What would you do if you were mid-way up a multipitch climb and you or your partner became injured? What if a storm rolled in and you needed to retreat? What if your rope was damaged by rockfall? Self rescue skills are a necessity for any outdoor climber, and will make getting out of an unexpected situation safer, easier, and less stressful. Possessing this skill set will help you as a climber protect yourself, your partner, and parties around you who may require assistance.
Onto Stone’s 6 hour self rescue course covers 3:1 and 5:1 hauling to assist an injured partner, escaping bottom and top belays, removing a stuck item from a rappel device while on rappel, dealing with a damaged rope, and rapelling past a knot.
Because of the inherent danger, self-rescue skills are best taught in a ground based, simulated environment so no one is placed in harm’s way while rescue skills are learned and practiced. Onto Stone has a custom designed Anchor Lab at our home office where we teach our self-rescue courses. Using an anchor board and weighted pulley systems, we are able to simulate the weight of a climber in multiple different rescue scenarios to make the teaching more realistic.
In addition to the full 6 hour self rescue course, we offer a 3 hour mini-course (held at the crag), to teach ascending the rope. This mini-course covers ascending the rope using friction hitches alone, ascending with an assisted braking device with friction hitch, as well as ” pick-off” scenarios (ascending to reach a scared or injured climber and tandem lowering them down). The mini-course can be taken on its own, or as an add on to a standard self rescue course (mini-course to be held on a separate day as self-rescue course).
Our self rescue courses have a maximum of 2 students, and are structured to provide plenty of time for learning new skills, then practicing them with expert supervision and feedback. We will also run numerous scenarios to help with critical thinking and application of skills to help you be as prepared as possible for unexpected events out on the rock.
Pricing and Details:
Self Rescue Course:
Course length: 6 hours
Course size: No more than 2 students
Course Location: Onto Stone Anchor Lab
Price: $125 (*sign up with a partner for 20% off)
Ascending mini-course:
Course length: 3 hours
Course size: No more than 2 students
Course Location: Local Crag
Price: $80 (*sign up with a partner for 20% off)
Scheduling: We like to be flexible and work with our clients’ schedules. Check @OntoStone on Instagram or Facebook for available course dates, or contact us to set up a course. We are happy to open new course dates at your request.