e so it can inspected it for damage before it is used. I personally lowered a rescuer down a steep class 5 slope and realized as it came out of the bag that it had been damaged by rodents. The mice had eaten through the mantel and into the kern with no sheath left. We reversed the system by stopping the rope with a prussic and building a mechanical advantage to allow us to safely pull the rescuer up. Another option in this situation would be to tie a butterfly knot in the damaged section and then pass it like a knot.
To have your rope feed smoothly on scene requires proper stacking or flaking. Always look ahead and pile the rope in the area from which you want it deployed. If you are in the wind or on steep slippery surfaces you may have to attach the rope bag to the anchor and deploy it from there. If you can get an assistant to help you with rope management and feed it to you, that will also help. "Closing the loop" is a term used for tying off the standing end of rope and tying it to your anchor when you are lowering the rescuer. This way you don't lose control of the rope end if you need to add another rope and the rope will not pass completely through your lowering device.
When rappelling to a victim, our team has a 10 minute standard (after on-scene arrival) to set the anchor and be ready to be safety-checked. Keeping the rope attached to your harness when rappelling will keep the victim from grabbing your rope and possibly stopping your rappel. Your ski patrol rope rescue program should have the following elements in place to meet current rescue practices:
The following link provides information on rescue rope from CMC:
1 CMC Rescue Harness Service Life March 22, 2013 -Through the ASTM consensus standards process, the rescue industry set 10 years as the maximum service life for a life safety rope (see ASTM Standard F1740-96 Guide for Inspection of Nylon, Polyester, or Nylon/Polyester Blend, or Both Kernmantle Rope ). The guide stresses that the most significant contributing factor to the service life of a rope is the history of use. A rope that is shock loaded or otherwise damaged should be retired immediately. Hard use would call for a shorter service life than would be acceptable for a rope that sees very little use. If we apply the same analysis to the rescue harness, then the actual use and the conclusions drawn from inspection would be the significant criteria for determining retirement. We do know that with any use a rope will age, and thus a harness is likely to do the same, so a 10-year maximum service life may well be appropriate for harnesses, assuming inspection has not provided any reason for earlier retirement.
Class 5 climbing --- Where rock climbing begins in earnest. Climbing involves the use of a rope, belaying, and protection (natural or artificial) to protect the climbers from a fall
Standing end--- The part of a rope that is not active in knot tying
Training rope--- A retired rope wanting to get back into your rescue rope cache. To prevent this mishap, cut it up into sections for knot tying practice
Static rope--- a rope that is not designed to stretch when placed under load, in contrast to a dynamic rope
Kernmantle rope-- rope constructed with its interior core (the kern) protected by a woven exterior sheath (mantle) designed to optimize strength, durability, and flexibilit
Robert Walters is on the APP Board and holds degrees in Education, Fire Service Administration and Fire Science. He presently is the Team Coordinator for the Technical Rope Team and Ski Response Team at Jackson County Search and Rescue and is a Technical Rescue Instructor. In addition, he responds with a Fire Department Technical Rescue Team and practices paramedicine with a community ambulance service. He can be reached at email@example.com.
All views are the opinion of the author and do not represent the Association of Professional Patrollers or its sponsors.