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General Climbing Discussion

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Arapiles revisited 19-Sep-2014 At 9:46:41 AM Wendy

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Simul rapping is for yahoos! Really, I almost never do it, I don't think the small amount of saved time is worth the increased risk. Besides, have you tried rapping on a single 7.8?

Belaying from the top is definitely the safest way. I thread the anchors, tied an alpine butterflying the ropes, toss one down as the rap rope and use the other as the belay rope. You are there to talk the person over the edge which is the hardest bit, and a bit of careful rope tossing should minimise the risk of them having tangles to deal with on the way down. If anything goes wrong, you are in a much better place to initiate a rescue. If you have to, you can take them on the top rope, get them to let go of the rap rope, pull hair out or whatever, even lower them to the ground if need be. What are you going to do belaying from the ground if they are unable to commit to getting on the abseil at the top? Or get their hair or clothes caught in the belay device?

The front descent is 2 short abseils and a scramble if you only have a single rope and I would do that over either of the big raps if you don't have doubles. Yes, you can swing into the lower anchors on both, but it isn't a nice simple exercise to do with a beginner when you don't have to and why make your life any more difficult? Good experiences will bring her back again, which I'm sure you would like to happen!