practice for using brake knots in glacier travel to have three or four of them between climbers, so you're probably going to repeat this process a few times.
Bigger picture, a more modern approach to crevasse rescue eliminates the problem of brake knots entirely. Lower either a single strand or a loop of rescue rope to your partner, and pull them up on this separate line. The original brake knots on the rope they fell in on? You can pretty much ignore them.
Here’s how to do it.
Haul until the knot gets close to the anchor.
Ease up on your haul and let the load rest on the anchor pulley. Move the unweighted Tibloc below the knot.
Clip a double length / 120 cm sling (green) to the anchor, clip the other end to the Tibloc, and push the Tibloc down the rope, tensioning the sling.
Do a short pull on the rope and open the toothed cam on the Traxion pulley. Lower the load slowly onto the sling. Check to see that everything is holding. (Tying a backup knot in the haul strand at this point is not shown in the diagram below, but might be a good idea.)
The load is now on the Tibloc, and you have slack above it. Untie the knot from the slack rope. (At this point, if the knot had to stay in the rope, you could extend the master point pulley on a 60 cm sling below the rope and reattach it.)
Engage the cam on the Traxion so it’s grabbing the rope again. Resume hauling. After one pull, unclip the sling from the Tibloc. If you have another knot to pass, keep the sling clipped to the master point. If not, you can remove it. Continue hauling.
image: https://www.petzl.com/BE/en/Sport/Crevasse-fall--hauling-on-a-rope-with-knots
image: https://www.petzl.com/BE/en/Sport/Crevasse-fall--hauling-on-a-rope-with-knots
Finally, here's a nice video clip from British IFMGA Certified Guide Dave Searle showing how it's done. (Dave has loads of great tips on his Instagram, check it out.)
What angle is best for ice screws?
Most ice climbers know that a screw angled down in good quality ice is stronger than one angled up. Black Diamond tested this; here are the real numbers. Plus, in real life conditions, where you can't always assess the quality of the ice, there's a good argument for using an angle of 0° all the time.
Most ice climbers know that a screw angled DOWN in good quality ice is stronger than one angled UP. How about some real data, please?
Chris Harmston and the gear testing experts at Black Diamond have some answers.
image: https://www.needlesports.com/Information/Need-Advice/Ice-Screw-Placement
The difference in strength is dramatic - about 9(ish) kN for the screws tilted up, vs. about 22)ish) kN for the screws angled down. Most ice climbers know that a screw pointed down in good quality ice is stronger, but here are some real data to back that up.
Why is this? An Instagram comment from @willmurphy6612, explains:
”It has to do with how the load is displaced in the ice. When the threads are perpendicular or pointing UP, the load is transferred axially along the length of screw. This takes advantage of the compressive strength of ice.
When the threads are pointing DOWN, part of the screw is loaded radially which exploits the shear strength of ice, which is not very good. Combine that with the fact that the cracks initiated by the screw are propagating to the surface when angled DOWN the load strength of the system is severely compromised.”
Thank you Will, nicely said!
Note that there are many more variables and play here: the length of the screw, the type/brand of screw, is there a chance the screw might melt out, and above all the quality of the ice. Check out this link to learn more about these factors, and how the test was conducted.
Notice the strength at the purple oval / zero degrees - all above 13 kN, which is more than you would ever encounter in any climbing fall. Super good enough!
In their excellent book “The Mountain Guide Manual”, authors Mark Chavin and Rob Coppolillo write that they feel it's best to place screws at zero degrees / perpendicular.
Their reasoning: While in perfect ice tilting the screw downward can result in higher strength, in less than perfect ice, screws at 0° hold the best. Because it's often hard to judge the quality of ice for the full depth of the screw, they feel that defaulting to perpendicular is the best approach.
Along with these test data that show 0 degrees is plenty strong enough, that seems like a good choice.
Snow picket - vertical or buried deadman?
A vertical picket is fast to place, but the strength depends on the firmness of the snow. Here’s a quick rule of thumb to determine if the snow will hold a vertical picket, or if you need to take more time and make a T slot (deadman) anchor.
When placing a snow picket, a key decision is whether you can place it vertically (preferably leaning back about 25° from the direction of pull for optimum strength) or if you need to bury it as a deadman, a.k.a. T-slot.
If you're using it for crevasse rescue, where the anchor has to be unquestionably strong, a single T-slot or possibly a T-slot equalized with a vertical picket is usually the best choice.
