Winter skills 2.8: making a snow bollard and using it to make an abseil

How to abseil from a snow bollard when out in the winter hills.
Whether you make it to the summit or you reach a point where you have to retreat, you may be unable to find a suitable rock belay to abseil from.
In this short film a professional AMI Mountaineering Instructor shows you how to make a snow bollard and safely abseil off it.
This is one of a series of instructional films produced exclusively for BMC TV in association with AMI (the Association of Mountaineering Instructors), Lowe Alpine and DMM.
WATCH: 32 winter skills films in our playlist: • #MakeWinterCount - lea...
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dmmclimbing.com/
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[@RainBoxRed]

3:24 what I'm going to do is I'm going to....tie stopper knots!!

[@jbradshaw4236]

Far from me to criticise any BMC guide of this calibre, but as a mountain leader in never place my axe down on its side at any time . It gets placed into the snow pick first so it is secure. He could have easily knocked it with the rope sending it down the slope and a good gust will send it moving! However excellent video, just an observation

[@shupingyin8082]

Awesome winter mountaineering series thanks

[@michaeldelaney376]

Great video, thanks.

[@sc9160]

I would personally back this up with another anchor for the first rappel. Then, the second removes the picket or whatever may be.

[@timhuang2879]

very useful teaching

[@Whitehawkvisionfilms]

badass!

[@laneeardink9849]

3:00 - Instructor steps on climbing rope with crampons on.... whoops.

[@alek-by7rm]

You've exchaned hats from last video :)

[@Kreuzass]

its all fun and games until its overhanging =D

[@spencergiles72]

Stepping around the rope with crampons on makes me cringe.

[@frankblangeard8865]

Would have been better if he had done the demo on a slope where you might actually want to abseil. What kind of slope would that be?

[@gedheaton1415]

Liked that, so what now you do the same again from where you are on the slope and just continue till safe.

[@jbradshaw4236]

That's correct. You can pop a overhand not in the end of the rope so you don't accidentally abseil of the end of it just don't do it too tight, speed and efficiency key in winter.

[@andrewsheehy2441]

This is a very dangerous belay. It is extremely easy to think it is secure when it isn't. I've seen one where the rope slipped into some soft snow under the hard snow on top and cut through the whole thing. If at all possible find some ice and cut a bollard or make an Abakolov.

[@mountfairweather]

What would you suggest instead?

[@andrewbeckett6110]

That's why it should be backed up with a snow stake or something whilst the first people used it, the last person then (after watching how the anchor has held up) decides whether to take the stake. Of course "if at all possible" you use something better, like a v thread, or rock pro, or bolts. You havvve to asses the snow/ice conditions for all anchors.

[@tiborkecso7444]

I think ellipse is better then circle.

[@curvenut]

what is called this technic of passing the rope between the leg and over the hip ?>???

[@lastbloke]

South African abseil (Rappel in the US)

[@SkaterkingJOF]

So it is real.

[@joshanderson8941]

Didn’t tie knots on ends of rope before chucking it down the hill, yikes

[@gokulgopal2577]

Knots in the ends don't help that much (they help some by providing a tactile warning) when you're not using a belay device to descend. What would be more helpful in this specific case would be to tie the rope ends to each other.

[@RainBoxRed]

@@gokulgopal2577 Good habit to get into, tie stoppers every time then when it counts you won't forget.

[@RomanKuznetsovLameFrog]

where is stopping knots at the both end of the rope?!

[@alexfedorov9606]

He is not using a belay device so stopper knot would not really help much.... And as the movement down without the belay device is much slower its just the matter of paying attention.

[@airb1976]

why You are not using a knot at the end of your abseil rope? This is standard and you don't need to watch carefully for the end of your abseil

[@rushthezeppelin]

Knots aren't going to stop someone going off the end of the rope with a South African abseil so there's really no point, just a waste of time.

[@devilaces]

@@rushthezeppelin I think it would still help. Having a knot hit the back of a closed hand would be a good que that the end of the rope has been reached, even though the knot wouldn't be a hard stop as if it was stuck in a belay device. In particular here, where the instructor as advising to keep an eye on what's going on above, that increases the chance of going off the end of the rope from a lack of attention. Specifically the line "I'm not really... I know what's behind me. I want to make sure that rope doesn't lift off of this snow bollard".

[@martin.feuchtwanger]

@@rushthezeppelin If the end of the joined-together ropes slipped thru his hand and thigh, it would be stopped at his waist because the two ropes come around his waist from opposite sides.

[@bestbuilder1st]

@@devilaces You missed what he said at 5:57, your quote above is at the beginning of the abseil,. You missed the important part you are complaining about. Rewatch the video and pay closer attention, it might answer some of your questions.

[@mikethomas8651]

@@rushthezeppelin you could tie the end together

[@LukeFrisken]

south african abseil looks so uncomfortable and messy in this video, and wear and tear on your clothes, why not use a belay device??

[@Woodthreep]

a belay device will always make the job.. I found it interesting in case of emergency or lack of harness..

[@richardhunter9186]

Yeah, the great thing about these videos is that they are giving you skills that work if you don't have (or lose) a piece of equipment. If you go into the mountains, having redundant skills is really important. This works if you are lacking both belay device and harness, which is great. I'd also say that the south african (new to me) seems a bit more stable than the dulfersitz, which is the old school alternative I learned for situations like this.

[@davidkoch5018]

lack of harness??? when u carry a heavy ass rope?? Why would u even have a rope if u dont have a harness... its not like u gonna loose it cuz its kinda attached to u...

[@rushthezeppelin]

Davidi, it's all about fast and light. This seems more focused on mountaineering with very light sections that require a rope and therefore it's a waste of time, weight and pack space to bring more than just the rope. No sense in bringing all that gear and harnessing up for like one or two of these rappels or one or two roped snow slope leads.

[@macmurfy2jka]

Luke Frisken I would say that allot of this makes lots of sense for light Ski Mountaineering or just someone uphilling. An ice axe paired with some rope and a few carabiners would seem like a great bit of kit for someone out riding off-Piste sections. If one gets to a section of slope that is really hard and very steep and thusly beyond the riders abilities, using this technique could get that person down the mountain efficiently and in control when just side slipping doesn’t seem like an option.