Crevasse Rescue Practice

        The West Buttress Route up Denali is considered a technical climb mainly because most teams travel roped to protect themselves from falling into crevasses.  The theory is that most likely only one person will fall into the crevasse, and the others can arrest the fall, and pull the victim out if needed. In most cases of crevasse fall, arresting the fall is enough, and the fallen climber can climb out unassisted. Sometimes though, the fall can be serious causing an injury and a rescue is required.
        We practiced this rescue process as a team on two occasions. Once before our training trip to Mount Rainier, and a second time right before our trip to Denali.
        Basically the rescue process involves setting up solid anchors, then setting up a pulley system to enable the team to pull the fallen climber out of the crevasse. The pulley system is fairly complicated to set up, and should be practiced by the entire team. With practice, a team should be able to set up the entire system in less than 10 minutes. Time can be an important factor in a crevasse rescue, because the temperatures inside a crevasse can be considerably colder than the surface temperature of the glacier.

Crevasse Rescue Pulley System

        The diagram above shows one way of setting up the pulley system. There are variations, and ways to improvise. It is good to know and practice one way as a team, and to know ways to improvise in case the situations warrants.
       

        Knowing the system is one thing, practicing it as a team is another. We found that each person on the rope team has specific responsibilities during the rescue process, and it was good for us to practice at each position on the rope. Detailed steps for each rope position were printed up beforehand and reviewed at the planning meetings.

A rescue can be a very stressful situation, and the last thing you need is confusion as to how to set up the pulley system. I devised my own way of remembering.         I divided the crevasse rescue equipment into 2 parts. Part 1 was the stuff needed for the attachment closest to the victim, and Part 2 was the stuff needed to connect to the anchor. This is how I carried the two parts on my harness: