Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

Alot of activities, especially those which take place in mountainous regions, involve moving up and or down using a rope. Even if you are only planning on using a rope for a safety device, knowing how to move along it in each direction is extremely important.

There are two main divisions when it comes to ascending (moving up) a rope, being improvised (using some basic general purpose gear rigged to be able to ascend the rope) and mechanical (using specialised equipment to do the same thing). In this article we will look at both, as they are both effective methods, and we will also look at the pros and cons of each which will dictate which of the two you may want to practice more. Although being aware of both is certainly a good thing.

Equipment

• Length of 11mm kernmantle rope (and equipment to anchor same securely)
• Climbing harness
• 4 x locking carabiners
• 2 x mechanical ascenders (also known as "ascenders" or "jumars"
• 3 x prussic loops
• Daisy chain or sling
• Etlier or footloop
• Helmet

Safety

Any skills involving ropes and height should be practiced prior to being used in the real world. It is firmly recommended that anyone wishing to perform these skills undertake professional coaching, or be directly supervised by someone who has sufficient training and experience to direct them. (Just reading a webpage and doing it on your own is a very, very fast way to become part of the landscape, and not in a good way.)

Ascending a Rope - Mechanical

Rigging/Preparation

1. Anchor the 11mm kernmantle rope securely at the top of the ascent
2. Put on your harness (as per manufacturer's instructions
3. Put on your helmet
4. Attach one of the mechanical ascenders to the rope
5. Place a carabiner in the rear eyelet of the ascender
6. Place a carabiner in the belay loop of your harness
7. Run the sling, a prussic loop or the daisy chain from the carabiner on your harness to the one on the ascender attached to the rope. This link should be short enough that you can easily reach the ascender when the link is taught.
8. Attach the second mechanical ascender to the rope, below the first
9. Place a carabiner in the rear eyelet of the ascender
10. Attach another prussic loop, etlier or footloop to this ascender
11. Place a carabiner through the leg loop of your harness (recommended on your favoured side) and tie the main rope below the second ascender through it with a clove hitch. Leave a bit of slack

You are now attached to the rope and ready to start ascending. You have two points of connection with the rope, being the ascender attached to your harness and the main rope tied to the backup carabiner on your legloop.

Alright! Up The Rope!!

1. Push the top ascender (the waist ascender) up the rope as far as you can
2. Push the lower ascender (the foot ascender) up the rope so that the footloop is off the ground, but not so high that you can't place your foot in it comfortably.
3. Step up into the footloop. Be careful, as you may swing a little if you are not directly under the anchor.
4. Push the waist ascender up further as slack appears in that link
5. Once you have pushed the wait ascender up as far as you can, slowly sit down into your harness
6. With your weight now in your harness, push the foot ascender up to a confortable position
7. Step up onto the footloop, using your arms to pull your upper-body up the rope, and pushing the waist ascender as you do so
8. Repeat Steps 5-7. Every few repetitions, pull rope through the clove hitch on your legloop - some slack is good, but too much is bad.
9. Continue until you have ascended the rope to your goal.

Ascending The Rope - Improvised

Rigging/Preparation

1. Anchor the 11mm kernmantle rope securely at the top of the ascent
2. Put on your harness (as per manufacturer's instructions
3. Put on your helmet
4. Attach one of the prussic loops to the rope using a prussic knot (recommended use the three-wrap prussic knot)
5. Place a carabiner in the belay loop of your harness
6. Hook the prussic loop into the carabiner on your harness
7. Attach another prussic loop to the rope using a prussic knot, below the first one
8. Place a carabiner through the leg loop of your harness (recommended on your favoured side) and tie the main rope below the second ascender through it with a clove hitch. Leave a bit of slack

You are now attached to the rope and ready to start ascending. You have two points of connection with the rope, being the prussic attached to your harness and the main rope tied to the backup carabiner on your legloop.

Alright! Up The Rope!!

1. Push the top prussic loop (the waist prussic) up the rope as far as you can
2. Push the lower prussic loop (the foot prussic) up the rope so that the footloop is off the ground, but not so high that you can't place your foot in it comfortably.
3. Step up into the footloop. Be careful, as you may swing a little if you are not directly under the anchor.
4. Push the waist prussic up further as slack appears in that link
5. Once you have pushed the wait prussic up as far as you can, slowly sit down into your harness
6. With your weight now in your harness, push the foot prussic up to a confortable position
7. Step up onto the footloop, using your arms to pull your upper-body up the rope, and pushing the waist prussic as you do so
8. Repeat Steps 5-7. Every few repetitions, pull rope through the clove hitch on your legloop - some slack is good, but too much is bad.
9. Continue until you have ascended the rope to your goal.

Comparisons Between The Two

As I mentioned earlier, both methods work. Mechanical ascenders are often faster, are easier to rig with gloves on and tend to be pretty easy to manage during use. They are also susceptible to causing rope damage if they are shockloaded or overloaded (possibly causing the rope to fail completely), they are heavy and they are built for a specific purpose (meaning you need to know you will be using them to pack them). The improvised method uses pieces of kit which are multipurpose, easy to pack and carry and are lightweight. They also tend to survive overloading better (they will slip before they fail, making it easy to see, and reducing damage to the rope). The improvised method can be a bit harder to manage whilst in use, and harder to rig when wearing gloves or dealing with wet ropes.

Personally, I use the improvised method myself, but I have used the mechanical technique and it is very fast and very easy by comparison.

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