Passing Rebelays and Deviations on Ascent

Simple Maneuvers for Just Getting By

Mar 16, 2009 David Black

Rebelays and deviations are easy to pass on rappel, but passing while jugging up can be a bit trickier.

Often there are serious hazards that threaten the fall line of a rappel. For cavers and climbers such hazards are typically rockfall and sharp edges. In wet canyoneering the problem may be that the landing zone lies in an area of dangerous hydraulics. Rebelays and deviations are two methods of revising the fall line during a rappel.

Rebelays

A rebelay is simply a second leg of the rappel directly off another anchor. A deviation is a simple redirecting of the rope through a carabiner at an intermediate anchor. Getting past intermediate anchors, including rebelays and deviations, requires a bit of planning and rehearsal, and relies on the use of cowstails.

To review the basics of rebelays and deviations, readers can see the Suite101 article Rebelays and Deviations: A Basic Guide to Changing the Rappel Fall Lineor any of the SRT sources listed at the end of this article.

Passing a Rebelay

To pass a rebelay the caver or canyoneer will:

Ascend to the anchor and clip into it with a cowstail.
Place the upper ascender on the rope above the anchor.
Place the lower ascender on the rope above the anchor.
Load the upper ascender and unclip the cowstail.
Finish ascending.

Passing a Deviation

To pass a deviation, the caver or canyoneer will:

Ascend to the deviation and clip into it with a cowstail.
Unclip the deviation runner from above rappel device to below the rappel device.
Unclip the cowstail and swing away from the anchor. This can be done smoothly by controlling the swing with one hand on the rope below the deviation runner. A hard swing can pull an unsecured end up so far that it's out of reach of others waiting to ascend.
Finish ascending.

Another method of modifying the fall line to avoid hazards is the guided rappel, which requires a rope stretched out over the hazard and well-anchored both top and bottom. By rappelling suspended from the guiderope, the rappeller is carried over the hazard to safety

More information on SRT (single rope technique) can be found by typing "single rope technique" into a browser. There are many good caving books that explain SRT in detail. For information on how SRT applies to Canyoneering, refer to Canyoneering: A Guide to Techniques for Wet and Dry Canyons, David Black, Globe Pequot Press, 2008.

These techniques are used at the user's own risk. They should be practiced beforehand where the user will not be injured, with assistance and instruction from experienced canyoneers or cavers.

The copyright of the article Passing Rebelays and Deviations on Ascent in Rock Climbing is owned by David Black. Permission to republish Passing Rebelays and Deviations on Ascent in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

A Rebelay.