Alpine and ice

Wet and icy rope

Water and ice change cams and assisted devices. A toothed progress-capture can glaze. A GriGri cam can stick open or shut. If you cannot weight-test the actual rope condition, you do not have a system. Munter on a locker still works when gadgets freeze — that is why it stays in the kit, not because it is elegant.

Tie a figure-8 or overhand on a bight on the brake strand every 5 m (about 3 m for the first pieces and any crux). Clip each knot to its own gear loop. Untie as you pass it. Never skip the first knot below the device. Do not drop the first knot to beat a storm. Turn around or pick easier ground.

Edge protection without a belayer

On solo or moving-together terrain, nobody is watching the sheath over a flake. Redirect or pad (scraps, a pack, purpose-made protectors) before the rope saws. Inspect at every stance. Lead-solo overlap: alpine notes on the rope-solo page.

Rope-up vs moving together

• Roped belay — pitch it when a fall is likely or the runout is a death-fall. Full belay, real anchor.
• Moving together — short rope, pieces between, only on terrain where a fall must be caught by the terrain and the coils, not by a sitting belay you did not build. If you cannot explain how a fall stops, you should be pitching.
• Unroped — a separate decision. This site will not dress that up as a time-saver.

Ice-screw belay

1. Ice quality first: thick, bonded, not dinner-plating under the hanger.
2. Two or more screws, independent, angled to the load. Equalize with a cordelette or a well-limited join — same no-extension check as anchors.
3. Screws that will take an upward or outward yank if this is a solo start or a traverse.
4. Clip lockers. Weight-test before you commit a follower or yourself.

Manufacturer placement notes: Petzl ice screws. Length and ice quality are in that sheet, not in a forum rule of thumb.

V-thread (Abalakov)

1. Ice must be thick enough for two intersecting holes and a solid bridge between them.
2. Equal holes, clean intersection, cord or webbing that can take a rappel load.
3. Dress the join. Backup the thread if the ice is not obvious — a second thread or screws you are willing to leave.
4. Weight-test. Then rappel with a backup as on Rappelling.

When this page is the wrong tool

• Glacier travel, crevasse haul-out, or a hidden bergschrund problem.
• A lead-solo device you have never tested on a wet rope.
• Skipping backups “because weather.” That is not a system on this site.