Pre-Conference Workshop
Title: Emergency Response and Rescue for Artificial Climbing Walls
Date: May 1st
Location: Boulder Rock Club, Boulder, CO
Start Time: 9 a.m.
End Time: 4 p.m.
Cost: $120.00
Presenter: Ed Crothers, Senior Guide, CMS; Accreditation Director, AMGA
Email: edc52@mac.com
Web Site: www.totalclimbing.com
Presenter's Bio:
Ed's career as a guide and outdoor educator started in 1988 when he began working as an instructor and staff trainer for mountaineering and rock climbing at the Colorado Outward Bound School. Ed subsequently guided in Washington’s North Cascades for the American Alpine Institute before returning to Colorado. Ed co-owned the Colorado Mountain School from 1999 to 2004.
Though formally trained in history and education, Ed’s diverse outdoor experience includes expertise in wilderness risk management, high angle rescue and backcountry navigation. He teaches most of the navigation courses and industrial rope access courses for Total Climbing. For the latter, Ed’s clients have included the Denver International Airport, the FBI, and the city of Craig, Colorado's SWAT team. He’s also instructed seminars for the Rocky Mountain Nature Association, the Boulder Chapter of the Sierra Club. and the AMGA. At the 2002 National Rescue Association annual conference he was a guest presenter, and he’s conducted technical trainings for the RMNP staff. He’s an AMGA Certified Rock Instructor and an AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Instructor, and has climbed and guided in Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Nepal and throughout the western United States.
Workshop Description:
At most climbing wall facilities the fastest and simplest method to affect a rescue is to lower the climber to the groud or with the use of a ladder. This clinic is intended to address those incidents that pose more complex problems.
Every rescue is situational. While uncommon, the number of potential scenarios and variations within a given scenario can be high. That being said, the solution to these scenarios usually involves a few simple tools and techniques. The key is in the application. The rescuer must quickly size up the situation, determine the best tools for the job and apply the most appropriate techniques. The most effective rescuer is one who has practiced the necessary skills and has a sizeable "toolbox." This clinic is designed to help the participants add to their toolbox and problem solving skills.
The clinic will begin with a review of the basics: equipment, knots, belay techniques, and anchors. We will then look at emergency response. Next will come load transfers, raising/lowering systems, and ascending/descending systems. Situations involving multiple rescuers and a single rescuer will be examined. Lastly, scenarios will be introduced and participants will perform the rescues.
Prerequisites:
- Basic climbing/belay skills
- Ability to use a belay tool, including a Gri Gri
- Basic knots: figure-8, prussic, water, double fisherman’s, etc.
- Comfort in the vertical environment
Equipment Requirements:
- 1 comfortable climbing harness
- 4 locking carabiners
- 1 Gri Gri
- 1 belay tool
- 1 Cordelette (6-7 mm by 20 feet)
- 1 daisy chain
- 1 12-14 foot length of 1 inch tubular webbing
Goals:
At the end ofthis workshop, participants will be able to:
- Quickly identify and execute the quickest/simplest rescue techniques for a given scenario:
- Climber without a harness or improper knot;
- Improper belay or incorrect belay tool set up;
- Trapped climber or belayer;
- Use a standing hip belay;
- Use one mechanical and one rope ascending system to access a trapped climber;
- Use a counterweighted ascent to access a trapped climber and lower the climber to the ground.
Outline:
1. Introductions
2. Goals of the workshop
3. Equipment
4. Knots and Hitches
5. Belaying
6. Rappelling
7. Load Transfers
8. Ascending Systems
9. Anchors
10. Raising Systems
11. Scenario: Belay Escape
12. Scenario: Transition from ascending system to rappel
13. Scenario: Climber stranded on the wall. Too much friction in system to lower or too frightened to let go and be lowered
14. Scenario: Lead rope not long enough to lower climber to the ground
15. Scenario: Climber high on wall without harness or rope – single rescuer
16. Scenario: Climber trapped high on overhanging wall without means to lower off or rappel
17. Other scenarios
18. Conclusion