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Alpine Travel

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 Somerville 14 Jun 2014
Im going on my first 'real' alpine trip to the Ecrin and im going in a group of three, as the middle man how to i tie and and coil the rope?

My first guess is Alpine Butterfly but for coiling im stuck for ideas.

Any advise would be great.
 psaunders 14 Jun 2014
In reply to Somerville:

I usually use a figure-of-8 on the doubled rope and then clip the loop to my harness. This gives you a karabiner ready to clip to an anchor for crevasse rescue.

Alternatively you can girth hitch the rope to your harness by pulling a loop through and then stepping through it and pulling it over your head, although this is a lot more awkward to get out of.
 ianstevens 14 Jun 2014
In reply to Somerville:

Alpine butterfly and a carabiner. You'll want a big (c. 1m) "isolation" loop on the AB, just so you have a little free reign when moving.

As for coils, that's the beauty of being middle man (or lady) - they aren't your problem, the people on each end will need to take the relevant amount.

 Aigen 14 Jun 2014
In reply to Somerville:

This is my favorite way of moving as a group of 3.
youtube.com/watch?v=Qhw9AM7ahlA&
 alexm198 14 Jun 2014
In reply to Somerville:

Yeah I always assumed alpine butterfly and a screwgate but was then told on the Conville course last year that this needlessly involved another link in the system (i.e. the screwgate) and that the middle men should tie in with a overhand on the bight and simply clip the loose bight to the harness to keep it tidy.

It's probably a bit like taking coils - many equally good ways of doing it.
 Jasonic 14 Jun 2014
In reply to Somerville:

I was taught to first tie a long overhand- then tie in using a second rethreaded overhand.
This has the advantage that any load is not passed through the middleman.

In terms of distance apart, about 12m seems right as this makes it easier to keep the rope tight which means that if someone falls in a slot they should not go far! With this and many other aspects of mountaineering you have to make your own judgement- Bruce Goodlad's book is worth a look.
OP Somerville 16 Jun 2014
In reply to Somerville:

THanks for the reply. all good knowledge.

Fully understood now.
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