Rappel

You’re rappelling, and unexpectedly come to a damaged section of rope. How would you get past it? Here’s one method.

Premium Article available 

Think you're good at solving climbing problems on the fly? See if you can figure out this one!

Premium Article available

Someday, you'll find yourself at a rappel anchor that is Less Than Ideal. Here are some tips to hopefully get you and your partner down in one piece.

Premium Article available

Using a skinny pull cord, in combination with a regular climbing rope, allows full length rappels with reduced gear and pack weight. However, there are some nuances to doing it correctly, efficiently, and with reduced risk. Learn all about it here.

Premium Article available

On multipitch rappels, you can save a surprising amount of time by using a few simple time-saving techniques. Here are several of them, in a great little diagram from the clever Petzl web gnomes.

Premium Article available

The always terrific Petzl website has a specific caution against a pre-rigged rappel with a Grigri on top. Apparently, when the rope is loaded from below, occasional device failure can happen for the person above. Good news: there are some easy ways to eliminate this problem.

“Dang it, which rope strand do we need to pull, I forgot!” Here's a simple way to remember. As you start your double rope rappel, clip your tether carabiner to the rope that needs to get pulled.

On a double rope rappel, It's good practice to keep the knot tails from getting underneath either of the rope strands. If they do, it can add extra weight and friction and make it quite a bit harder to pull your rope. Simply have the knot tails hanging free and you should be fine.

You and your partner have a 60 meter rope, but you need to make a rappel that was bolted for a 70 meter rope. Yikes, your rope is too short, whaddya do? One answer: the extended rappel. Learn how it works, along with some cautionary notes.

A rope block (aka Reepschnur), is a technique where you block one strand of your rappel rope to prevent it from running through the anchor. This lets you do a single strand rappel on the other side. Conceptually it's pretty simple. In reality there are some nuances, and definitely some ways to lethally screw it up. Learn them here.

Did you catch your clothing or even your hair in your rappel device? Ouch! This is fairly common, but it's also easy to fix if you know how. One more reason to carry a friction hitch or two and an extra sling.

It's common to find a mess of cord and webbing at some alpine rappel anchors. Do yourself and everybody else a favor: cut away everything that's questionable and add some new material of your own to make an anchor that's more reliable and easier for others to inspect. Watch the video for a scary moment of what can happen if you don't!

Transitioning from climbing to rappelling can take a LONG time. One way to increase your efficiency is for the leader to pre-rig the rappel before they bring up their second. Here's how to do it.

Snarled rappel ropes suck! To avoid them, take the time to stack the rope and toss just a weighted end, rather than a large coil. Think of it as “casting” a fishing line; there's a weight on the end, and the line spools cleanly from the reel. Here are some good ways to do this.

When tethering to a rappel anchor, it can be comforting to know that you’re connected to both “halves” of the anchor hardware instead of just one; especially true at a hanging stance or with questionable anchor hardware. Here are a few simple ways to make a redundant connection when rigging to rappel.

Rapping on a munter hitch can twist your rope, making pulling it difficult to impossible. But, if you use the right technique, you can rappel twist free! Check out this clever method and short video from Petzl Germany to learn how.

Many climbers think it's a given that you must always thread your rope through existing hardware when rappelling, but that's not always the case. Here's a simple but unconventional technique that can allow teams to pass each other with greater speed and reduced frustration.

Rappelling when you have an overhang and/or a traverse can be especially challenging. Main concept: keep yourself close to the wall by placing gear. Here are some more detailed tips about how to handle it.

Hopefully you know the importance of “closing the rope system” by always having the rope ends tied either to a harness or a stopper knot. Here's an extension of that idea for multi pitch rappels: the J loop.

There are some circumstances where belaying a rappeller is a good choice. Learn two of those situations, and a quick way to set it up.

Extending your rappel device away from your harness has a host of benefits . . . and a few problems. Learn multiple ways to rig it, and the pros and cons of each.

Premium Article available

If you drop your rappel device or just forget to bring it, knowing this variation of the old-school carabiner brake can come in handy. (Try to avoid a Munter hitch unless you really have no other options, it can seriously twist your rope if you do it wrong.)

Need to move your team from a safe spot out to an exposed rappel station? From the crafty rope trick experts at Petzl, here’s one way to do it.

One of the happiest moments in climbing is seeing your rappel rope drop freely through the sky down to you. And one of the worst moments is when it doesn’t! Here are a series of steps to consider when you have a stuck rappel rope, and some tips to avoid the problem.

Often in alpine climbing, making shorter rappels can minimize the chance of your rope getting hung up. Here's a trick to mitigate that problem even further.

Your rope gets damaged by rockfall, and you need to rappel. After you've isolated the damage with a butterfly knot, what happens then? With some clever rigging, you should be able to get down quickly and safely, without ever having to pass the knot on rappel. Here's how.

If you have a Grigri or similar auto locking belay device that fits one strand of rope, you can still descend. Here are several options.

Placing a prusik hitch above your rappel device might initially seem like a good way to backup your rappel. But, there’s three reasons why this is not the preferred method.

Most climbers don’t give much thought as to which strand of the rope they pull after a rappel. But, the strand you pull can make a difference in avoiding snags. Learn about this and a few other Crafty Rope Tricks (CRT) to make your next rappel have a happy ending.

The pre-rigged, or stacked rappel, can improve speed and safety in certain conditions.

Doing multiple raps on a rope without a middle mark? Take a moment to add a temporary one so you can set up faster and safer rappels.

Simul-rappelling has more than a few downsides, both in terms of speed and safety. If you choose to use it, be aware of the potential problems and be sure to practice in a controlled environment.

Most climbers agree that putting some sort of knot in the end of your rappel rope is good insurance for not zinging off the end of it. But, there are several ways to approach this, with pros and cons to each.

Having a standard system to check your rappelling set up before you head down the rock is a fine idea, especially for beginners. Here's an acronym to check all the relevant components.

Cold hands, no gloves, skinny rope, wet rope, beginners, heavy pack . . . or some combination! There are many scenarios when you might want to add some extra friction onto a rappel. Here are a few ways.

Use this Crafty Rope Trick (CRT) to move your knot past any crack or crevice near the rap anchor that might snag your knot. Practice it at home before use in the wild!

Rappelling with a group , especially with newer climbers, can take a L O N G time. Here’s a Crafty Rope Trick (CRT) to cut that time almost in half.

Here’s a silent and effective way to tell your partner you’re off rappel.

Rappelling on ropes with two different diameters can cause the rope ends to be uneven, which could be a problem if you have a full length rappel. Here’s how to fix this.

It's best practice to run your rappel through some sort of metal connection to the anchor. There’s three common options for this; learn the pros and cons of each one.

It might first appear like a bit of rope sorcery - How can you attach a rappel ring to a sewn runner? Each one of them is a closed loop! Read and learn, young Jedi.

Does your larger climbing team have two rappels ahead to make it to safe ground? Here’s a simple way to speed up the process.

There's two good reasons to mark the middle of your rope. One is hopefully pretty obvious, the other one not so much, but perhaps more important.

It’s rare, but you might someday find yourself having to rappel two full rope lengths on a single strand. Here is a simple, fast and unconventional way to get past the knot.

Yep, stuck rap ropes suck. But there are a few Crafty Tricks to help you solve this.