How to Prepare a Crevasse Lip for Rescue

American Mountain Guides Association instructor Jeff Ward explains how to prepare the edge of a crevasse for rescue. These techniques help create stability in the hauling system and protect the rope from burying in the lip.

[@C_Squared]

these are some of the best videos on the tube. great refresher training.

[@jeffreyvontobel6440]

How does this not have more views? Best vid I've seen on the topic.

[@p.richter9592]

Great video series. Thank you for putting them out there 👍🏻👍🏻🇳🇴

[@gustaverayl1811]

quality instruction clearly presented, well done.

[@Robert-no9jk]

New to watching these kinds of videos. Rookie question. Why not just secure the ad back to your pack?

[@TommyMacMXClimber]

Question: after constructing anchor, and preparing to self belaying to edge of crevasse, why not do so with a lock-assist lightweight belay device like the Edelrid Mega Jul? Equally safe, faster to rig, and already on your harness (or should be, as you should always have a belay/rap device). And of course a catastrophe backup know down stream would be a good idea, but same with a prusik. Thoughts?

[@maycatyuiop]

Keeping your pack tied to your anchor also doesnt hurt.

[@DaveSearle]

Hey everyone. Seems like a pretty complicated way of doing it to be honest. A 3:1 straight off the anchor would work great here and you can convert that to a 6:1 or 7:1. The rope is barely cut into the lip at all and with a backpack or a ski pole you could pad the lip and haul over that. Also this technique does not work if you have a short rope. For example if you have 15m of rope between you then you need at least 30m of rope on your body which means you need a 75m rope to perform this if both people have the same amount of reserve rope. Then 15m is the max you could have between you which is pretty short in some situations. This isn't the way I would teach someone personally but it's interesting to see how the AMGA guides do it.

[@Govanification]

Was that a Yates v-shaped picket with the fixed steel mid-clipped cable?

[@johngo6283]

Govanification yep.

[@hankg6955]

Great videos, what model gloves is Jeff wearing in this video? Looks nimble.

[@profd65]

They're Outdoor Research gloves.

[@HashFace253]

Yea back dat anchor up *hip hop plays

[@XPrincess30]

What if John is unconscious? How does he grab the rope then?

[@Leander_]

Then you abseil down into the crevasse on your end of the rope and attach it to him yourself.

[@richardschofield2201]

Most of videos of this nature rely on an anchor using pickets, but surely you would never carry a picket up in to the mountains. Never seen anyone carry one.

[@keithclimate]

Are you for real? It's standard practice to carry a picket if you're going to be crossing a glacier.

[@richardschofield2201]

@@keithclimate never seen one in the Alps. Maybe it's an American thing. My bag is as light as it possibly can be. This is pretty standard practice with Alpine climbing.

[@keithclimate]

@@richardschofield2201 Ok so how do you build an anchor for rescue? With your ice axe? That makes sense if you have a team of 3 (where someone behind you can hold the load as you build it) but what about if you have a team of two and have to both hold the load, and build an anchor? How do you do that without either a second ice axe, or a picket? If you're using a second ice axe, then that's going to weigh about as much as a picket.

[@richardschofield2201]

@@keithclimate assuming you've caught the fall, transfer the load to your crampons so your holding your partner using your legs then dig your slot, bury your axe and then transfer the load to the axe using a prussic.

[@keithclimate]

@@richardschofield2201 Yeah, but that definitely adds additional risk. Having the ice axe handy throughout the anchor building process to go into arrest again if you need to would be preferable, no? Plus you could use the axe for additional things like probing and prepping the crevasse edge.