As always, great video with god attention to detail. Glad to see you’re posting videos again…it’s been awhile. Double rope/party of three is fun, but rope management has always been tough. Thanks for putting this together.
3:45 - 4:20 I didn’t quite understand the example around why doesn’t the parallel technique isn’t safe for traverses? Specifically, I don’t understand how a climber could rake the other climber if they fall. If I am leading a traverse, wouldn’t I want to place pieces along the traverse so that climbers won’t swing as much? And if I place pieces along a traverse and instruct both followers do a staggered start, and that there should be at least one piece between the first follower and the second follower (on a wandering/traversy pitch), would parallel be as safe as caterpillar?
That's a great question @ajtheengineer4121! If a pitch has short sections of traversing (like 30ft or so) I will often use the exact technique you mentioned (sometimes called "parapillar"). I will use parallel technique and instruct one follower to wait on the other side of a piece of protection while the other follower completes the traverse. On pitches with significant traverses (or if the entire pitch is a traverse) I will use the technique shown. This is because of a few problems that have to do with the chaos of what ropes (and followers) will do on a traversing pitch. Ropes in parallel often twist around one-another. This can be from poor rope management, or from followers twisting the ropes as they clip past protection. But it is just as likely to be a result of one rope being a bit more slack than the other, so it spins around the more taught rope. Imagine you and I are following a pitch. You are half-way through the traverse, and I am going through a crux on a vertical section before reaching the traverse. If I fall, and my rope is wrapped around yours, I will pull you off the pitch. Even if this doesn't happen, it is common for the last follower's rope to get in the way of the climbing of the first follower. Imagine if my rope was near your feet while you are doing a precarious traverse, and my rope is going slack then taught as the belayer takes-in slack. This is why parallel technique is usually avoided on significant traverses unless the time it would take to use caterpillar could impact safety (for example if you are on a route with many traversing pitches and you are trying to outrun weather).
You got it. Note that I am belaying with a guide style device (the Black Diamond ATC Guide), NOT a brake assited device such as a grigri. Many break assisted devices have cams that can be jammed open when they come into contact with terrain. Terrain does not interfere with the operation of most guide style devices. The time to be wary of letting go of your break strands is if you have several twists in your belay ropes which are preventing the plate from rapidly locking (usually more than two complete twists) or if you have a possibility for one strand to pass underneath the other while it is under tension. Usually this only happens while belaying two people at once where there is a traverse into the belay. You can take a look at this video which I made to specify what to watch-out for in these circumstances: ua-cam.com/video/4nr33w3XGOU/v-deo.html. I hope this is helpful!
Thanks for the super informative video on rope management!
@htliu4652 thanks for the positive feedback!
Thanks. Some very good techniques to practice! Winged it yesterday with a party of three and it was a bit of a cluster.
As always, great video with god attention to detail. Glad to see you’re posting videos again…it’s been awhile. Double rope/party of three is fun, but rope management has always been tough. Thanks for putting this together.
Thanks for the support and positive feedback @timmyrogers7507!
Thanks for the tips. I'm excited to try some of your recommendations.
Thanks for the positive feedback @tylerashcraft6726! Let me know how it goes!
3:45 - 4:20 I didn’t quite understand the example around why doesn’t the parallel technique isn’t safe for traverses? Specifically, I don’t understand how a climber could rake the other climber if they fall. If I am leading a traverse, wouldn’t I want to place pieces along the traverse so that climbers won’t swing as much? And if I place pieces along a traverse and instruct both followers do a staggered start, and that there should be at least one piece between the first follower and the second follower (on a wandering/traversy pitch), would parallel be as safe as caterpillar?
That's a great question @ajtheengineer4121! If a pitch has short sections of traversing (like 30ft or so) I will often use the exact technique you mentioned (sometimes called "parapillar"). I will use parallel technique and instruct one follower to wait on the other side of a piece of protection while the other follower completes the traverse. On pitches with significant traverses (or if the entire pitch is a traverse) I will use the technique shown. This is because of a few problems that have to do with the chaos of what ropes (and followers) will do on a traversing pitch. Ropes in parallel often twist around one-another. This can be from poor rope management, or from followers twisting the ropes as they clip past protection. But it is just as likely to be a result of one rope being a bit more slack than the other, so it spins around the more taught rope. Imagine you and I are following a pitch. You are half-way through the traverse, and I am going through a crux on a vertical section before reaching the traverse. If I fall, and my rope is wrapped around yours, I will pull you off the pitch. Even if this doesn't happen, it is common for the last follower's rope to get in the way of the climbing of the first follower. Imagine if my rope was near your feet while you are doing a precarious traverse, and my rope is going slack then taught as the belayer takes-in slack. This is why parallel technique is usually avoided on significant traverses unless the time it would take to use caterpillar could impact safety (for example if you are on a route with many traversing pitches and you are trying to outrun weather).
@@skillsforclimbing Thank you for the detailed explanation, what you wrote makes sense to me!
@19:09 it appears that your brake hand is off the client’s rope entirely?
You got it. Note that I am belaying with a guide style device (the Black Diamond ATC Guide), NOT a brake assited device such as a grigri. Many break assisted devices have cams that can be jammed open when they come into contact with terrain. Terrain does not interfere with the operation of most guide style devices. The time to be wary of letting go of your break strands is if you have several twists in your belay ropes which are preventing the plate from rapidly locking (usually more than two complete twists) or if you have a possibility for one strand to pass underneath the other while it is under tension. Usually this only happens while belaying two people at once where there is a traverse into the belay. You can take a look at this video which I made to specify what to watch-out for in these circumstances: ua-cam.com/video/4nr33w3XGOU/v-deo.html. I hope this is helpful!
Another great video. By the way, what pants are those? Thanks
Nice video but Darth Vader breathing in the background is a bit distracting. Consider getting a mic.
What route is that?