9.2 CANYONING TECHNIQUE: DEEPWATER DISCONNECT

9.2 DEEPWATER DISCONNECT

MOVEMENT IN WATER

OVERVIEW

IMAGINE THIS

You have abseiled to the bottom of a waterfall, and find yourself in deep water. The rope length has not been correctly set and there is a lot of excess rope in the water around you.

It can be difficult to disconnect your descender whilst treading water and due to the friction set up it’s demanding to remove the rope by pulling it through the descender.

WATCH THE VIDEO LESSON

You can later review the content on the eBook below.

eBook: Removal of descender in deep water

Taking the rope from the brake side is easier than taking it from the rappel side

The previously described situation where we find ourselves rappeling into a pool with a lot of excess rope in the water is a potentially risky one.
Trying to swim around in the pool with the rope still connected to us can lead to the rope getting tangled around our legs, arms or neck. We need to be able to disconnect from the rope fast and swim away before we start getting tangled in the rope.
In this section, we’ll learn a simple, but very effective way to do it.

TECHNIQUE

DEEP WATER DISCONNECT

Step 1

We lay on our back and take a deep breath in. This will inflate our lungs and give us more positive buoyancy.

Step 2

We push our hips upwards. This will bring our descender out of the water.

Step 3

We open our descender’s carabiner and remove the bight of rope from it and pull it out of the descender.

*Grabbing the bight on the brake side of the rope will make it easier to remove.

Step 4

We swim away, trying to stay as much as possible on the surface of the pool to avoid entanglement with the rope.

NOTE

This technique is more efficient if we use an auto-lock or twist-lock carabiner on our descender. Once this technique has been practiced, it can be performed effectively in a short space of time.

it can be performed effectively in a short space of time.