In firm summer snow in ideal conditions, you might get away with a vertical placement, which is good because it's faster.
If you make a vertical placement, you get a much stronger anchor if you clip the picket in the middle instead of the top. From IFMGA certified guide Mark Smiley, on his Instagram, he writes:
“ . . . if the snow is soft enough to push one gloved finger into it, a top clipped picket will likely fail under 500 pounds (~2 kN) Yikes! A deadman style picket placed 60cm down = strength of midclip vertical pickets = ~1500 pounds (6.7 kN)”
(Side note: One of the best studies on snow anchors is from the 2010 International Snow Science Workshop, from a paper called “Snow anchors for Belaying and Rescue”, by Don Bogie (New Zealand) and Art Fortini, (USA). You can see it here.)
But if you're unsure of the firmness of the snow, here’s a good rule of thumb, also courtesy of Mark Smiley:
“Typically if it takes 10+ solid hammer strikes to drive the picket to the deepest hole (top of the picket), then I have confidence the snow is firm enough. If less than 10 strikes, I will switch to building a T-slot anchor...which takes longer to build but it’s stronger.”
Mark’s tip is in the comment section of this excellent Youtube video from Outdoor Research, “How to Build a Snow Anchor.”
Great snow climbing tutorial from the AAC
Want to learn some snow climbing tips from the guy who founded the American Alpine Institute and former president of the American American Guide Association (AMGA)? We thought so. While these are some great tips for beginners, even you crafty veterans may learn a few new things.
You know how the biography and qualifications of an author often appears at the end of an article? Well, here’s a link to a great tutorial on basic snow climbing techniques from the American Alpine Club (AAC), and I’ll mention the authors right here, up front - Dunham Gooding and Jason Martin. (Bold text mine.)
Dunham Gooding founded the American Alpine Institute in 1975 and has taught courses and guided expeditions in the Cascades, Canada, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Patagonia. He has served as chairman of the National Summit Committee on Mountain Rescue, president of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), and president of the Outdoor Industry Association.
Jason D. Martin is the director of operations and a senior guide at the American Alpine Institute. He is on the board of directors of the AMGA and has written two guidebooks and co-authored Rock Climbing: The AMGA Single Pitch Manual.
So yeah, If you're going to get climbing advice, these are two pretty good guys to listen to.
This article is about a 10 minute read, and covers just about all of the basics of snow climbing. If you’re a beginner climber, this is an excellent place to start. Even if you've been in the game a while, you may learn a few things. Highly recommended.
How to (and how not to) rack pickets
You want pickets clipped vertically to your gear loops or pack straps, not slung around your neck. Here’s how to rack pickets right.
What beginning snow climber has not cursed the clanking cowbells and the strangle, tangle and dangle of pickets, hanging from ill-placed runners around your neck and shoulder, threatening to trip you up at each step!
Here’s a better way to rack pickets. Carry 6 pickets like this, with them more or less out of the way yet still easily accessible. (Think of this method as the least of all evils. Pickets are still a drag to carry, no matter how you do it, but this way sucks the least.)
If you have very firm snow, you might be able to use a “top clipped” picket. In that case, girth hitch a single length (2 foot / 60 cm) runner through the top picket hole. Clip a carabiner to the runner, then clip this carabiner to the third hole from the top of the picket.
If you’re clipping the middle picket hole, you're probably going to need a double length (4 feet / 120 cm) runner. Girth hitch this long sling through the middle hole . . .
Then wrap the sling around the picket until there's a few inches left, and clip the carabiner to the 3rd hole from an end.
Then, clip the carabiner to your gear loop (harness or on your pack waist belt). By clipping the third hole, the picket rides high enough to (mostly) not trip you, and stays oriented vertically.
Another option: clip it to your backpack strap.
This works well for the leader and for the second / gear cleaner.
Rack the pickets (to begin with) on the opposite side of where your ice axe is generally held. For example, if you're heading more or less straight up or traversing left, and you're right handed, rack the pickets on your left side gear loop so they don't interfere with your axe.
And, a related tip on who the cleaner should be. Often the slowest or least experienced person can end up in the back of a running belay, and guess what, that person becomes the cleaner. It's usually better to put a less experienced team member in the middle of the team, and have someone more skilled doing the cleaning at the caboose end of the rope.
Also, it’s helpful if the caboose person is taller; the pickets will ride higher and be less of a tripping hazard.
Here’s a few more tips on the running belay.
