TR: Rock Rescue Course

[squamish climber]

So, recently I decided to sign up for a Rock Rescue Course with Squamish Rock Guides. Not because I had scary fall or fear inducing incident, but rather like many of you, I love to get out there and up high on a multi-pitch climb. And lately a niggling thought’s being creeping into my mind. What if my partner or I had a bad ledge fall or one of us was hit by falling rock? How the H would we get off the climb?

I thought I would share some of the things I learned. And a warning: this is meant as an explanation of the skills learned not as a guide of what to do in self-rescue situations. Steps and skills have been omitted in this description.

I would encourage anyone who ventures on the Apron or the Chief to take this course to learn these skills. We owe it to ourselves and our partners to know what to do in emergency situations.


The course is really about drilling in the steps for escaping the belay and practising various scenarios for self-rescue. To do that we sought out the perfect cliff with multiple anchor options at the top. After a short walk in Smoke Bluffs Park we found the ideal crag, flaked out the ropes and got down to it.

Mule Knot (hitch)
Everything in self-rescue starts with this knot. I’ve come to have a lot of respect for this kick-a$% knot despite the boring name. You need to know how to tie this knot with an overhand back-up to get to a hands free-position


Hands-free to Neutral
This is a useful term we learned to help visualize the stage you are going for when escaping the belay. It involves tying a Prusik on the load rope and a Munter Mule Overhand knot at the master point and then transferring the load onto the Prusik. You learn a few tricks in tying these knots that make it easier when it comes to raising and lowering your second. You haven’t made it to neutral until you have a back-up to the Prusik Munter Mule Overhand by tying a clove hitch.

Raising and Lowering the Second
This course taught us how to set up a simple 3:1 pulley system to get your partner the last few metres to the top. And in situations where it’s easier to lower the second, we learned the technique and steps to lower off the Munter.


Ascending and Descending
How many of us get a chance to practice prusiking? It’s a good skill to have and we had the opportunity in this course to hone our prusiking skills. We also learned a variety of ways to rappel with an injured climber and some useful safety precaution you can employ to make rappelling safer.

Making multiple knots off an anchor and hauling systems can seem very confusing. The thing I appreciate about this course is how logical and easy it was to follow along.The way the course is broken down and delivered you realize why the skill you just learned is needed for the next concept being taught.

I’m climbing now with a little more peace of mind. And remaining calm is just what you need when things turn ugly on an otherwise perfect climb.