Climbing in the Ouray Ice Park Backcountry ice in the San Juans The consistently cold start to winter has created optimal conditions for both Ouray Ice Park ice-farming as well as backcountry ice formation. The Ice Park opened for the season on Dec 19th and we have been climbing backcountry ice [...]
This summer we have been able to deliver our educational training services to a number of agencies, despite the challenging conditions of operating in the age of Covid-19. Most agencies have numerous protocols and/or guidelines in place for allowing their personnel and our instructors to conduct rope rescue training events. We have been utilizing recommended CDC guidelines such as [...]
For the past two weeks, Rigging for Rescue’s Xander Bianchi has been instructing climbing and rescue techniques at the Khumbu Climbing Center (KCC) in Phortse, Nepal in the Khumbu region near Mt. Everest. Each year, Rigging for Rescue sponsors an instructor in traveling to Nepal to volunteer their expertise to the Sherpa guides and high [...]
We just returned from the annual International Technical Rescue Symposium (ITRS) held in Albuquerque, NM. Rigging for Rescue has been attending and presenting at this event since its infancy in 1986 (NATRS at that time). The symposium is a gathering of around 170 attendees to discuss, dissect, and debate all things rescue-related. Having personally attended [...]
VT Prusik for Rescue Belays - Abstract Rope rescue teams typically operate redundant two-rope systems with inclusion of a fail- safe mechanism for fall arrest. Examples include the MPD, 540° Rescue Belay, Petzl I’D, and Tandem Prusiks to name a few. Teams operating in remote environments with longer ingress/egress distances often favor lighter [...]
We recently returned from our biennial visit to the spectacular coast of Maine on Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park. The training event brings together the handful of SAR teams that perform high angle rope rescues in the state. Given the small size of the state, it is not uncommon for the various [...]
A demonstration drop test of the British Columbia Council on Technical Rescue Belay Competence Drop Test Method 1 meter drop on 3 meters of 11 millimeter low stretch rope with a 200kg test mass. The belay device is a mechanical rope grab: the Gibbs ascender.
Another great training with Denali NP and the 212th Rescue Squadron. This year's training took place out of the Serenity Falls Hut in Chugach State Park.
Difficult edge transitions are among the more challenging scenarios one may encounter rope rescue. Occasionally, situations arise when a team must negotiate an abrupt edge with no high directional, and the patient condition does not allow for a vertical litter orientation. In these circumstances, a smooth operation hinges on a strong and coordinated litter attendant, [...]
Mike has returned from his annual trip to Iceland, and has shared some great pictures including these "non-traditional" anchoring solutions. Cargo net anchor Piolet as a pre-tension front tie Rescuer as the back offset anchor in a compound 9:1 Dirt thread: this piece of webbing is fixed to a customized picket [...]
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