Aid leading through a roof can be incredibly strenuous and awkward . . . or, if you have an adjustable tether, it can be pretty straightforward.

The always amazing Petzl website has a nice sequence of diagrams of how to do this. They show it using their nifty Petzl “Evolv Adjust” adjustable tether designed for aid climbing, but any sort of adjustable tether, such as the popular Yates, will work.

In fact, you may find the Yates tether actually works a little better, because it's easy to release under tension, while the Petzl one is not, at least for me.

If you're a beginner aid climber and your route has any sort of a roof on it (such as the famous “Kor Roof” pitch on the South Face of Washington Column in Yosemite), studying the sequence below will be extremely helpful, hint hint!

Practice! If you're in Yosemite, before you head up the wall take a training lap or three on the LeConte Boulder, which has a nice practice bolt ladder on it. If you don't have any real rock, get resourceful: hang some slings from the underside of an outdoor staircase/fire escape, a stout tree limb, or something similar. Please, do yourself (and any teams that might be stuck behind you) a big favor, and get this critical skill dialed before you try it on a real route.

The link to the Petzl website showing these drawings is here. But, if this page disappears, I screen grabbed the diagrams and put them below. (Dear Petzl graphic design department: You’re amazing! If you want to pick up a little freelance work on the weekends, please give me a call.)

All images below are by Petzl.com

Notes: Lanyard to A is cinched in tight. Feet can give some opposing tension to make the clip to B. The first thing clipped to B is a quick draw. Your lanyard and aider get clipped to the top carabiner of the quick draw.

Using your nifty adjustable tether, put some tension on B. (This is about the time when you'll want to kiss the person who invented adjustable tethers . . .)

This can be the tricky part. You need to release your weight from the adjustable tether off A, and slowly lower yourself out to hang beneath B. Having an adjustable tether that can release in a controlled way while under tension makes this process a LOT easier! Note in the diagram below, the climber is pulling toward A with their left hand, to create a little slack so they can do a little lower out with the tether.

Walk up the ladder hanging from B, and use your adjustable lanyard to hoist yourself up close to B. Then clip the rope to the bottom of the quickdraw. Repeat this sequence as needed to clear the roof.