Rigging for Rescue training
I've been meaning to post about this for the last month. I was hoping to include photos, but if anyone actually took some of me, I've yet to see them. So a post without photos instead. This is long, so I'm cutting. If you're looking for the most interesting part only, skip down to Sunday -- Vertical. That's when I went over the edge and did much better than my previous attempt with the litter over the edge. :)
Friday -- Berthoud Pass - high-angle scree evacuation
We started each day with some classroom instruction and Friday was the longest day. OMG, boring, boring, boring. Technical info about rigging the litter for scree, technical info about equipment ratings and SSSRs (Static System Safety Rating), mechanical advantage for pulley systems, etc. Important info and all that, but mostly review for me and very, very boring.
So we got up to the west side of Berthoud Pass after lunch. The parking lot is at 11,700 ft and we climbed about 700-800 ft up the west face above the parking area. Then we set up main and belay line, with a direction change off a tree because we didn't have good anchors in line with our fall line. That's pretty normal, so best to train for it and know how to do it when the real deal comes up. I was on the uphaul system for our first run. Got to assist in putting together a 5:1 pulley system and then pull our litter back up.
Second run I was lead litter attendant with two newbies and a newbie subject. That was great because I got to talk them all through it and give them advice and I'm so in my element when I'm teaching on the team. Yay! It's sometimes hard for me to believe that I've been on them team just under two years and I'm teaching other people how to do stuff. (Last night even, our training director was asking me if he'd rigged the litter correctly! Awesome.)
Third run we had tied on a second rope to main and belay lines to do a lowering to the bottom (instead of midway as on first two runs). No uphaul, they were going all the way down. Even with the second rope (and knot pass -- which was new for me), we also had to have a secondary mid-mtn station to transfer over the break and the belay set-ups because the slope we went down (not the side we climbed) was about 700 feet before the angle was low enough to not need the safety lines. On that one, I did more teaching -- helped another set of newbies rig up the litter, get themselves attached and get the subject loaded in. Then I just hung out to break things down at the top once we'd handed control over to station two.
Good day, but long day. We didn't get off Berthoud until about 8:30 and we'd started at 8am.
Saturday -- BC Pick-offs
Saturday started with more classroom stuff. Basically, the technicalities of the BC Pick-off. This is a technique for rescuing a climber who's stranded -- either on their own rope because of an equipment problem or minor injury that prevents them from getting down on their own, or someone who fell over an edge onto a ledge below but isn't badly hurt, or the best someone who's rope wasn't long enough for a rappel and they didn't realize until they got to the end of the rope but aren't at the ground. We go down tied into one line, carrying a second line with us. When we get to the idiot subject we hook them into our system then free them from their own (i.e. cut their rope usually) and then lower them to the ground or haul up to the top depending on the terrain. It's the fastest way to rescue someone in a vertical situation and we do it whenever possible because a litter takes a lot more time. BC Pick-offs are quick and easy.
We hiked into Herd Creek, probably about 1.5 mile hike, up and down hills over rocks and through trees. Nice hike -- not too overwhelming but certainly a challenge. I spent the day setting up anchors, the belay line, our uphaul system, and belaying our "stranded" climber. I also got to be "Control" for the first time. Control basically manages the technical rescue -- radio operations to check that everyone is ready then oversees everything. That was good for me because I often shy away from any position of authority and I need to get over that.
I was going to be the next attendant but it started to thunder and we packed it up before getting caught with all that metal gear and radios with lightning. Much earlier day. We finished around 4pm then drank beer on the side of the road for a while and bullshitted and had a blast.
Sunday -- Vertical -- A-Bay Rock
Yay Sunday!!!! 8am in the classroom again. Went over pike and pivot technique for the edge transition, talked about a new way to go over the edge with the litter if you have someone already in the litter (shuffling with litter between legs). Then headed out to get maximum time on the rock.
When we got to A-Bay and did the horrible hike in (OMG, I hate that hike, hate it!), Chris and I found out that we're on the A-Team. This is a big deal. Next year the team has our MRA (Mountain Rescue Association) re-certification and the A-Team are the members who will be actively included in the re-cert so we were really psyched to be included. I was main line back up (assist in setting up the anchor and the break rack, feed rope, and be there to take over if needed). Chris was belay line back up. And that's great. I'm about #5 in line to actually go over the edge on a rescue or for re-cert. ;-)
So we separated into two groups -- the A-Team and everyone else. We're pretty intensely training for re-cert, so our hired tech guy who lead the weekend worked with everyone else while Team A did our thing. So rescue #1 was Fletch. He's guy #3 (guys 1 and 2 both couldn't be there *g*).
