The accident that Richard Delaney just posted prompted me to post this. Not saying that this would have prevented the accident but hopefully still worth a post.

Colin Walker

The accident that Richard Delaney just posted prompted me to post this. Not saying that this would have prevented the accident but hopefully still worth a post.

"Tying in short", this can mean different things but in SRT I use the term to mean tying into the middle of the rope, (or short of the rope ends) as opposed to tying into the end of the rope. This is usually done by tying a figure 8 OTB or clove hitch and placing the knot on a carabiner on your belay loop.
This can be a very useful technique to maintain 2 points of contact during transitions between ascent and descent, when changing ropes or doing rescues. First task of the transition is to tie-in short and the last task is to remove the tie-in.

When prusiking I like to use two waist prusiks, (of different lengths) or one prusik and tied in short with a clove hitch that is chased up the rope when enough slack, (1-2m) is produced.
I really like this when training as you can easily see if the trainee is tied in short. They can get everything else wrong but if they are tied in short they won't go far.
In the image A you can see one prusik, some slack and the tied in short connection. I would usually allow more slack, 1-2m, before moving the clove hitch.
Image B the bridge of the clove hitch has been pulled to remove rope slack. If the prusik fails at this stage climber will fall a short distance until the clove hitch grips. Keeping a brake hand on the lower rope is advisable.
Image C the clove hitch has been re-dressed and set ready to continue climbing.
With practice it takes a couple of seconds to chase the clove hitch up the rope.

I'd love to know others thoughts on this and what techniques do you use to improve SRT safety?