First Rappel

Not my first, but i'm taking a friend on his first multi-pitch. Bolted anchors, chains, etc, my question is this: Is there anything wrong with keeping him attached to the anchors, helping him rig his atc, then rigging myself in below him and rapping down to give to give him a fireman's? Yes, yes, i know we're Gonna Die, but can't find anything as to whether or not this is good practice gearwise or otherwise.

Nothing wrong with it at all, guides use it quite a bit. I'd suggest extending his device with a sling. That way he can move a bit and isn't pinned against the rock while you rap.

Oh, good call! Didn't even think about how awesome that would become for him as soon as the rope went taut. thank you

My first climbing boyfriend used to do that everytime for years. He had some recurring dream of a girl falling past him to her death as he rapped, so he was extra cautious even when I had plenty of experience setting myself up to rap. I didn't mind so much though. It's true that it can really pull you uncomfortably against the rock though, especially if the anchors aren't above your waist.

Pretty common. In fact, if you have multiple newbies you can stack 'em up: (Not my picture)

Pre-rigged rappels

I've heard it referred to as a pre-rigged rappel, maybe a search for that will help find more info.

An excellent idea. Just did it earlier this week with a beginner at Stone Mtn NC. Extending does help make it more comfortable for the follower.

If you can't figure that one out on your own, odds are if anything out of the ordinary happens you won't know what to do then either, really think you're in the position to be guiding a newbie?

NickinCO wrote:If you can't figure that one out on your own, odds are if anything out of the ordinary happens you won't know what to do then either, really think you're in the position to be guiding a newbie?

A strong +1

NickinCO wrote:If you can't figure that one out on your own, odds are if anything out of the ordinary happens you won't know what to do then either, really think you're in the position to be guiding a newbie?

Please, like people haven't been taking up(guiding their newbie friends for years and years. I guess Nick would suggest you hire a guide at $200 dollars a day to take you both out on a privately guided trip... Ha!

RockyMtnTed wrote: Please, like people haven't been taking up(guiding their newbie friends for years and years. I guess Nick would suggest you hire a guide at $200 dollars a day to take you both out on a privately guided trip... Ha!

Nope, but read a book and figure it out on your own instead of asking complete strangers on the internet... Like people did it for years and years! This is the generation of instant gratification, don't put in any work for anything, just ask the computer screen! I've never used a guide and never would, to me it takes away the adventure. But I've also read freedom of the hills cover to cover.

NickinCO wrote: But I've also read freedom of the hills cover to cover.

Really what chapter is this topic in Freedom of the Hills?

How dare he use the the internet to ask questions... Doesn't he know he must go to amazon.com and order a book before he is allowed to ask questions!?

Couldn't you have traveled around the city to several different stores that sell sun showers and seen for yourself which ones appeared to be good quality or not? Instead you had to seek instant gratification through the internet, go read a book on sun showers sir!

RockyMtnTed wrote: Really what chapter is this topic in Freedom of the Hills? How dare he use the the internet to ask questions... Doesn't he know he must go to amazon.com and order a book before he is allowed to ask questions!? Couldn't you have traveled around the city to several different stores that sell sun showers and seen for yourself which ones appeared to be good quality or not? Instead you had to seek instant gratification through the internet, go read a book on sun showers sir!

Wow, that was awesome!

Keep in mind that you need to keep your friend pretty tight to stop him should he lose control.

For the record, I do own freedom of the hills...and Long's books, and Leubben's, it's not covered in any of them. So i went to the internet, because i'm part of the "generation of instant gratification?" I'm older than you are, NickinCo. Luckily, i got my answer in the first couple responses, before the inevitable disintegration of the conversation. Thanks to those who helped, no thanks to those who assumed i'm a noob and essentially told me to hire a guide before asking me how experienced i am. I'm gonna go climb, which is something some of you guys should spend more time doing...

RockyMtnTed wrote: Really what chapter is this topic in Freedom of the Hills? How dare he use the the internet to ask questions... Doesn't he know he must go to amazon.com and order a book before he is allowed to ask questions!? Couldn't you have traveled around the city to several different stores that sell sun showers and seen for yourself which ones appeared to be good quality or not? Instead you had to seek instant gratification through the internet, go read a book on sun showers sir!

I think there's a big difference between asking for information about a portable shower on the internet and doing something where plenty of people die every year. Have you ever read accidents in mountaineering? How many accounts have you read of people dying due to portable shower use?

Jonathan Lee wrote: For the record, I do own freedom of the hills...and Long's books, and Leubben's, it's not covered in any of them. So i went to the internet, because i'm part of the "generation of instant gratification?" I'm older than you are, NickinCo. Luckily, i got my answer in the first couple responses, before the inevitable disintegration of the conversation. Thanks to those who helped, no thanks to those who assumed i'm a noob and essentially told me to hire a guide before asking me how experienced i am. I'm gonna go climb, which is something some of you guys should spend more time doing...

Because I didn't feel comfortable giving a complete stranger information over the internet that could potentially kill someone other than yourself? If you're so experienced you would have never asked this question. Enjoy climbing today, I'm working a 12 hour shift (on day 3 of 6) so I can spend a week at Indian Creek next week.

NickinCO wrote: Because I didn't feel comfortable giving a complete stranger information over the internet that could potentially kill someone other than yourself? If you're so experienced you would have never asked this question. Enjoy climbing today, I'm working a 12 hour shift (on day 3 of 6) so I can spend a week at Indian Creek next week.

Oh well you should probably be taking care of patients or something instead of arguing on mountain project...

You're out of your element Nick, just let it go.

I found myself asking the same question last weekend when I was at Smith. I had been worried about the idea that my friends ATC would be weighted in opposing directions with enough force to cause problems. My assumption was that it should be nothing any different from breaking a fall using an ATC belay device, but since nobody had taught me "stacked rappel" I wasn't sure of the forces involved. I worked my way around the problem and we got down without incident.

But just since I've never hired a guide to show me stacked rappel doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm doing or have any business showing my friend how to rig for rappel.

Who recommeded hiring a guide? Out of my element?

Well if it aint in FOTH, and they don't sell that info at the hardware store, you said the internet is off the table too, so the next best thing I guess would be to drop a bunch of money on a guide.

Never seen The Big Lebowski huh?

RockyMtnTed wrote: Oh well you should probably be taking care of patients or something instead of arguing on mountain project...

My excuse for not climbing is that I'm at work, what's yours? It's saturday...