This fall we returned to the Grand Canyon to train with the NPS ranger cadre. The top of the Grand Canyon rim offers pretty straightforward anchoring options with a lot of stout vegetation and rock mass features. The real challenge is in properly aligning to the edge transitions to protect against a pendulum of the load. The edges and rock faces below can offer tricky fall lines that require some thoughtful rigging. Some of techniques we incorporated into the training scenarios included utilizing changes-of-direction to dial-in rope alignment, as well as guying the artificial high directional to minimize risk associated with changing fall lines.
