cap n chris
Well-known member
Kindly define what you mean by bottom belay.
Les W said:I would only normally bottom belay a novice. Bottom of a pitch is not a good place to hang around with people above...
Alex said:None of the above from what I can gather he just lost control on the slick wet rope and plummeted, he was the 3rd or 4th down.
Of course, it's why you use a J belay. You are out of "falling rock" zone and allows a smooth ride while keeping proper tension. The angle created if weighted combined with the weight provides a fast full stop. I practice catching people off only a 40ft cliff. I've also practiced in cave with a 140ft drop. It's a wonderful technique as it works for both short rope and long rope. (Originally trained for it for Bridge Day, 700-850 ft rappel depending on which slot you draw over the gorge).graham said:Les W said:I would only normally bottom belay a novice. Bottom of a pitch is not a good place to hang around with people above...
Agreed.
Fulk said:with the concomitant possibility of dropping the jammer back down the pitch????
menacer said:Fulk said:with the concomitant possibility of dropping the jammer back down the pitch????
Thats exactly what i did the 1st and last time I borrowed Chris's SRT kit to do a rhino trip. Im just "used to" removing the top jammer from the rope and letting it drop onto the safety cord...only on this occaision, it went tinkle tinkle tinkle all the way down the pitch.