In reply to LeeWood:
I guess, once in a very long while, in extremis, you might pull the rope through with your teeth. Maybe your hands have frozen to the axe or something.
Most of the time you have a hand free for "the pull through".
So. Pull through.
If you still need more rope, and so need to prevent the rope you've already pulled through from slipping back, use anything you like to hold it:
- your teeth (although others have noted a possibly more serious downside than not liking the taste)
- elbow
- shoulder
- chin
- knee
- thigh
- ankle
- shin
- forehead
- chest
- hip
Just take the rope and pin it to the rock with whatever is most convenient. If you're in a hurry, just suck up the rancid taste of sweat, magnesium carbonate, more sweat and stale saliva, and camel-lip it. It saves your front teeth if you're a biter not a screamer.
J