Clinic: Reverso/ATC-Guide Safe Lowering and Climbing at Buffalo Crag
Posted July 22nd, 2010 by XP
I will be conducting this clinic and coordinate the climboing that followed. This is an ACC event with a special invitation to Crag Crux Climbers. (This event is also posted at ACC's website at:
http://climbers.org/event/2010/07/31/clinic-reverso-atc-guide-safe-lower...)
Last November, during a mountain guide exam in BC, a guide candidate dropped his examiner more than 50 feet when lowering the examiner with a Reverso/ATC-Guide device. Since then, a safer technique for lowering a climber with Reverso/ATC-Guide has been adopted by Mountain Guides. I just learned this technique during the Rock Solid Leadership course, taught in part by guide Cyril Shokoples. I will share this technique with you in a 2-hour clinic at Buffalo Crag, followed by trad or top-rope climbing. Beginners are welcome to observe the clinic and participate in climbing.
Maximum numbers of participants: 8 (can be increased depending on the number of leaders available)
Gear required: rock shoes, harness, helmet (all gear must be UIAA approved)
Gear recommended: water, lunch, sunscreen lotion, mosquito repellent.
Please note that ACC insurance covers ACC members only. Non-ACC members can participate in this event for free if you have never attended an ACC climbing trip before. Basic ACC membership is $47 per year. Participants must read the Trip waiver before attending this event and sign the waiver at the beginning of the event.
Please contact the trip coordinator for more information and to RSVP.
Xiaoping Li (xiaopingli@rogers.com)
Trip classification: A
http://www.climbers.org/participant-guidelines-and-trip-matrix-rock-clim...
Trip waiver:
http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/activities/waivers.html
Hi XP!!!
I just met wth Ken at the True North during the Summer Sweat Fest.
It was great!
Anyways..
We mentioned you and the Crag Crux Climbers, and wondered how the things are going.
And there was the email!
So, if there is still available space I would be very interested in to attend the Reverso/ATC-Guide Safe Lowering and Climbing at Buffalo Crag.
If there is still a chance for me to get on the trip please let me know!
Hope to hear from you soon.
Cheers,
Hedvig
Hey Hedvig,
Long time no see. Are you working at the True North now?
To register for the event, please send me an email at the address in the event post. I will then email you the meeting time and location, and carpool arrangement if you need it.
Thanks,
Xiaoping
Three climbers attended this clinic. None of them have trad lead or belayed from the top with a Reverso/ATC-Guide. They were sent the following three video links to view before the event:
1. Black Diamond's instruction on ATC-Guide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NrsNhmf3rQ
2. Petzl's instruction on Reverso3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93YDB1jj21s&feature=related
3. AMGM trainer Eli Helmuth on lowering with ATC-Guide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3zOisWbuB8&feature=related
The clinic was conducted on the route of McMaster Direct at Rattlesnake Point. This route simulates the situation when a seconder is dangling in the air and needs to be lowered down by the leader. At the clinic, the following happened:
1. When a seconder of 180lbs or greater was fully weighted on the rope, I was not able to unlock the autoblock by using the methods demonstrated in either Black Diamond's or Petzl's videos. I was ablel to unlock the autoblock slightly with the Black Diamond's method when the seconder weighed 135lbs. This explains why the AMGM trainer uses his body weight to unlock the auto-block.
(The accident happened during the guides exam in B.C. where the guide candidate dropped his examiner more than 50 feet was due to the candidate's loss of balance when he used his weight to unlock the auto-block. The effort to unlock is a surprisingly BIG one -- you'll see in my video clips -- and it is easy to loose balance. Afer losing balance, the candidate's full body weight pulled the auto-block completely open(unlocked), the rope flew through the device freely, burning the candidate's belaying hand and dropping his examiner.)
2. I demonstrated the way of lowering I learned from the Rock Solid Leaderhsip course I attended July 10-16, 2010. The key to this technique is adding a munter hitch belay below the Reverso/ATC-Guide, which gives a belayer more control of the lowering speed with the expectation that the belayer will be able to stop the falling in situations similar to that in the accident.
3. I demonstrated the modification of this method based on my own experience. The modified procedure is as follows:
a) Tie a munter hitch right below the locked belaying device and clip to my harness. (In the course I took, a clove hitch is tied to the master point before tying the munter. Near the end, the clove hitch is untied before lowering. I skipped the clove hitch for reasons that I will mention below.)
b) Tie a prusik knot (dress it tight) below the munter hitch and clip to my leg loop with NO EXTENSION - so the prusik won't be able to reach up to the munter hitch and interfere its function.
c) Thread a cord to the small hole of the Reverso/ATC-Guide with a stop knot. (or use a thin sling to tie a girth hitch through the hole as demonstrated in the Black Diamond video.)
d) Pass the cord through a biner clipped to the Master point (or its upper shelf) and tie a clove hitch to a biner clipped to my belay loop. (This is where danger may occur. But I already have a munter hitch and a prusik safety backup.)
e) Hold the rope between the munter hitch and prusik knot.
f) Use body weight to open the lock of the Reverso/ATC-Guide and feed rope to the munter to lower the seconder.
In this modified procedure, I focused mostly on the sequence: back up safety with a munter and prusik first; then begin to work on the mechanics to unlock the auto-block. With this sequence, I felt safe to skip the clove hitch used in the course. Also, for this reason, I think that it will be safer for AMGM trainer Eli Helmuth to set up his belay and Klemheist knot before tying that sling (for unlocking) to his body in his video.
4. Every climber took turn to lower a seconder using the modified procedure. And I observed that when lowering a person over 200lbs, there was a jerky movement of the belaying rope the moment the auto-block was unlocked. The rope suddenly began to move relatively quickly. When the belayer let his belaying hand go, the rope continued to move through the munter hitch, indicating that a munter hitch alone is not sufficient to stop the seconder's falling in the event the belayer slip and fall and completely lose control of the belaying rope, which is a real possibility given how hard the belayer has to push back and down to unlock the autoblock -- you can see this in my video clips. The pusik knot was able to stop the rope completely.
I have tried to upload the 2 video clips I have made for this clinic to attach to this post without success. so I have to direct you to my flickr site to view the video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31641994@N05/4848132615/in/set-721576246294...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31641994@N05/4849029875/in/set-721576246294...
Please note that I am just a messenger here to merely provide some information, not instruction. Readers are responsible for whatever they feel comfortable of doing in their climbing situations.
Xiaoping