Finally, it’s fine to girth hitch the runner through the picket hole. That dyneema sling is rated to 22 kN, weakening it by half with the girth hitch means it's still good for about 11 kN, which is way more force than you're ever going to put on a snow anchor. (But hey, if that's not your thing, feel free to clip the sling to the picket with a carabiner.)
Finally, how NOT to rack pickets: don’t put the slings around your neck and let the pickets strangle, tangle and dangle, like this guy.
Crevasse Rescue - skip the munter mule overhand
The munter mule overhand, or MMO knot, is a load releasable hitch. While it can be helpful in advanced rope rescue scenarios, it’s not required in crevasse rescue, and in the opinion of various experts, does not need to be taught to beginners.
Or, “just say no to the MMO”
Short version: In my opinion (and that of many experts) the munter mule overhand knot (from here on referred to as the MMO) is not a required component of a crevasse rescue system. Including it in a beginner crevasse rescue class adds further unnecessary complexity to an already very complicated situation. It’s fine when taught to intermediate or advanced climbers, and it certainly has a place in more advanced rescue scenarios, but it’s probably best not to teach it to newer climbers.
Long version: You’re considering taking a class in crevasse rescue from your local mountaineering club. You read the class curriculum online, and see that requires that you tie an MMO knot at the anchor to make a “releasable system”.
In addition, the generally always awesome and hilarious cartoon book, “Glacier Mountaineering: An Illustrated Guide to Glacier Travel and Crevasse Rescue”, says to use one also.
Conversely, the following reputable sources do NOT suggest using an MMO for crevasse rescue:
Book: “The Freedom of the Hills”
Book: “The Mountain Guide Manual” a reference book for, you guessed it, professional guides
The American Alpine Institute (AAI, see their crevasse rescue sequence here.)
YouTube instructional videos presented by professional mountain guides
The munter mule overhand with a cordelette
(Note: Mule knot not snugged up against Munter hitch to show the various parts more clearly. Carabiner through the overhand knot for extra credit.)
So, what’s the dealio, you may be wondering. Do I really need an MMO for crevasse rescue, or not?
To help answer this, ask yourself a few questions.
Is the MMO a seldom used, specialized rescue knot, that’s tricky for most people, especially beginners, to tie correctly? Answer, yes.
Is it likely that you’re going to forget how to tie a seldom used, specialized rescue knot, that you never use in your day-to-day climbing, years from in a rescue scenario that’s already stressful and complicated? Answer, yes.
Is it possible to rig a successful mechanical advantage crevasse rescue system without using this knot? Answer, yes.
Are the vast majority of crevasse rescues performed by raising only, without ever needing to lower at all? Answer, yes.
Is it possible to lower a victim safely (if for some reason you need to) without having an MMO in the system? Answer, yes.
I’ve watched several crevasse rescue videos made by AMGA (American Mountain Guide Association) certified guides on YouTube, and none of them use an MMO. Why is this? Probable answer - see the previous five questions.
(If you watch the excellent crevasse rescue videos made by AMGA certified guides that you’ll find on the video portion of AlpineSavvy, nowhere do you see this knot.)
Additional note: The MMO, as it’s usually taught, requires a cordelette. Which is probably okay if you have three or more people on your rope team and everyone has one. But if you’re a two person team, you probably already used your cordlette to build the 2 piece anchor, so you don’t have a second one for the MMO.
Let’s get back to the purpose of having an MMO in the first place, which is to have a “releasable system”. Why is this needed?
Typical answer - if the person in the crevasse needs to be lowered, the releasable system lets you do so. Reality - if you want to lower them, all you need to is pull about 1 inch up on the whole raising system, loosen the holding prusik, then lower. You can easily do this without the complications of an MMO.
(There is one additional highly unlikely rescue scenario, and that’s if the hauling team on top gets over enthusiastic, does not monitor the fallen climber during the pull, and somehow manages the epic screwup of pulling the fallen climber into the lip of the crevasse. In this case, theoretically, you may not even be able to get 1 inch more lift out of the raising system to loosen the prusik initiate the lower.)
Well, there is a way to do it. It involves getting out your knife and VERY carefully cutting that prusik knot, thus removing it from the system and getting your victim out of the problem that you caused. In this rare case, it could be argued that a MMO would be a superior solution, but it’s so unlikely to ever happen that in my mind it’s not worth planning for.
