A recent video on TikTok showed a woman being pulled out of a crevasse. She had been arrested by a fixed line while using the “lobster claw” technique in a mountaineering setting.
The lobster claw technique wasn’t bad in the video. However, the direction of the fixed line could have been better. It appeared that the fixed lines were traveling in an area that was prone to crevasse falls. Better management of the rope’s path could have decreased the likelihood of a fall. Additionally, the rope’s direction made it hard to get the person out.
Fixed lines are used a variety of different settings. Here are a few common settings.
Big Mountain Settings:
In most big mountain settings, the fixed lines are employed to decrease the likelihood of a fall. Often climbers are using an ice axe in one hand and some kind of ascender in another.
Big Wall Settings:
It is not uncommon for those that are climbing big walls or doing hard aid climbs to leave ropes in place to get back to their high point. This way they can return to the ground at night. In this setting, they climb the rope with mechanical ascenders.
Climbing Instruction:
Entry level climbers may be put in fixed lines to get their students through a sketchy area or to get down to a cliff’s edge. They may use lobster claws (two slings with locking carabiners attached), a friction hitch, or a hand line, depending on how hazardous the situation is.
In addition to this, climbing instructors will use fixed lines to be beside a new leader as their placing gear or working on a complicated climbing problem.
Fixed lines provide an excellent way to do a lot of different things, decreasing hazard and increasing speed. For more on fixed line use in an instructional setting, check out The Official AMGA Single Pitch Manual by Jason D. Martin, Bob Gaines and Andrew Megas-Russell.