Titan access: Ropes for digging team only

[Cantclimbtom]

Isn?t a reverse prusik an abseil?

No, it's down-climbing using your ascenders. I've done shortish sections in the very distant past, when some ropes had oil and denso tape goo all over them (not my fault). It reminds you just how aggressive and sheath catching those petzl teeth are. Down jumaring any more than the very shortest section is a horrible task.

 

[Fulk]

Thanks 2xw for your explanation . . . down-prusiking Titan, the stuff of nightmares. Still, it's a useful skill when you do have to do it (for short distances).

 

[pwhole]

Down jumaring any more than the very shortest section is a horrible task.

I had to do it in an icing-sugar silo at Bassett's sweet factory, abseiling in through the loading hopper. The risk assessment hadn't taken sugar, friction and heat into consideration, and we found after only three metres that our descenders no longer worked - in either direction. Essentially we were glued to the ropes. The silo was 30 metres high, and the only way out was at the bottom, currently blocked with a drift of icing-sugar. So we had to reverse-prussik the entire thing, cleaning sugar off the walls with plastic brooms, and then dig our way out at the bottom, shoveling it through the outlet to a guy in a cherry-picker with a load of bin-bags. Hilarious.

Our misery was relieved when we found out we'd qualified for discount rates at the factory shop due to our heroic performance (they thought us insane), and after a quick shower, staggered out with a giant crate of almost-free chocolate, Liquorice Allsorts and Jelly Babies.

So yes, learn to reverse-prussik whenever possible

 

[al]

Isn?t a reverse prusik an abseil?

No, it's down-climbing using your ascenders. I've done shortish sections in the very distant past, when some ropes had oil and denso tape goo all over them (not my fault). It reminds you just how aggressive and sheath catching those petzl teeth are. Down jumaring any more than the very shortest section is a horrible task.

This method certainly works on a loaded rope with the old style stop descender - probably best to practise somewhere safe before using it  in Titan!

 

[Ian Ball]

That is for the brave but actually very informative.

I have always regarded downward motion on ascender as a necessary part of being able to use ascenders, the loaded rope being one reason.

 

[pwhole]

Indeed - especially if a knot-pass is involved. I once got 10m down the bottom pitch in Leviathan, following the rigger, to find a big knot, with a 20m rope tied in down to the floor, and the rigger lying on his back pissing himself at my surprise - it was entirely deliberate, and he'd taken the other rope hidden in the bag so we wouldn't notice until it was too late. Some of you in the Peak District will probably guess who the rigger was, as it's entirely typical behaviour