UKC

Hello, I've recently starting Trad climbing (Aprox. 1 Month) with my friend who has been climbing for a lot longer than I have. However I have ran into a slight problem. There is this one part at Subluminal that I can't abseil down into (The Second Corner area) the thing is everywhere else I'm fine. I not sure how to describe how I feel perhaps a mixture of excitement, I'm going to die and do I really trust this?! Anyway I was just wondering if anybody had some tips/advice? I don't want this to hold me back and have the same effect at other crags etc. Thanks!

In reply to TomWeeks:

Your experience is pretty common, and nothing to be worried about. Sea cliffs are intimidating, and abseiling is dangerous. You are right to be scared!
I feel really intimidated on sea cliffs, especially when abseiling or sitting on belay - I'm fine once I start leading. It does get better slowly. You just need to start somewhere less intimidating and work your way up.

In reply to TomWeeks:

Sounds like fear to me! Get on with it before it becomes a big issue in your head

In reply to TomWeeks:
A healthy respect for abseiling off anything is a good thing. For me learning about things helps and having a system that takes your brain out of the loop so instead of thinking "is this all right or am I about to kill myself" all the time you can think "I've gone through my system and checks so it's fine". Irrational fear will only make you less mindful of any unexpected hazards so trust your system and move on.

So if you're abseiling off a massive tree, you know the huge forces all your gear and rope can hold, you know the small amount of force your abseiling will create and visably you can see the tree aint going anywhere, then you've attached yourself to your descender, back up then gone back over each and checked them (actually attached, screw gates done up, no sharp edges around, ropes touching the ground or knots in the end etc.) then you know 100% that everything is in order and there is no need to worry. Just build it up in the time honoured fashion from abseiling down your stairs to abseiling off a tree on a slab until you're happy tying onto an equalised ancient stake, fence post and heather belay and dangling above an abyss of crashing waves!

In reply to TomWeeks:

Like above comments - knowledge means confidence, which removes fear from the situation.

Swat up on all aspects of abseiling to build your confidence. This will also allow you to make sure that your partner is doing things properly (I'm sure they are!)

Watch lots of BMC and other training videos on Abseiling, safe ab anchors, prusiking back up the rope, using a prusik to back up an abseil, knots to use for tying your ropes together etc etc.

Try to practice these things in a safer environment - a short, inland crag perhaps - and ask your climbing partner to accompany you on a little training exercise day that is only about the rope skills, without any climbing.

In reply to TomWeeks:


http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=abseiling

I can see why.

In reply to Sharp:


The trouble is that a lot of sea cliffs have v scary/verging on inadequate stakes in situ. I remember in Pembrokeshire in about 1984 being very unhappy with a standard abseil down Mowing Ward I think, where there was just one metal rod stuck in a hole in the grass that had become so enlarged with use that the rod just rattled around in the hole. And there was nothing else ... not even another dodgy stake.

In reply to TomWeeks:

As said above, it's good to not get over confident with abseiling as it seems to be the most dangerous part of climbing.
Personally I always use a prussic loop backup and always tie knots in the ends of the rope, It seems like every other day there's a report on rock and ice about someone abseiling off the ends of their ropes.

In reply to TomWeeks:

I have been abseiling since I started climbing 55 years ago and it not something I do other than when it's necessary eg Abbing into a sea cliff, descending from a sea stack, descending from the top of a single pitch with no descent route, escaping from a multi pitch, or during mountaineering such as the Cuillin Ridge or in the Alps.

I never do it just for it's own sake.

As others have said it is potentially very dangerous and has killed some well known climbers over the years.

I always have to get a mental grip before I do it and always get a sinking feeling in my stomach as I go over the edge, although once committed I'm fine.

Take care - double check everything, and go for it.

In reply to Chris Harris:

You're not even slightly funny!

In reply to TomWeeks:


I thought he was.

In reply to TomWeeks:
If I feel intimidated I'll use my shunt as a back up,I climb with an old school guy who's 65 and doesn't really do back ups on abseil and gives me a bit of stick but like I tell him it's better than dying.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:


Did you use it? If so how bad would it have to be before you 'wussed' out? I feel it is a lot harder to 'chicken out' and not use stakes you aren't happy with (and thus not climb the route) than just to go 'everyone else has been fine, so...'?

In reply to TomWeeks:

You could just ab down after your partner with him ready to pull on the hanging rope if you lose control to immediately lock your device. I've seen guides use this method, and they may ab first to sort the rope out with their clients "stacked" at the top with their belay plates correctly threaded on the rope. Yet again he could protect you from the top with the climbing rope which will have to be uncoiled at the bottom anyway.

The last time I had a problem abseiling was when I was hanging in space and the prusik backup jammed solid on the manufacturer's middle marker tape in the rope. In some situations it might not be a good idea for a beginner to use this method as they would not be able to safely sort out getting their weight off the prusik to free it.

Incidentally there is an easy, though initially exposed, scramble to the start of Second Corner going behind the pedestal and slithering down the safe crack to the ledge.

Although abseiling requires great care, as we rely totally on our use of equipment, in fact often everything is under our control and we are often not putting great strain on the gear. In actual climbing we use gear for protection which is not called into use unless a leader fall occurs when the forces are greater and less predictable.

In reply to TomWeeks:

This time last year I did a down climb, down an arete, then through a 'boulder bridge' because I was too scared to abseil down the sea cliff involved. A week later, someone in my climbing club said that he'd actually seen someone fall off that exact same downclimb to disappear into the zawn beneath, never to be seen again.

Sometimes our perceptions of danger do not form an accurate correspondence with the actuality of the risk involved. In that particular instance, I would probably have been at less risk if I had abseiled, though I would have felt more scared.

In reply to TomWeeks:

On the whole, Subluminal is a pretty good place to learn how to and get accustomed to abseiling. The stakes are pretty good, there are usually lots of folks around, the edge is square, you can clearly see the bottom and it's not really that far. I'm not a fan of abseiling at all, and often have to brace myself before launching over the edge - especially somewhere like Boulder Ruckle. But, as others have said, if you're confident in the fixed point and in your systems, you just have to tighten your sphincter and go for it. Of course, if you're not confident in the anchor or your systems, then for god's sake don't do it. I've abseiled off a few dodgy looking stakes over the years, and it's really not worth the stress.