Glacier FT 2 - Winter Overnight

On this field trip we cover essential glacier travel skills. The purpose of the field trip is to prepare you for your first glacier rope leads. Successful completion of this field trip is required to serve as a glacier rope leader. You will be tested on your mastery of the 6:1 drop loop system for crevasse rescue and winter overnight preparedness.

Day 1:

Expedition camp set-up (tents, protective walls, cooking, latrine)

Construct snow cave

If time allows: 

Snow anchors practice: pickets, ice axe anchors, bollards - multiple opportunities to practice building, testing, and equalizing anchors

Belaying and lowering techniques - carabiner ice axe belay, hip belay, butt-axe belay

Day 2:

Crevasse rescue practice and final assessment: 6:1 drop loop system.

Snow anchors practice: pickets, ice axe anchors, bollards - multiple opportunities to practice building, testing, and equalizing anchors

Belaying and lowering techniques - carabiner ice axe belay, hip belay, butt-axe belay

Quick Belay Methods

Carabiner/ice axe belay; butt-axe belay. These are three related techniques.

Here I reference only the butt-axe belay because it is arguably stronger than the other methods

and it is applicable in any situation in which you might employ the other methods. The only

advantage that the carabiner ice axe belay may have over the butt-axe belay is that the standing position

of the belayer usually allows a better view of the follower, but the upright body position is not

as ergonomic or stable when holding a fall. Additionally, being off the snow is also a plus.

A good description and discussion of the butt-axe belay can be found on the American Alpine

Institute (AAI) website so it need not be further described here. 

http://blog.alpineinstitute.com/2019/06/the-butt-axe-belay.html

Carabiner-Ice Axe Belay

Freedom of the Hills pp.350-351

Also called the stomper belay, the carabiner-ice axe belay provides better security than a boot-axe belay (see below), with easier rope handling. One good thing about the carabiner-ice axe belay is that the force of a fall pulls the belayer more firmly into the stance.

1. Girth-hitch a short runner (a single sling is too long by itself, but doubling it up will work) to shaft of the axe just below the head. 

2. Attach a carabiner to the runner.

3. Plant the axe in the snow perpendicular to the fall line.

4. Stand on the runner and sung against the axe with your uphill foot.

5. Run the rope up through the carabiner.

6. Then wrap the rope around your back (around the downhill side of your back) and around to your uphill hand. Your uphill hand will be the brake hand, never to leave the rope.

7. As climber ascends, pull rope with both hands as shown in the illustration. When your downhill hand reaches your body, let go and grab the rope beyond your brake hand. Slide the brake hand close to body. Regrip the rope with your downhill hand and repeat.

8. If the climber slips or falls, pull the rope across your midsection with brake hand to arrest climber’s fall.

Standing hip belay

Freedom of the Hills pp. 166-167

The hip belay (or body belay) is a belay method in which the rope is wrapped around the belayer’s body to generate enough friction to stop a climber’s fall. The belayer connects to a solid anchor and assumes a stable stance facing the direction of an anticipated pull on the rope. The rope from the climber is passed around the belayer’s back, just below the top of the hips. To arrest a fall, pull your braking arm across the stomach.Because the force of a fall is dissipated as friction against the belayer’s body, a belayer stopping a severe fall can suffer serious rope burns. Gloves are essential to protect the hands from burns. With the hip belay, the belayer can take in rope much faster than with other methods and the hip belay can be set up quickly with a minimum of equipment.

1. Grasping the rope with both hands, place it behind the back and around the hips. The hand on the section of rope between the belayer and the climber would be the guide hand. The other hand is the brake hand.

2.  Take in rope with the brake hand until the arm is fully extended. The guide hand can also help to pull in the rope (Step 1).

3.  Holding the rope in the brake hand, slide the guide hand out, extending the arm so the guide hand is fatheraway from the body than the brake hand (Step 2).

4.  Grasp both parts of the rope, to the front of the brake hand, with the guide hand (Step 3).

5.  Slide the brake hand back towards the body (Step 4).

6.  Repeat step 5. The brake can be applied at any moment during the procedure. It is applied by wrapping the rope around the front of the hips while increasing grip with the brake hand (Step 6).

Sitting belay with a device

Freedom of the Hills p.351

Used with a snow anchor, the sitting belay with a device is dynamic and secure on snow. It does have its drawbacks. The sitting belayer may face the prospect of a cold, wet assignment, and the belay can be difficult to work if the rope is frozen.

1. Stomp aseat in the snow as well as a platform to brace each boot against

2. Place a form paid or other material as insulation from the snow

3. Settle into a standard belay with legs outstretched.