Takeaway: the MMO component of a crevasse rescue system is entirely optional, and in a beginner level class, adds needless complexity and a difficult-to-remember component to an already stressful and challenging situation.
Most people starting to learn crevasse rescue have their heads completely full with the steps that REALLY need to happen. Thus, most people don’t have any room for anything optional or overly complicated, or in this case both.
Once you have the basic crevasse rescue skills down, or certainly if you’re on a professional mountain rescue team, then you can start adding in more advanced components such as two person rescue and releasable systems. But for beginners, teach the basics, make sure they understand it inside and out, and keep it simple.
That's probably why “Freedom of the Hills and “The Mountain Guide Manual” don’t teach it.
Just say no to the MMO.
Snow anchors: how strong are they?
Sinking a snow picket and having a few people try to pull it out is kind of fun . . . but not very scientific. The French national guide school did some real world pull tests on snow anchors, and there are a few good takeaways.
Here’s another “tres bien” video from ENSA (“École Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme”, or the French National Guide School) where they take engineering tools out into the real world and see how climbing gear and technique really work. (Video link at bottom of page.)
If you haven't seen it yet, be sure and watch this other great video, where they test the usefulness of brake knots in the rope for two person crevasse rescue.
In the mountains near Chamonix, they rigged some pull tests on all manner of snow anchors, some traditional (pickets, snow bollard, ice axes, vertical and horizontal skis), and some unconventional (plastic bags, soda bottle).
Here are some takeaways:
Placing a vertical anchor, like a picket, at a 25° angle leaning away from the direction of pull makes the anchor approximately 40% stronger. (See graphic below.)
Even in a buried plastic bag and a soda bottle held 200+ kg, more than enough to rappel from. (I still think I'd let my friend go first . . .)
From the 2010 International Snow Science Workshop, a paper called “Snow anchors for Belaying and Rescue”, by Don Bogie (New Zealand) and Art Fortini, (USA) is probably the most detailed study on snow anchor strength. It states (pg. 315): "In order to allow some room for error when placing a stake it is recommended that when placing upright mid clips that an angle of 30 degrees back from perpendicular is used.”
So, somewhere in the neighborhood of 30° is probably optimal.
image: screen grab from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYtYZgeUpek
There’s a nice chart near the end that summarizes all of the data. (The fourth column, “strength in daN”, means “dekanewton”, a metric unit of force. It's 0.01 kN, or approximately the same as 1 kg of force.)
image: screen grab from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYtYZgeUpek
Finally, for a very deep dive into snow anchors, here’s a training video for the Mountain Rescue Association featuring a presentation from snow anchor expert Art Fortini.
Crevasse Falls: do brake knots work?
Traveling on a glacier in a two person team can make arresting a fall and crevasse rescue very difficult. Fortunately, we now have some definitive answers on a way to make it safer - brake knots in the rope.
If you've ever tried to perform a crevasse rescue in a two person climbing team, you know it’s a very challenging operation. The two main steps of holding the fall and then constructing an anchor are made much more difficult if you are holding most of the weight of your fallen partner. (If you do choose to travel on a glacier with just a two person team, both of you need to be completely dialed in your rescue technique and have all necessary equipment.)
For some time now, it’s been generally recommended to tie brake knots in the rope when on a glacier as a two person team. The theory is the knots will catch in the snow in the case of a fall, minimizing the distance of the fall, and also helping to hold the weight of the victim, making the rescue initiation much easier.
There are a couple of downsides to this technique, namely it makes it more difficult to prusik up the rope, and can complicate rigging a mechanical advantage hauling system. This is generally true, but with a bit of practice you can overcome both these obstacles quite easily. For the hauling, if you’re carrying enough extra rope in your pack or even a second rope for rescue, you can drop this rope to the victim and use it to carry out the rescue and pretty much ignore the loaded rope that has the knots in it. Two, if needed, it's quite easy to pass a knot through a hauling system provided you have some modern gear like a Tibloc and Traxion pulley; learn how to do it here.
But, while a popular technique in Europe, this method has not fully caught on in North America.
To get some definitive data on this issue, rigorous testing was conducted by ENSA (École Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme) or French National Guide School. These are some of the most expert mountain guides in the world, and they have the knowledge and engineering tools needed to come up with some solid answers.
Fortunately, they made a video (in English) that shows their testing procedure and results, which should settle the argument once and for all.
(Note that this recommendation is for TWO PERSON teams only, not three or more.)
