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Near Miss - Abseiling on tail of ropes. 3-Feb-2016 At 4:55:37 PM Jakob

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On 3/02/2016 Old_man wrote:
>> still 100m up from the ground
>
>There may also be a 'bottom of big wall' factor when the ground seems
>so close compared to what's above that there's no danger. Once coming down
>off a ledge about 100m up El Cap, we abseiled down an old fixed rope with
>half its mantel gone and furry insides hanging out, because there didn't
>seem far to go. Afterwards you shake your head and say, 'Did I really do
>that?'

I do know what you mean, I think in your story you may have been talking about the fixed lines coming down off mammoth ledges, you can certainly get bottom of big wall factor their, its quite deceiving how high you are!

In this instance, I was definitely on edge as I was praying that my ropes didn't get caught as I pulled them down the heavily traversing rap line, whilst also looking at the 1/4 inch bolt and the nut I was on. There was scant gear around, I felt safe, but still, anxiety levels were slightly elevated. Fun times!

I like the solution of tieing stoppers in the end of my tails from now on ;)