Statement From The NZMGA Committee Following The Nov 05 Short Roping and Snow Anchor Seminar

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1 Statement From The NZMGA Committee Following The Nov 05 Short Roping and Snow Anchor Seminar The short roping seminar has created a lot of debate and Gottlieb and Pete James have produced papers that examine the forces involved in holding a slip. Gottlieb s paper (short roping 2005) is available at Pete s paper (review of short roping seminar) is available in the member section of the NZMGA website, The committee is currently getting the papers by Gottlieb and Pete James peer reviewed by engineers. Both papers make excellent contributions to the outcome we all want of coming up with the best possible short roping technique. At the end of the day though short roping is not just an engineering problem and we will be conducting more tests ourselves to try and really nail the best ways of absorbing energy and managing clients. The committee believes that short roping is an essential guiding technique and many hundreds of slips have been held. Please or write to Dave Crow info@nzmga.org.nz with any information you have about falls you have held and any lessons that you learnt. Give as much detail as you can about anything that you did that made it work. If anyone has been pulled off while short roping we would also like to know about what you think went wrong and it would be very helpful to learn of any experiences that people have had of successful or unsuccessful self arresting while being roped to other people. Please be as open as possible about your experiences. No one will be identified in any reports that come out. The committee still recommends that guides practice short roping as taught on Guides courses - with the guide tying off at the waist harness. Releasable leashes have their place however, it is recommended that releasable leashes should only be used in situations where the consequences of a slip are not serious. The Technical Subcommittee wishes to stress the importance of on going training for NZMGA Guides. One of the strengths of New Zealand guiding is the high level of information sharing which takes place. Unless guides stay actively engaged in this process they run the risk of becoming inflexible and dogmatic in their techniques. It is the individual member s responsibility to stay informed of current practice. Regular attendance at training seminars is essential to be able to actively engage in updating techniques and be reminded of and practice the wide variety of guiding options. 30/1/06 1 of 7

2 Statement From The NZMGA Committee Following The Nov 05 Short Roping and Snow Anchor Seminar Safe guiding is the result of appropriate technical techniques applied in a conservative and focused manner. No matter what techniques are used, guides must avoid becoming complacent, particularly in familiar or easy terrain. When using a moving belay such as short roping, prevention of the initial slip or fall should be the primary concern. Guides must remain realistic about their limitations. Should a slip or fall happen, guides needs to be well within their physical abilities to hold the client/s. Guides need to be vigilant in avoiding the temptation to push the boundaries of ability simply because no accident has happened to them before. There are pros and cons to all guiding techniques. To react to possible variables, guides need to use a wide range of skills. Guides need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of different systems and be able to make appropriate choices. There is a wide range of technique options available and good guiding will match appropriate technique to the situation. When guiding there has been a deliberate choice to operate in a potentially hazardous environment. The guides, the supervisors and the employers have made the decision that they can protect their clients using their skills and knowledge. Ultimately, safety must be the responsibility of the individual guide and the supervisor/employer. The guide must evaluate each situation and decide on the safest possible option based on what the acceptable risk is. If this is done in a conservative, educated and focused manner guides have lived up to their commitment to their clients. for a more definitive discussion of short roping, application of technique and risk management refer to; "Technical Guidelines for Professional Mountain Guides: Alpine, Rock, and Ski Guiding Techniques. The Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and the American Mountain Guides Association " Contact info@nzmga.org.nz if you would like a copy. The NZMGA encourages members to submit feedback on any trials, testing and/or experiences of techniques following on from the seminar. 30/1/06 2 of 7

3 The Nov 05 seminar was an opportunity to present ideas and techniques, some tried others new. As such, these recommendations are the 'best practise' we have to date. General Recommendations 1. Short roping should be thought of as confidence roping. It is only capable of holding a slip. If there is the possibility of the potential load being greater than what you can hold then fixed belays should be used. 2. Using a rope system should not preclude the appropriate training and preparation of clients before ascent and descents but remember that - the current underpining philosophy of guiding is that the guide should not presume any particular skill on the part of the client 3. Client management and the communication between guide and client(s) is essential for all guiding situations There are a variety of short roping methods Eg: in line, inverted V, inverted Y or leash. Each individual technique is terrain, client and snow/ice/rock conditions specific and it is up to the individual guide to make a judgement call on the day as to which technique to use. 4. There are many ways to improve overall security of the guide and client, some options to consider include; 4.1. Minimum of slack between guide/client/client, the rope should be snug Secure client(s) then cut a good line of steps to increase not only their foot security but also yours 4.3. With more than one client, consider either securing them, then short roping one at a time or use a fixed line and ascenders/prussicks Move together on runners or if on a rocky ridge, threading the rope along the ridge to gain the same effect Use fixed belays (often this is quicker and less tiring than short roping clients on steeper terrain. 30/1/06 3 of 7