The short version:
“Our tests validated the effectiveness of this technique, and we strongly recommend climbers use it.”
image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhw9AM7ahlA
While watching the whole video is recommended, here are a few takeaways.
3:15 - “Then I did it for real, sliding for 4 or 5 meters until the knots dug into the snow and held the weight. In real life, the belayer would then be completely free to make an anchor and start the rescue procedure, without being pulled forward by the person in the crevasse, and without the rope being continually under tension.”
4:12 - Brake knots are only effective when there is deeper softer snow above the ice layer. “When the same study was done with only 30 cm of snow over ice, this was not enough snow for the knots to properly dig in, and the knots did not work at all . . . The knots simply slid on the ice and didn’t properly penetrate into the snowpack.” However . . . “if the snow cover at the lip of the crevasse is 1.5 m to 2 m deep, then the knots are pulled deeply into the snow and end up blocking the rope.”
5:06 - “With knots, at the end of a fall, there is a maximum force of only 10 or 20 kg on the belayer, which means it's very easy to hold the person who’s hanging from the rope. This obviously makes the rescue procedure a lot safer.”
5:41 - “The tests showed that 3-4 knots were easily enough to reduce the load on the belayer. There's no point in tying more knots than this, because it will just use up a lot of rope.”
6::00 - “We recommend tying one knot 3 meters from each person, and then another two knots at 2 meter intervals.”
6:01 - “Brake knots should be big and bulky, so they brake effectively when they are pulled into the snow. They should also use as little rope as possible.”
6:20 - Pay attention knot geeks, here’s a new one here I bet you don't know - the “brake knot”, a classic figure 8 on a bight with one addition to give it a larger diameter.
Belay jackets 101
New school layering - have an “action suit” when you're moving fast, and a big puffy jacket to put over everything when you stop. Here’s just about everything you need to know about the belay jacket.
Andy enjoying a lovely afternoon in Antarctica. Credit, Andy Kirkpatrick collection.
The concept of a belay jacket has various origin stories, but American climber Mark Twight is typically credited with popularizing the idea. Old school layering used to be something like: base layer, fleece or wool, hard shell on top.
But with a belay jacket, you dress more like a minimalist cross-country skier - when skiing, you don't need much in the way of layering, because you're maintaining your heat through movement. But if you stop for more than a few minutes, you better have something to put on.
Applied to climbing, you may start with a base layer and maybe a wind shell when moving. But in your pack is a VERY warm jacket to put on quickly over everything when you stop.
British climbing expert and winter hardman Andy Kirkpatrick has a wonderful, deep dive article on his website that covers the history, theory, design features and recommended models for belay jackets. It’s a great read for all cold-weather athletes.
(Yes, it’s a few years old, but the general principles don't change much.)
Carry an ice screw for crevasse rescue
If you fall into a crevasse, having an ice screw lets you unweight the rope, making life a lot easier for your partners on top trying to get you out. If you have two screws, you could even aid climb your way out. Some minimalist glacier harnesses even have elastic tabs designed for carrying screws.
When you're on a glacier climb with a moderate to high risk of a crevasse fall, consider carrying an ice screw.
If you do fall into a crevasse, you can hopefully sink the ice screw and clip yourself to it. This can take your body weight off the rope, which will make life a LOT easier for your partner(s) on top to set up a hauling system, or allow them a bit of slack in the rope so they can put some sort of padding under the rope at the lip of the crevasse. If you have a second ice screw (which maybe your partner on top can lower down to you) you could even aid climb your way out of the crevasse.
The more obvious use is anchor building up top. You'll want a longer screw (16 cm minimum) to be sure you get good purchase in the glacial ice, which is often not the best quality.
For the weight conscious, it's hard to beat the Petzl Laser Speed Light ice screw (photo above). They have steel teeth, an aluminum tube, and are about 40% lighter than a similar steel screw.
Here’s a photo of my better side in my Petzl “Tour” harness, a super lightweight harness designed for ski mountaineering and alpine climbing. Notice on each leg loop, there are two elastic tabs designed for holding an ice screw. Even on a minimalist harness like this, Petzl thought it was worthwhile to have a place to tuck away not one, but two, ice screws. It's not for ice climbing, it's for crevasse rescue.
(And no, that’s not a sexy lightweight aluminum screw as mentioned above, but you get the idea.)
This tip is mentioned in the book "The Mountain Guide Manual", by Marc Chauvin and Rob Coppolillo. It’s an excellent resource for more advanced technique, check it out!
