Monday, July 13, 2009

Half Ropes

Lisa and I were at VE today  - it was way too nice to climb outside. She got the idea of practicing our half rope technique. So we grabbed two ropes and practiced some leads. After we started, Pat came over and gave us handy tips and explained why he prefers that method of climbing – especially on longer routes – and why it’s safer. It was great fun but next time we’ll use two different colored ropes. It’s easier to keep straight which one needs to be clipped next. 

Reduced Rope Drag

2 comments:

Lisa said...

T'was a comfort to look and see a nice taught rope on me as I clipped the giant handful of the other rope. Plus I was so busy with the new technique, I forgot to be scared.

Unknown said...

I have always led trad with half ropes. It makes things more complicated and heavy at times, but it really is nice to pull a big loop to clip all while knowing you are not adding any more distance to the potential fall. The biggest advantage though that I see is that you can do full length raps when it comes time to head back down.