UKC

Abseiling off a pinnacle

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 playboater15 11 Oct 2009
Hey,

If I were to climb a pinnacle, like the Longstone at Symonds Yat, how do you get down without leaving any gear?

Do you tend to down climb, taking gear out as you do so, do you leave a sling and carabiner and maybe some pro at the top to make an anchor, or are there usually lower offs set up in such situations?

Thanks

Alistair
 tdudley 11 Oct 2009
In reply to playboater15:

The longstone has a couple of nice big blocks at the top to ab off. No need to leave gear.
OP playboater15 11 Oct 2009
Thanks, so would you just hang the rope around the block? What about friction? (you get to the bottom and find that the rope is hung up on the block?
 tdudley 11 Oct 2009
In reply to playboater15: Basically yes, find the middle, put that around the back of the block and ab off as normal (if on doubles then you'd want to make sure the knot isn't going to get jammed so I'd offset it slightly). Pulling the rope down shouldn't be a problem, you can always leave a sling and krab if you wanted to be sure.
 paddi-8764 11 Oct 2009
In reply to playboater15: just bring a few meters of cord and throw that round the rock. Saves you leaving a sling and a Krab and you dont have to worry about friction on your rope.
 Chris Sansum 12 Oct 2009
In reply to playboater15:

The block on the long stone pinnacle won't cause any friction, and doesn't have any sharp edges - you'll be able to pull them down easily. If you're concerned, you can always get the first person down to give the rope a pull to make sure it is running freely.
 mlmatt 12 Oct 2009
In reply to playboater15:

Always make sure which ever way your deciding to abseil that the first person down checks that it runs freely!

I managed to get my ropes stuck on Ilam Rock, and prusiking back up to fix the problem was not cool.
 Only a hill 12 Oct 2009
In reply to mlmatt:
> (In reply to playboater15)
>
> Always make sure which ever way your deciding to abseil that the first person down checks that it runs freely!

This is good advice. In a multi-pitch mountain situation, getting your rope jammed can really land you in the brown stuff (it happened to me and my mate, and to be honest we were lucky to get out of there without needing to be rescued).
 teflonpete 12 Oct 2009
In reply to Chris Sansum:
> (In reply to playboater15)
>
> The block on the long stone pinnacle won't cause any friction, and doesn't have any sharp edges - you'll be able to pull them down easily. If you're concerned, you can always get the first person down to give the rope a pull to make sure it is running freely.

I abbed off it a couple of months ago. Use one half rope with the middle around a block on the landward side, a 50 metre rope is OK if you put the middle over the block and as Chris says, there are no sharp edges so it pulls down OK.
 gethin_allen 12 Oct 2009
In reply to playboater15:
I thought this was going to be another thread on how to get off of/ belay on napes needle, ah well. If your rope does get jammed there are a few things you can do. If you still have both ends it's easy you just prusik up the rope and sort it out. If you have lost one of the ends you can prusik up the rope and place gear on the rope below you as you climb with your partner belaying at the bottom of the rope. It's not ideal but it can get you out of trouble.
 Mitch1990 17 Oct 2009
yea the pinnacle is bomber, just do it.
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