Next person over? Why that would be little ole me!!!!!!!!!!! Jim our training director was my subject. Since I wanted to practice moving around above and below, tilt-lift, and edge transition, we loaded him in at the top instead of having me rescue him off his line below. I know I can do that part, because I did that last time. So we got Jim in the litter feet pointing at the edge. Everything rigged so I was straddling him and shuffled him to the edge. Wow, was that hard even with my two edge guys (Chris and Greg) to help. Jim's short and probably about 180 and my legs are only so long so a lot of this is using arms/back because you can only bend the legs so much for leverage. But I was careful and my edge guys definitely helped.
So we get to the edge, litter is over the edge to center of Jim's mass and my heels are right at the edge. Then we tension the line, me leaning back hard, feet on the edge, and start to tip the litter so the head is coming up to face me. I start stepping down nice and slow, still leaning back, walking down the wall, litter between my legs, slowly sliding down as my edge guys keep tension on the line and help me control it. It was fucking awesome! Seriously amazing to go over this way. So different than carrying the empty basket.
So we get Jim over and down about 2 meters and then I did the tilt-lift to transition him to horizontal. The trick here is pulling on the pulley system so it lowers slowly because the litter is vertical with the bottom/back to the rock and between my legs. (I did need a little help from Jim, but my upper body strength was better than before and is even better now. Yay!) As I shift it to horizontal I have to first move around so that I'm beside it then under it (like it's in my lap with my legs against the wall) and turn the litter so that the bottom/back is over my legs and one side of it is against the wall. So it's rotating 90 degrees as it's tilting 90 degrees. I did great, Jim was really pleased with how easily I moved around and how little I jostled the litter (imagine having a broken femur or a neck injuring and being banged around -- not good).
Okay. So now I'm in the "lower position" and I need to get to the "upper position" for the overhang coming up below. Our visiting tech guy introduced a new system. Remember how before I just couldn't pull myself up and all because not enough upper body strength? No longer a problem. My attachment to the rigging (think of a pyramid with the litter the base and and all the rigging coming to a point above center) is a personal jigger (aka a little pulley system). I've got a 4:1 mechanical advantage which means I just pull on this rope to raise and lower myself. AWESOME AND AMAZING!!!!!
So I pull myself up but the way we've rigged the jigger my ass is just barely above my subject. I need to clip in a little higher so I grabbed a prusik off my harness and a couple 'biners to clip in at the top of the rigging set-up. I was high enough that I just sat on the edge of the litter to hook up my gear, then STOOD UP on the side (again, Jim praised my ease of movement on the litter and how gentle I was), hooked myself in at top, moved my legs into position against the wall and was in Upper position.
Instead of having to try and pull the litter away from the wall like last time, just straightening my legs pushed me away far enough because the center of the litter was under my ass, shifting the center of mass. All I had to do was hold the litter straps to just keep it stable as I walked down. Got down below the overhang, called stop, then went back up.
Got up most of the way, called stop, transitioned back to lower position, then to vertical again all with no trouble. For this I managed all the pulleys on my own, no help needed. Got it vertical and between my legs again. Pulled it out away from the wall until we got 2 meters from the top. Then Chris tossed me the pike and pivot bridle to attach to the litter. Got that hooked up. Attached myself directly to the litter, unhooked myself from the main rigging above (I still had a safety line too, no worries), and moved off the litter and onto the rock next to the litter. Then the edge guys hooked the bridle into the uphaul system and my buddies up top finished the edge transition, with me on the side able to help the edge guys shuffle the litter back into the safe zone once we'd pivoted over the edge and the litter was flat on top of the rocks. I had a great time and I got complimented and assured a position as a truly available litter attendant. I'm the only female litter attendant on the team.
After that I was edge person for Al (attendant #4) who went over with Chris in the litter. Right now Chris is about 210 lbs. Al is about my size. Since Greg (other edge guy) was vectoring the ropes (holding them up and keeping tension for the pivot to go over edge), that left me and Al to shuffle Chris's fat ass along the rocks. I love my hubby, but he needs to lay off the beer for a bit. There's a reason we usually put the littlest people in the litter for trainings. (Now we have a rule though that basically everyone has to be in the litter at some point -- not necessarily vertical, you can do scree, or even flat terrain where you're being pulled behind an ATV or something, but you have to be strapped in for more than 2 seconds.)
And as if getting him over the edge wasn't bad enough, then I had to haul his ass back up. But it was awesome to be able to prove myself capable. At the end of the day when we'd packed up gear I noticed that no one was picking up the litter to carry back to the truck. I commented on that and one of our senior members said, "You're not carrying it. You've done enough today." I smiled and nodded and thought Rock on!. Then I grabbed some other team gear because that's what I do, and I hoofed it back to the car. In pouring down rain.
