Protect a fixed rope with a rebelay
Premium Members can read the entire article here:
When rigging a fixed rope, it's very important to protect the rope from being loaded over any sharp or abrasive edge.
Repeatedly loading the rope (from rappelling, and especially ascending) could damage it. Ropes often get loaded over edges on big walls, because the belay is usually on top of a ledge and not beneath it.
One way to protect your rope: the rebelay.
Rebelays have long been used by cavers, who know how to take good care of fixed ropes. Rebelays can also be useful in some climbing applications, such as big walls, instructional settings, or rescues.
A rebelay is simply adding an additional anchor(s) below the potential abrasion point. This secondary anchor can be SOLID gear you place, or a bolt.
Tie a bight knot (a butterfly works great, because it's usually easy to untie after loading) and clip it to this rebelay point.
Now, the weighted rope is on the rebelay, and not the primary anchor. All of the rope above the rebelay is slack, so it can't be damaged if it runs over an edge. Nice!
