Learn How to Rappel: Part 3, Descent

Welcome to the final article of our “Learn How to Rappel” series.

If you’ve just joined us, please take the time to read our other two articles on rappelling equipment and setting up a rappel before continuing.

We left off with throwing the rope over the edge to finish our setup of the fixed rappel.

Throwing the Rope

When throwing the rope over the edge, whether it be in a rope bag or coiled in your hand, always look first! This seems like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to forget this step.

After verifying there’s no one below, always use proper climbing etiquette and shout “rope!” before throwing. This just gives other climbers around you a heads up that something is falling near them.

Of course, use common sense here, and if this is a situation where you’re trying to be super sneaky, don’t yell. In that situation a tactical rope bag like the one we showed in the equipment article might be the best choice.

Rope Protection

The final step in the setup of our rappel is to add a rope guard to keep it from becoming damaged by the rock face as it hangs over the edge.

As pointed out by JT in our equipment article comments, we used a modified rope protector i.e. Eagle CIRAS shoulder pad.

You can always use a large piece of heavy duty canvas too if nothing else is available, just to protect the investment of your rope.

Is one rappel without a rope protector going to cause your rope to fail? No, but multiple times will damage the outer sheath of the rope and could lead to failure.

The Check

At this point, the setup of the fixed rappel is complete and all that’s left is attaching yourself to it and rappelling down.

Stop what you’re doing and double check everything! In fact, have at least two people double check everything (rope, knots, anchors, carabiners, safety pro… everything!)

Remember that you’re relying on your equipment and anchors 100%!

Harness

The first step to clipping yourself into the rappel, is donning your harness.

When donning your harness always try to lock-off bitter ends with an overhand knot, it’s just one more bit of protection. If one of your buckles were to come loose, it could be a bad day on the rock.

Here’s a short video on locking off the bitter ends on your harness:

Buddy Check

At this step have buddy check you over to make sure your harness is donned properly and everything is buckled like it’s supposed to.

After you’ve been checked over, approach the rope so that it lies to your right, pick up the rope and ensure that it stays on your right.

Prusik

Attaching a Prusik to your rappel is a no-brainer. If you were to let go of your braking hand on the way down, there’s nothing to catch you except the ground.

Also, attaching a Prusik first before clipping into the rope will protect you in case you slip and fall at this point.

When attaching your Prusik, wrap it around the rope and then secure it to your right leg strap of your rappel harness.

This can be done using a carabiner, or if you have awesome cobra buckles like on the Yates Tactical Rappel Belt, you can just unclip a leg strap and slip the Prusik on.

Figure 8

Now that your Prusik is in place for a backup, the Figure 8 can be attached to the rope.

The great part about using a Figure 8 descender is that you can hook into your rope by simply making a bight in the rope.

Make the bight and pass it through the large eye in the figure 8 (back to front), and over the small eye.

Attach the Figure 8 to a locking carabiner on your main harness attachment point, remembering to screw down so you don’t screw up.

Gloves

If you don’t already have your rappelling gloves on, put them on at this point, it can be difficult to have the dexterity to tie in a Prusik while wearing gloves.

Position

The proper position in rappelling is to hold the rope above the Figure 8 with your left hand (guide hand) and grip your Prusik and the rope with your right hand (brake hand).

To brake the rope, simply move your right hand to the small of your back. To descend, move your brake hand away from your back and slightly release your grip on the rope and Prusik.

Walking Backwards

Start your rappel by taking out the slack in the rope by pulling it through the figure 8 and the Prusik. This will bring you closer to the Threaded Figure-Eight Knot in the rope and allow the rope to start supporting your weight.

Doing this before you start walking backwards will help reinforce the fact that the rope is supporting you and you’re trusting your equipment and anchors.

Keeping your brake hand behind your back, slowly walk backwards easing the rope out to your right.

If at any point you feel slack in the line, place your brake hand behind your back, lock the rope and walk back until the line is tight again.

Continue walking backwards until you reach the edge of the rock.

Stepping Out

Once approaching the edge of the rock, plant you’re feet firmly on the edge and start lowering yourself into an L-shaped position.

The L-shaped position: Guide hand on the rope, feet shoulder width apart, knees locked and body bent at the waist (90 degrees).

Maintaining the L-shaped position, bend your knees and push away from the rock while letting out the rope with your brake hand.

Descend in a smooth and controlled manner looking over your brake hand shoulder for the ground that’s quickly approaching.

Unclipping

Once you’ve reached the ground, be careful unclipping your Figure 8, it’s going to be hot from the friction of the rope.

Unclip your Prusik and remove it from the rope, completing the rappel.

Here’s our video of the whole process we’ve just gone over:

We invite any further discussion in the comments on other secure ways of setting up a fixed rappel and your preferred methods of rappelling.

This information is provided solely as reference to supplement proper rappelling training from an experienced guide, not replace it. Rappelling is one of the most dangerous things you can do in climbing because you have to rely on your equipment and anchors 100%.

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