Friday -- Berthoud Pass - high-angle scree evacuation
We started each day with some classroom instruction and Friday was the longest day. OMG, boring, boring, boring. Technical info about rigging the litter for scree, technical info about equipment ratings and SSSRs (Static System Safety Rating), mechanical advantage for pulley systems, etc. Important info and all that, but mostly review for me and very, very boring.
So we got up to the west side of Berthoud Pass after lunch. The parking lot is at 11,700 ft and we climbed about 700-800 ft up the west face above the parking area. Then we set up main and belay line, with a direction change off a tree because we didn't have good anchors in line with our fall line. That's pretty normal, so best to train for it and know how to do it when the real deal comes up. I was on the uphaul system for our first run. Got to assist in putting together a 5:1 pulley system and then pull our litter back up.
Second run I was lead litter attendant with two newbies and a newbie subject. That was great because I got to talk them all through it and give them advice and I'm so in my element when I'm teaching on the team. Yay! It's sometimes hard for me to believe that I've been on them team just under two years and I'm teaching other people how to do stuff. (Last night even, our training director was asking me if he'd rigged the litter correctly! Awesome.)
Third run we had tied on a second rope to main and belay lines to do a lowering to the bottom (instead of midway as on first two runs). No uphaul, they were going all the way down. Even with the second rope (and knot pass -- which was new for me), we also had to have a secondary mid-mtn station to transfer over the break and the belay set-ups because the slope we went down (not the side we climbed) was about 700 feet before the angle was low enough to not need the safety lines. On that one, I did more teaching -- helped another set of newbies rig up the litter, get themselves attached and get the subject loaded in. Then I just hung out to break things down at the top once we'd handed control over to station two.
Good day, but long day. We didn't get off Berthoud until about 8:30 and we'd started at 8am.
Saturday -- BC Pick-offs
Saturday started with more classroom stuff. Basically, the technicalities of the BC Pick-off. This is a technique for rescuing a climber who's stranded -- either on their own rope because of an equipment problem or minor injury that prevents them from getting down on their own, or someone who fell over an edge onto a ledge below but isn't badly hurt, or the best someone who's rope wasn't long enough for a rappel and they didn't realize until they got to the end of the rope but aren't at the ground. We go down tied into one line, carrying a second line with us. When we get to the idiot subject we hook them into our system then free them from their own (i.e. cut their rope usually) and then lower them to the ground or haul up to the top depending on the terrain. It's the fastest way to rescue someone in a vertical situation and we do it whenever possible because a litter takes a lot more time. BC Pick-offs are quick and easy.
We hiked into Herd Creek, probably about 1.5 mile hike, up and down hills over rocks and through trees. Nice hike -- not too overwhelming but certainly a challenge. I spent the day setting up anchors, the belay line, our uphaul system, and belaying our "stranded" climber. I also got to be "Control" for the first time. Control basically manages the technical rescue -- radio operations to check that everyone is ready then oversees everything. That was good for me because I often shy away from any position of authority and I need to get over that.
I was going to be the next attendant but it started to thunder and we packed it up before getting caught with all that metal gear and radios with lightning. Much earlier day. We finished around 4pm then drank beer on the side of the road for a while and bullshitted and had a blast.
Sunday -- Vertical -- A-Bay Rock
Yay Sunday!!!! 8am in the classroom again. Went over pike and pivot technique for the edge transition, talked about a new way to go over the edge with the litter if you have someone already in the litter (shuffling with litter between legs). Then headed out to get maximum time on the rock.
When we got to A-Bay and did the horrible hike in (OMG, I hate that hike, hate it!), Chris and I found out that we're on the A-Team. This is a big deal. Next year the team has our MRA (Mountain Rescue Association) re-certification and the A-Team are the members who will be actively included in the re-cert so we were really psyched to be included. I was main line back up (assist in setting up the anchor and the break rack, feed rope, and be there to take over if needed). Chris was belay line back up. And that's great. I'm about #5 in line to actually go over the edge on a rescue or for re-cert. ;-)
So we separated into two groups -- the A-Team and everyone else. We're pretty intensely training for re-cert, so our hired tech guy who lead the weekend worked with everyone else while Team A did our thing. So rescue #1 was Fletch. He's guy #3 (guys 1 and 2 both couldn't be there *g*).
