3 ms·

As others have mentioned, this is mostly not a problem because climbers are usually concious, and moving about and whatnot. Hanging in a harness for too long is

As others have mentioned, this is mostly not a problem because climbers are usually concious, and moving about and whatnot. Hanging in a harness for too long is quite uncomfortable if you don't move at least a little bit. Where this starts to really matter though, is in the event of an accident, particularly if you're above, and belaying a second, and the second is hit by a rock or something and falls unconcious. In this case, you often can't easily lower them, especially if you're more than 60 meters off the deck; you usually can't raise them unaided either, unless you're unhumanly strong. Setting up a z-pully in a timely manner, and hauling the second up is the best option. Unfortunatly, these sort of skills are not often practiced in the climbing community. Edit: also, I think it's less of a practical issue in a climbing harness, unless you also have a chest harness on, or a full body, which is pretty uncommon.

oftenwrong 8y ago
Raising an unconscious climber is potentially not viable. 1. You probably don't have time. As the article says, you have less than 14 minutes. If the climber isn't within view, you may not even realise they are unconscious for a few minutes, perhaps thinking they just can't hear you. 2. If you don't have efficient pulleys, friction will be a major issue. Hauling a person up a long pitch on a Z drag is going to be a challenge. More mechanical advantage would just add more friction and time. 3. Raising the climb could cause them injury, or make their injuries worse, and could potentially kill them. Their body or the gear attached to it is likely to jam against something or snag on the way up unless it is a completely clear path. Another option in that scenario is going down to the injured climber after escaping the belay. If you have enough rope out of the system, you can abseil down. Otherwise, you will need to descend the taut rope down to the hanging climber. From there, I suppose you would need to manipulate their body to get blood flowing. ...and that is only the first step of the rescue! I hope I never have to face such a scenario.

oftenwrong 8y ago

Raising an unconscious climber is potentially not viable. 1. You probably don't have time. As the article says, you have less than 14 minutes. If the climber isn't within view, you may not even realise they are unconscious for a few minutes, perhaps thinking they just can't hear you. 2. If you don't have efficient pulleys, friction will be a major issue. Hauling a person up a long pitch on a Z drag is going to be a challenge. More mechanical advantage would just add more friction and time. 3. Raising the climb could cause them injury, or make their injuries worse, and could potentially kill them. Their body or the gear attached to it is likely to jam against something or snag on the way up unless it is a completely clear path. Another option in that scenario is going down to the injured climber after escaping the belay. If you have enough rope out of the system, you can abseil down. Otherwise, you will need to descend the taut rope down to the hanging climber. From there, I suppose you would need to manipulate their body to get blood flowing. ...and that is only the first step of the rescue! I hope I never have to face such a scenario.