Hi all,

I thought I would throw out a couple of interesting training resources for those interested in learning the basics of vertical rope work. These tutorials focus on a cave environment, but the equipment and many of the techniques can be applied to any form of rope assisted ascent or descent. These are by far the best I have found on the internet.

I would recommend a three step process to learn how to "go vertical" BEFORE you head out on an explore.

1 - Read through these tutorials to gain a fundamental understanding of the equipment and techniques used in vertical access

2 - Get in-person instruction from someone who is experienced in SRT (single rope technique)

3 - Practice the techniques until you are comfortable with all of the basics. A single afternoon of training may be enough to get started, but it's not enough to know what to do if something starts to go wrong.

Books and tutorials can't really teach you how to do this, but they can give you a good understanding of the basics so that when you start your hands-on training you understand what's going on.

This series of 10 tutorials will take you through some great information. (An interesting read regardless of your experience level!)
http://cavediggers.com/vertical

A page all about the "frog" climbing setup.
http://technology....r.us/Vertical/Frog

A single tutorial for a changeover from Ascending to Descending. (Although for most of us a changeover from descending to ascending is more likely.
http://www.cavedig...rogChangeovers.htm

Happy reading!

Abby Normal

P.S. - If you are a real "vertical nerd", then On Rope by the National Speleological Society is a great reference book.

Thanks for the links,

My neighbors already think I'm nuts doing my SRT practice in the trees. Now I have even more to play with!

Posted by AdventureDog Thanks for the links, My neighbors already think I'm nuts doing my SRT practice in the trees. Now I have even more to play with!

Glad you found it interesting. As I mentioned, it's the best online resource I have found. I still go back and read through them every now and again just to see what I can pick up.

Abby Normal

PDF version of On Rope can be downloaded here:

1. http://bookos.org/book/1512310
2. mirror/direct

To anyone getting started, I would recommend reading up on some rock climbing stuff in conjunction with hands-on mentorship before going out and giving ropework a shot.

Two series that have some excellent volumes on climbing that I have on my shelf are:

Mountaineers Outdoor Experts
"Rock Climbing Anchors"
"Freedom of the Hills"
"Big Wall Climbing"
"climbing Self Rescue"

and

Falcon Guide
"Knots for Climbers"
"How to Rock Climb"
"Self Rescue"

I will mention that I do a lot of reading and have self taught a great many skills from the books and research I have done. However, hobbies where you put your well being more at risk are best practiced under the eye of a friend or mentor that has experience with said skill. It is incredibly easy, even for a hardened climber or mountaineer, to die from an oversight as small as tying an incorrect knot or forgetting to "clip-in" to a rope. It only gets more difficult for someone who is just starting out to glance over something important, especially when your adrenaline is a-pumping. Open any years publication of "Accidents in North American Mountaineering" to read accident reports of both new climbers and the salt dogs mistakes. More often than not they are bush league errors, but gravity is just as unforgiving.

Bonus reads include:

"Confined Space and Structural Rope Rescue" (any publication date)
Caves.org has an excellent .pdf resource that details, with pictures, the basics of ropework.

This is an awesome resource! Thanks Abby and everyone else who's contributed!