TangerineDream
is a Weekend Warrior
Stoke Earnt: 26
Crevasse Kit
Posted Wed, 01/11/2012 - 12:09Just putting together my first crevasse kit for some skiing around Chamonix and then a tour later in the season... what should be in it? I've already got a glacier rope - think its 30metres and 8mm so hoping thats about right. I've also got a few slings but no ice screws or any pulleys or anything... looks expensive so keen to get the right stuff first time round...
Re: Crevasse Kit
Posted Wed, 01/11/2012 - 17:48I'm never sure I've got it quite right but I take:
And I usually have a few spare crabs. I'm sure if I practiced more often I'd know better what I actually needed!
Re: Crevasse Kit
Posted Mon, 01/16/2012 - 13:36Nice one, thanks Kevin - I'll have to read up on it again. I was looking at using prussiks (presumably in place of the tibloc and traxion?) - will that work? Its certainly going to be cheaper at any rate! Also, what size of ice screw is best to get?
Re: Crevasse Kit
Posted Mon, 01/16/2012 - 13:51The 'classic' crevasse rescue kit involves using prussiks but to be honest its a total nightmare (or thats my experience of it anyway). For the sake of a bit of extra money and weight you'll be more likely to save a buddies life so in my opinion I wouldn't rely purely on prussiks. Having said that, I do generally still have one or two prussiks on my harness - apart from anything else they can be used as spare bits of string which have come in handy a few times for various things
Re: Crevasse Kit
Posted Tue, 01/17/2012 - 13:51Yep, Kevin's got it pretty much right though there are lots of variations. I'd just go for medium length ice screws and remember that the important thing is to be able to set up anchors regardless of conditions - ice screws are great when there's a nice bit of solid ice to wack em into... but totally useless if there's any amount of soft stuff on top of the ice. You need to be prepared to set up ski anchors etc and have enough kit with you that you can be flexible and deal with whatever crops up. If you're in glacier terrain I reckon you should always have an axe with you too. At the same time you don't want to carry a massive rack with you so alot of its about thinking carefully about the set of conditions you're likely to encounter and pack accordingly. It also depends who you're with - if there's a big team of you you can split some kit up between the members and you also have the knowledge that theres likely to be more manpower on hand to help haul etc. If you're skiing with only one other person its a different ball game - you have to know you can get the other guy out and vice versa - that usually means a rope each and having enough kit to enable you to haul your buddie out on your own... not easy!!
Re: Crevasse Kit
Posted Thu, 01/26/2012 - 00:28Yeah quite abit of info there... and as has already been mentioned above there are loads of variations. What I would say, and this is from personal climbing and skiing experience, what ever kit you buy make sure you can use it correctly! yes prussiks can be bulky, yes they can slip (depending on the situation and specific knot used, but it has multiple uses whereas a tibloc/mini traxion/ropeman do not..)plus a prussik can be used to safeguard your personal safety during an abseil, where as the other cannot...
as for pulleys, why not use a simple krab/pulley combo - like the DMM revolver. this has been tested and has a CE rating for both uses...
Rope - -1 30m rope is good, but it would mean only 30 m of rope can be used to effect a rescue.. not very helpful if your buddy is in a deeper crevase, or an abseil/retreat is required. if 2 x 30 m ropes were carried within the team then that would be mush better.. 60m straight line rescue and a30m retrievable abseil.
I tend to carry 2 ice screws, 1 short & 1 long on a krab
2 prussiks on a krab
tibloc & ropeman on a krab
belay device on a krab
1 x 60cm sling & krab
2 x 120cm sling & krabs
about 5/7m of 5mm "tat" to use to link skis together etc in anchor set ups etc...
Sharp knife!
with this and 2 x 30m ropes.. im happy with almost every eventuality..... almost.....
I found the BMC Off-Piste essentials DVD very informative and good to recap on skills...
http://www.bmcshop.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=261_262&products_id=5775
Petzl Min - traxion http://www.petzl.com/en/pro/progress-capture-pulleys-0/mini-traxion
DMM Revolver karabiner http://dmmclimbing.com/products/revolver/
Petzl TIbloc http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/multi-purpose-ascenders-0/tibloc
Wild Country ropeman - http://www.wildcountry.co.uk/products/ropeman-1-2-and-3/
Training, knowledge and familiarity with whatever kit you choose is the key.
Ultimately this is what it boils down too.... can i get "A" person out the neck high do-do as quick and as safely as possibly without adding further injury to either me and the rest of my team and finally them....
Re: Crevasse Kit
Posted Thu, 01/26/2012 - 10:39Good call gavc0 - I'd forgotten about the knife! Probably the most important thing to have as soon as you're doing any rope work! I haven't tried the ropeman but like the look of it since its smaller than the Mini Traxion... does it do the same job?
Re: Crevasse Kit
Posted Fri, 01/27/2012 - 17:12Hi there Kevin, knife is a pretty inportant addition.. Yeah the Ropeman work very similar to the tibloc, it has teeth. This is the beauty of the tibloc and ropeman ove [russiks on frozen ropes, the teeth bite and therefore grip better. Thats why i carry a tibloc and ropeman... if I'm down a hole, i know that if my mates can just rig up some safe anchors i can get myself out... or they can rig up a z-rig of some description and get me out....