Crevasse Rescue Practice 2022

On June 11, Neha, Raphael and I got together for crevasse rescue practice on Mount Seymour. It was a much smaller group compared to our last practice at about the same time in 2021.

We met at the Seymour parking lot at 9:30 am and made our way to Dinky Peak. We didn’t have to hike to the peak and found a good slope for our practice about 20 minutes into our hike.

We used Neha’s 50 m rope for the practice and started by preparing the rope for our mock glacier travel. First, we used the accordion method for rope spacing, and kiwi coiled the rest on both ends. Then, between two climbers, we tied butterfly knots.

For our first scenario, I went down the slope and Neha (in the middle) and Raphael self-arrested. In our last practice, Neha and I used the approach shared in this Mountaineers video for crevasse rescue. But this time, we decided to use a different technique – the one shared by Ortovox in the video below –

So after arresting the fall. Neha got up while Raphael continued to self-arrest. Neha put a prusik in, tied it to her belay loop, transferred the load to the prusik and then unclipped herself from the rope. Raphael suggested that we should have had the prusiks on the rope when we roped up, which would have made this transition easier.

Now Neha had more room to move and built a T-slot (deadman) anchor. Given the soft snow, she had a slot more than one foot deep. Once the bomber anchor was in place, Raphael undid the butterfly knots and prusiked himself to the anchor.

Then he continued down the slope to check on me – the fallen climber. For our first rescue, we assumed that I was unconscious. Raphael dropped a loop with a carabiner and pulley attached to the Petzl tibloc on the live end of the rope.

**Left** – Tibloc and pulley dropped to the fallen climber with two locking biners. **Right** – The same setup with just one locking carabiner and in active hauling mode

Then he passed the haul end of the rope through a Petzl micro traxion pulley and set up a 2:1 haul system. We spent quite some time trying different combinations like dropping a micro traxion to the climber, hauling using body weight, redirecting the haul, etc.

One of the concepts I learned a few years back but didn’t recall during our practice was the ‘T-method’ for calculating the mechanical advantage. This video explains the concept very well –

Self-Rescue

After a short break, we practiced self-rescue. First, we set up the anchor using a tree and tied a stone knot (not required, just for practice) on the rope. Then Neha and Raphael rappeled down the slope on two sides of the rope.

We used a combination of prusiks and other devices. I practiced using a micro traxion connected to my belay loop and a tibloc for my leg loops. It was awkward, and the process of standing on the leg loops, then sliding the micro traxion and tibloc up the rope was not smooth for me.

Crevasse Self Rescue Practice — Photo by Neha

It was 3 pm by the time we wrapped up the practice and were back at the parking lot. Since we had a small group, I think we had a good practice and discussion on different scenarios. It was probably one of the best practice sessions I had in the last few years.

Territory Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge that this trip took place on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō (staw-low) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. I commit to learning about Indigenous peoples and issues and making reconciliation an ongoing effort.

Source: Native-Land

Pronunciation Guide: First Nations.info, A Guide to Pronunciation of BC First Nations