RANGE EXTENDERS

There are skiers who feel more comfortable hopping turns in a highly exposed 50-degree face than rappelling 50m from a solid anchor.

Having come to steep skiing from the other direction, from mountaineering and climbing, it feels natural to me to use ropes and advanced rock protection to extend my range in winter terrain.

I am sure there is documentation of some elaborate techniques out there and this contribution has no ambition to cover it all nor to provide the ultimate toolset.

It is about sharing some techniques and gear recommendations that have proven very helpful to me but which I don’t see many other skiers apply.

THE ROPE

I see four main purposes of a rope in the context of skiing:

1. Belaying through short sections with slab risk
2. Rappelling
3. Protecting climbing sections
4. Glacier travel / crevasse rescue

This article covers neither glacier travel nor the skills needed protect hard technical climbs on lead.
Those techniques are well documented in the classic mountaineering books.

Belaying through short sections with slab risk

High avalanche risk is of course a no-go for any steep skiing mission.
Except maybe for very firm spring snow, even a ‘LOW’ means there’s still chances of triggering a small slab.
All it means is that the probability is low and that a potential slab is likely to be of smaller volumes.

And as Lukas Dürr from the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF puts it, “a wheelbarrow-sized mini slab can have severe consequences in exposed terrain.”

Having a rope at hand has been useful to me in two ways:

1. in situations where I would have turned around without a backup, and
2. by adding extra safety in ‘just-in-case’ situations.

Rappelling

The option of being able to rappel grants access to otherwise inaccessible lines and can be a return ticket if you face a steep snow-free section low in a couloir.

Both practices, belaying and rappelling, can be managed with a lightweight rap line instead of a full-fledged single rope.

This is why I usually pack a 6mm hyperstatic rap line of 60m length.

The one I use (https://www.salewa.com/master-cord-6mm-spool-00-0000000639 ) is made of a UHMWPE (‘Dyneema’) core and a PA (‘Nylon’) sheath and has a breaking strength of 16kN.

This solution takes up minimal volume and adds little weight to my pack while providing the full 60m range.

If you want to maximize your ‘rap-able’-rope-length-to-weight-ratio, you may consider bringing along the BEAL ESCAPER (https://www.beal-planet.com/en/tapes/1563-escaper.html ). The combination with a thin rap line, though, requires quite some tactics to increase friction in your device (one strand of 6mm – not so easy…).

Regarding rap lines, two characteristics need to be considered if you are used to conventional ropes (dynamic climbing ropes):

1. Rap lines are hyperstatic and must not be shock loaded.
2. They are too thin for normal belay/rappelling devices.

Conventional climbing ropes (EN 892) will stretch up to 50% of their length before reaching their breaking limit and thereby absorb significant amounts of a fall’s shock load.

Shock loading a rap line on the other hand can overload the system and lead to a failure of the weakest element.

In other words, leading a vertical pitch on a hyperstatic line is like climbing on the sharp end of a hemp rope tied around your chest.

The other limitation is the lack of friction created in belay devices.

There are different ways to approach this, but all should include a ‘third hand’ backup.

Make sure to bring a supple and thin prussik.

When using a conventional tube style device (ATC, Reverso, etc.), these measures increase the braking friction:

• thread both strands through one slot
• attach two karabiners
• use karabiners with ‘not-so-round’ profiles

If you have to rappel over vertical or overhanging sections, consider using a doubled Munter hitch.

This also works great for lowering your friend with them badass heavy skis.