Crevasse rescue One
of the hazards of glacial travel are crevasses. Dirty great holes in the ice that
you can fall down. Some you can see, some you can't and some you think might be
there but you're not sure. While the key is to avoid falling in one of these,
there is always a risk. A group on a glacier should always have at least a couple
of members equipped and experienced enough to rescue someone from a crevasse.
The first point is that everybody should be wearing a sit harness when they
venture onto the ice. It can be very lightweight and needs no extra gear loops
or padding. These should be worn all the time as it's impossible to put one on
while in a crevasse. Personally I always carry a lightweight ice axe as well,
it is an excellent tool for a little extra security and for making ice anchors.
The rescue kit comprises, as a minimum, 1 ice screw, 3 karabiners (preferbly
screw gates), 1 pulley, 2 rope grabs (prussick loop, Tibloc or prussick handle)
and a tape sling.
The first job is to make an anchor. This should be
as far back from the edge as is practical allowing for the tripling up of the
rope This can be done by burying yor skis or axe. Digging down to proper water
ice and using a screw or constructing a snow bollard. All these methods require
practice beforehand. Time is important, your victim could be on a snowbridge and
about to fall furhter down!
Once you have an anchor pass the end of the
rope down, careful not to go near the edge without being tied on, and then secure
the victim to the anchor using a rope clamp and a krab. This assumes the victim
is conscious. If not you must abseil in and tie them on. Then you climb back out.
Now you attach another rope clamp to the live rope (between the anchor and
the victim) This goes as close to the edge as is possible. Onto this goes the
pulley. The rope from the first clamp now goes down to the pulley and back up
again.
Now you have a 3:1 mechanical advantage to lift the victim. The
pulley system may close before the victim is clear of the crevasse but since the
victim is always held on the first clamp the rescuer can let go of the rope to
open the system back up. This is done by sliding the second rope clamp back towards
the edge of the crevasse
The system can be further improved by adding a pulley
next to the first rope clamp to reduce the friction.
This system is fairly
simple but can easily turn into a tangle. An afternoons practice of this technique
and snow anchors will pay dividens if ever needed I
plan to add a diagram to this page! Sorry if it's a bit confusing at the moment.
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