4 5. Mechanisms to dissipate the energy of a slip (not a fall) while short roping: 5.1. Movement of the arm: Bent arm position for the holding arm to allow for the initial absorption of the shock load. There should be enough rope out between the tie off on the guide s harness and the hand coil in the guide s hand to allow the arm to straighten and no more Body position of the guide and the use of body compression as a shock absorber Stepping down hill in a controlled manner 5.4. Utilising slippage at hand coil is an option when using hand coils (Protective gloves are a good idea). 6. Orientation of the guide in relation to the client should always be considered, especially on descent. The guide should preferably be above the client(s), although it is acknowledged that this is not always possible, as this is terrain and conditions dependent. 7. For the inline short roping method, spacing between guide and client and client is critical. This is to allow the guide room to step down hill to absorb shock and not step on the client. This also gives the clients room to move when following guide or client in front of them, allowing them to concentrate more on their foot work rather than worry about running into someone or getting a crampon in the face. A Guideline for inline shortroping is 3 metres to top client and 2 metres to second client. 8. Tied off hand loops could be used instead of coils especially when using thinner diameter ropes. 9. When attaching a client, to the mid point of a rope with a locking karabiner it should be backed up with at least an opposing snap link. This is also an IFMGA recommendation. 10. If a mechanical ascender or prussic is being used as the primary connection to the rope a backup locking karabiner around the rope should be used. Should the ascender fail the climber will still be attached to the rope. A low tie on point onto harness, for both short roping and glacier travel was recommended by the attendees of the Nov 05 seminar and will be adopted by NZMGA assessors. 30/1/06 4 of 7

5 Glacier Travel At least 3 knots evenly spaced in the rope for glacier travel was recommended by the seminar Low tie on point onto the harness for both guide and client to ensure best possibility of holding a fall into a crevasse. When attaching a client to the mid point of a rope with a locking karabiner, it should be backed up with at least an opposing snap link karabiner. 30/1/06 5 of 7

6 These recommendations should be read in conjunction with the field testing report Snow Anchors, prepared by Don Bogie and available from the member section of the NZMGA website under documents. Note: The testing of snow stakes is ongoing with final tests scheduled in Febuary 06. As such the snow stake conclusions are the 'best practise' we have to date. General Recommendations 1. All things being equal,the Upright Mid Clip is preferable to a T slot There are a variety of snow/ice anchor options available to the guide depending on terrain, client numbers and snow/ice conditions: these include but are not limited to the vertical upright mid clip; horizontal T slot or buried articles; vertical top clip and the bollard. 2. If weak snow can be strengthened by compaction this should be done in order to build an effective anchor. This increases the compression strength and shear strength of the snow. This must be done consistently over the whole depth/length of the snow anchor and should be done to all of the snow in the likely stress cone in front of the anchor. 3. The minimum strength of any component of a snow stake (or ice axe,deadman etc) and its attachment system should be no less than 7kN. 4. For maximum placement strength, V profile snow stakes should be oriented with the open end of the pointing in the direction of the pull for mid clips and point of V to load for top clips. Pull Pull Midclip < or Topclip > or 30/1/06 6 of 7

7 Upright mid clip attachment systems 1. At this stage there is the choice of using either steel cable or nylon/spectra tape or cord for the mid point clip. There are pros and cons for using either type of equipment and it is up to members to decide which to use. Cables can aid fast placement in some conditions and let a stake be used as an upright mid clip in hard snow conditions (where a narrow slot can be cut for the cable) and in weak snow conditions where a T slot would otherwise be needed. 2. If steel cable is used, the cable should be a minimum of 7kN as per above for attachments. It is preferable that the cable swaging should be certified by the manufacturer. Note; Larks hitching the cable to the stake is not recommended in soft snow where it may cause the stake to rotate thus compromise the anchor integrity. 3. For an upright mid clip placement s in the majority of conditions there should be an angle of 100 between the snow stake and the upper side of the mid clip cable. In most cases it is not possible to see this angle, due to the attachment being buried, but it can be achieved with the snow stake being placed 25 back from perpendicular to the snow surface and the cable end and top of the snow stake either at the snow surface or the same distance below the snow surface. The cable must be twice the length of the snow stake for this to create the correct angle. To avoid pop up or dive of vertical centre pull 100 degree angle is critical Snow Stake Construction Recommendations 1. Holes drilled in the body of V section snow stakes should be kept to a minimum to avoid weakening the device. 2. Minimum length of the snow stake should be 55cm for section and 60cm for section. 3. Either V section of section of at least 5 centimetres across the top of the V or flat section of the 30/1/06 7 of 7