We know that rappelling can be quite expensive because climbing ropes are expensive. Climbing ropes can costs $200 (approximately) and trust me you don’t want to leave these expensive things behind once you’re done rappelling down them. Therefore, today we have written this article to help you keep your rope with you after rappelling.

So, let’s discuss how to rappel and retrieve your rope. All you need to do to rappel and retrieve your rope is you need to set up your rappel so that the rope is not knotted to the anchor and you can do this through either a two-strand rappel or a tagline rappel. 

Retrieving your rope is important for any reason, such as it is good because it prevents you from buying a new rope every time you go and it is really beneficial because a climbing rope can cost heavens. The rope can also be retained for your next rappel if you are hiking a multi-pitch or canyoneering. It also helps keep the routes clean of old gear.

Check out this video to know more:

Method One: Two-Strand Rappels

In a two-strand rappel, you will be having two pieces of rope which you need to pass through your belay device, which you use to lower. It is possible to do this with one rope that is doubled up, or with two ropes connected by a knot.

Two-Strand Rappels with One Rope

The Two-Strand Rappel with One Rope entails looping the rope through the rappel rings, which allows you to retrieve the rope once you have finished it.

The most common form of rappelling involves a single rope passing through the anchors. You can set it up, perform it, and retrieve your rope the easiest way.

Retrieving your rope with a single-rope, two-strand rappel is done by the following steps:

1. Arrange the rappel so that the rope hangs through your anchors.
2. Both ends of the rope should hang parallel to one another, with the midpoint of the rope positioned between the anchors.
3. You have to ensure both rope ends have safety knots tied in them and are touching the ground (for a single-pitch rappel).
4. The rappel should be performed.
5. After you’ve reached the ground, unclip the rappel device and undo the safety knots from each ends of the rope.
6. After the knots have been untied, grab one end of the rope and pull. Once the rope passes through a rappel anchor and falls at your feet, pull the other side upwards.
7. Catch the rope within a fist’s length of the end that fell
8. Your rope has now been retrieved and you have rappelled safely

Two Rope

Two-Strand Rappels with two rope is a method where you tie two ropes together, making sure the knot does not pass through the anchor and once you reach the bottom, you pull on the rope to retrieve the rope.

While rappelling with two ropes is a bit trickier, the mechanics are very similar to rappelling with a single rope.

The big difference here is how you join the two ropes so that you can rappel off of them and the main trick is to tie the ropes together with a wide knot. The knot should be wide enough because it should not pass through the rappel ring .

After you do this, you can thread the rappel rope through the anchors just like you would if you were rappelling with a single strand. The side of the rappel rings on which the knot sits is vital to remember!

After you’ve done that, you can perform your rappel using these steps:

1. Equalize the ropes as much as possible. You should place the knot right against the rappel anchors.
2. Please double check that the knot will not pass through the anchors. A situation like this can put you in an uncomfortable position.
3. Afterward, connect your rappelling device and descend safely.
4. Disconnect yourself from the rope once you reach the bottom.
5. Remove the backup knot.
6. Here’s where it gets interesting! Regardless of which side of the anchors the knot is on, pull the same side of the rope.

Memorizing which side the knot is really important because if you get on the wrong side, you risk pulling on the rope in such a way that will make the knot pass through one of the rappel rings and most of the time it won’t be a issue. But, if the knot cannot slide through either ring, you run the risk of the rope becoming tangled.

If this happens, you are totally struck at that time you can try to climb back up to the anchors, although without a rope that could be pretty sketchy or you could also keep pulling on the rope from any direction, hoping that one of the rings will pass through and allow you to lower it again.

The best way to prevent this is to never pull the ropes at the same time as the ropes will twist and tangle, and it is not always that easy to tell which is which from the bottom of a climb and by pulling them apart to the point where you can clearly see each rope and which side it is attached to and by this you can mitigate the risk of accidentally pulling on the wrong strand.

Method Two: Tagline Rappels

In a Tagline Rappel, the rope is used to pull a second and smaller rope, such as a paracord, once you have completed the rappel.

An alternative method for rappelling and retrieving your rope is called a tagline rappel. When you rappel, a tagline is performed by tying another rope into the rope you are about to rappel with, so that you can pull it all the way down when you reach the bottom.

The key difference between two rope rappel and tagline is that with a tagline rappel, you only rappel off of one of the ropes and the second rope is usually a piece of cord or thread that is too thin to be entrusted with your bodyweight.

Besides that, we do the same thing with the rappel as we just did with the two-rope rappel. There are a few of things about tagline rappel that you need to keep in mind:

• Passing through the anchors shall be the thicker of the two ropes, from which you will rappel. By doing so, you’ll be able to weight the rope against the knot when you pull it.
• If you use this method, you’ll need to be especially careful not to pull your knot through the rings of the rappel. A tagline rappel is a death sentence; a two-rope rappel is an inconvenience.

We have to use the following steps to do a tagline rappel :

1. Through the anchors, pass the rappel rope.
2. Make sure it remains in place by tying your tagline using the proper knot or blocking mechanism.
3. You will need to clip yourself into the rappelling rope.
4. Unclip yourself after you have finished the rappel.
5. At the end of the rappel line, untie the backup knot.
6. Pull on the tagline because by doing this your rappel line will be drawn up and through the anchor, where it will fall down to be caught.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)