Next person over? Why that would be little ole me!!!!!!!!!!! Jim our training director was my subject. Since I wanted to practice moving around above and below, tilt-lift, and edge transition, we loaded him in at the top instead of having me rescue him off his line below. I know I can do that part, because I did that last time. So we got Jim in the litter feet pointing at the edge. Everything rigged so I was straddling him and shuffled him to the edge. Wow, was that hard even with my two edge guys (Chris and Greg) to help. Jim's short and probably about 180 and my legs are only so long so a lot of this is using arms/back because you can only bend the legs so much for leverage. But I was careful and my edge guys definitely helped.
So we get to the edge, litter is over the edge to center of Jim's mass and my heels are right at the edge. Then we tension the line, me leaning back hard, feet on the edge, and start to tip the litter so the head is coming up to face me. I start stepping down nice and slow, still leaning back, walking down the wall, litter between my legs, slowly sliding down as my edge guys keep tension on the line and help me control it. It was fucking awesome! Seriously amazing to go over this way. So different than carrying the empty basket.
So we get Jim over and down about 2 meters and then I did the tilt-lift to transition him to horizontal. The trick here is pulling on the pulley system so it lowers slowly because the litter is vertical with the bottom/back to the rock and between my legs. (I did need a little help from Jim, but my upper body strength was better than before and is even better now. Yay!) As I shift it to horizontal I have to first move around so that I'm beside it then under it (like it's in my lap with my legs against the wall) and turn the litter so that the bottom/back is over my legs and one side of it is against the wall. So it's rotating 90 degrees as it's tilting 90 degrees. I did great, Jim was really pleased with how easily I moved around and how little I jostled the litter (imagine having a broken femur or a neck injuring and being banged around -- not good).
Okay. So now I'm in the "lower position" and I need to get to the "upper position" for the overhang coming up below. Our visiting tech guy introduced a new system. Remember how before I just couldn't pull myself up and all because not enough upper body strength? No longer a problem. My attachment to the rigging (think of a pyramid with the litter the base and and all the rigging coming to a point above center) is a personal jigger (aka a little pulley system). I've got a 4:1 mechanical advantage which means I just pull on this rope to raise and lower myself. AWESOME AND AMAZING!!!!!
So I pull myself up but the way we've rigged the jigger my ass is just barely above my subject. I need to clip in a little higher so I grabbed a prusik off my harness and a couple 'biners to clip in at the top of the rigging set-up. I was high enough that I just sat on the edge of the litter to hook up my gear, then STOOD UP on the side (again, Jim praised my ease of movement on the litter and how gentle I was), hooked myself in at top, moved my legs into position against the wall and was in Upper position.
Instead of having to try and pull the litter away from the wall like last time, just straightening my legs pushed me away far enough because the center of the litter was under my ass, shifting the center of mass. All I had to do was hold the litter straps to just keep it stable as I walked down. Got down below the overhang, called stop, then went back up.
Got up most of the way, called stop, transitioned back to lower position, then to vertical again all with no trouble. For this I managed all the pulleys on my own, no help needed. Got it vertical and between my legs again. Pulled it out away from the wall until we got 2 meters from the top. Then Chris tossed me the pike and pivot bridle to attach to the litter. Got that hooked up. Attached myself directly to the litter, unhooked myself from the main rigging above (I still had a safety line too, no worries), and moved off the litter and onto the rock next to the litter. Then the edge guys hooked the bridle into the uphaul system and my buddies up top finished the edge transition, with me on the side able to help the edge guys shuffle the litter back into the safe zone once we'd pivoted over the edge and the litter was flat on top of the rocks. I had a great time and I got complimented and assured a position as a truly available litter attendant. I'm the only female litter attendant on the team.
After that I was edge person for Al (attendant #4) who went over with Chris in the litter. Right now Chris is about 210 lbs. Al is about my size. Since Greg (other edge guy) was vectoring the ropes (holding them up and keeping tension for the pivot to go over edge), that left me and Al to shuffle Chris's fat ass along the rocks. I love my hubby, but he needs to lay off the beer for a bit. There's a reason we usually put the littlest people in the litter for trainings. (Now we have a rule though that basically everyone has to be in the litter at some point -- not necessarily vertical, you can do scree, or even flat terrain where you're being pulled behind an ATV or something, but you have to be strapped in for more than 2 seconds.)
And as if getting him over the edge wasn't bad enough, then I had to haul his ass back up. But it was awesome to be able to prove myself capable. At the end of the day when we'd packed up gear I noticed that no one was picking up the litter to carry back to the truck. I commented on that and one of our senior members said, "You're not carrying it. You've done enough today." I smiled and nodded and thought Rock on!. Then I grabbed some other team gear because that's what I do, and I hoofed it back to the car. In pouring down rain.