UKC

What do people think of what these guys are doing?

youtube.com/watch?v=kxArSDMsiQI&

In reply to higher.alpine:

If nothing else it demonstrates that self arrest with only 2 people on a rope, even when you're prepared, is nigh on impossible!!

In reply to higher.alpine:

That is far scarier then the Parthian shot vid.

In reply to higher.alpine:

Wish I hadn't watched that. Might just go solo.........

In reply to higher.alpine:

Just ask yourself why they ALL failed to stop the fall before being saved by the back up belays. Self arrest techniques are of dubious worth as it is, but trying to stop TWO people using them is just asking for trouble.

In reply to higher.alpine:

Did anyone else notice the very 'female' ice cave at the end?

In reply to jon:

Saw this video a few days back and thought of you!

The only trip I've done when we regularly went into crevasses was in Greenland right back at the start of my climbing career. We normally had three on a rope which is a big help and keeping the rope relatively snug is obviously important too, but what we found there is whilst it was quite normal for one or two legs through, with hidden crevasses the snow on top tends to stop you going further, and the big obvious crevasses were easy enough to avoid.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:
Yeah, I thought it might just be me and was staying quiet, good to know it's not just me......

In reply to higher.alpine:

I wonder if knotting the rope would make significant/any difference...?

In reply to JLS:

It would make a massive difference.

Rescuing would be way more difficult.

In reply to camel:

"Way more difficult" sounds easier than trying to breath life into the dead.

In reply to JLS:

Knots in the rope do make a worthwhile difference and for a party of two I'd generally add knots. Once you have more people things are generally a bit better. The knots stop you using the rope between you for prusiking out or using this rope for an extraction system but you've got plenty of spare rope for that. As JLS points out, whatever happens next, you have to stop the fall and knots will make that easier so why not use them?

A couple of other observations from the video. Most of the falls we saw had some dynamic element to them which made them harder to stop. It's normal to travel with the rope touching the snow between climbers but in heavily crevassed areas there's nothing to stop you keeping it tighter as in the still photos. The one or two belayers in that video who have the best chance of stopping are the ones who are able to get to the ground quickly and keep their feet towards the crevasse. (e.g. Yellow trousers at 0:56) A couple of them seem to jump in the air just as the load comes on and that allows the rope to pull them head first which is always going to be a worse scenario.

It is certainly possible for a one person to arrest another's crevasse fall but it's going to need some better technique than what's in that video.

In reply to AdrianC:

Great video, thanks! Agree with Adrian's observations (and HighClimber! ). Obviously a lot depends on the condition of the snow.
I can vouch that knots make a massive difference in helping to slow or stop the fall, the first priority. They are a pain when prussiking out but it is not impossible.
Obviously having three or more on the rope ( assuming they know what they are doing ) is safer. If only a pair on very crevassed terrain it is worth carrying extra rope, for a technical route I would tend to have two ropes for the route anyway ( a half and a triple rated perhaps ).
At least the guys in the video had low attachment points. Even harder not to be pulled head first if attached direct to shoulder coils without a system to lower the attachment point to the waist.

In reply to higher.alpine:

Nice video…but, hold on a second… Are you all trying to say that all those heroic self-arrest moves I have seen throughout my life in all those movies are just….err….lies?

In reply to cariva:

Hollywood wouldn't lie about things like that. I'm sure it is possible to leap over huge gaps and catch yourself on your axes too.

In reply to davidbeynon:

you mean you don't believe its possible ?

youtube.com/watch?v=fn6uIZaF0tk&

In reply to CurlyStevo:

Of course I believe it is possible. I saw it in Vertical Limit!

In reply to davidbeynon:

personally I think our hero in the video I linked is waaaaay cooler!

In reply to CurlyStevo:

Indeed!!!

In reply to higher.alpine:

A very scary video.

That said, they were doing it all wrong. You are supposed to slide into the crevasse and just as all seems to be lost, throw a last swing of your axe into the crevasse lip which sticks, hence saving you both from instant death. You can then either choose to cut the rope after a heart-felt discussion with your partner about some shared historical event, or you perform a one arm pull up and then pull your partner from doom hand over hand before you both go on to blow up the badie.

In reply to higher.alpine:

Knots it is then.