| Getting
Down
There are three common ways to get down from
a climb: walking, rappeling, and lowering.
Walking
Often, climbers get down from the tops of
climbs by walking. It is especially common to do this with
top-roped climbs, since most have a way to hike to the top
to set the anchor. Most multi-pitch lead climbs do not have
a way to walk down from every belay station, but there is
often a way to walk down from the top.
Rappeling
Rappeling is a scheme for lowering yourself
with the rope. As shown above, the center of the rope is passed
through an anchor at the top of the climb. The person descending
wears a harness and attaches himself to the rope with a belay
device, which he uses to control his descent.
Unlike climbing, it is best to be nearly
horizontal while rappeling. In this position, the body is
pointing more directly at the rock, giving the feet better
friction and leading to more control.
Starting a rappel is the most difficult part.
It is very disconcerting to switch from standing to being
supported completely by the rope. Moreover, it is necessary
to get below the anchor before the rope can help. If the anchor
is below the top of the climb, climbing down is necessary.
Once everybody has descended, the rope is
recovered by pulling it through the anchor. The anchor cannot
be recovered, but this is not usually a problem. In many cases,
other climbers have placed a permanent anchor at the top,
often a pair of bolts drilled into the rock connected to a
ring with some chains. Another possibility is to use the base
of a tree as an anchor. Since the rope is under little tension
when it is pulled through the anchor, this abrades the rope
and tree only slightly, and can be done occasionally.
A single rope can only be used to descend
half a rope-length, but two ropes can be tied together to
rappel a full rope-length. This is useful, for example, when
descending a multi-pitch lead climb via the same route used
for the ascent. The belay stations, usually spaced a full
rope-length, can be used as rappel anchors.
Three or more ropes cannot be used to rappel
in this manner, since doing so would require rappeling past
a knot and pulling a knot through the anchor, which are generally
impossible.
Lowering
In a top-roped climb, the belayer can lower
the climber. The climber places her weight on the rope, and
the belayer slowly lets out the rope, using the belay device
to control her rate of descent, much like rappeling.
This is the most convenient way to descend
after completing a top-roped climb. Although there is usually
a way to walk down, it can be inconvenient to finish a top-roped
climb because you must climb above the anchor, which is often
suspended below the top of the climb. |
