PARTICIPANT TETHERS
We will distinguish between hand lines and safety lines. Hand lines are simply ropes that are placed like a railing to offer some assistance. Safety lines are set so that people can attach themselves to the line with a tether and carabiners in order to safely traverse dangerous areas.
Safety lines are fairly simple to set up. In operation, however, they can prove to be quite a headache, especially when dealing with less responsible populations. Wherever a safety line is set, an official statement has been made that the area is not safe without the security of the safety line. This means that equal levels of diligence and oversight must be exercised with safety lines as are with climbs and rappels. Because there is a tendency to underestimate the potential hazards of safety lines, undesirable events often accompany their use: Participants come walking out on safety lines without having had their harness checked; Participants fail to attach themselves to the safety lines; Faulty transfers of carabiners around knot points on the safety line leave the participants temporarily unattached. Avoid using safety lines whenever possible. They cause problems without adding much to the quality of the experience.
SETTING UP SAFETY LINES
The safety line should be attached to full strength anchors on each side and every thirty feet. Intermittent anchors should be in place every fifteen feet or less. Secure each end with a figure eight on a bight or figure eight follow through on each end. The intermittent knots can be figure eights on bites, although butterflies will also work and have been the traditional knot for such applications.
A safety line must not be overly taut. Some slack reduces the force on the anchors if someone slips and hangs on the line. Participants should not be allowed to hang or lean back on the safety line unless they slip.
Leaving lines fixed for the entirety of the season is hard on the rope. Additionally, it can be aesthetically offensive to others who might travel through the area.
PARTICIPANT TETHERS
The tethers for the participant's travel on the safety lines can be set up with webbing, overhands on bights and a pair of locking carabiners. Rope of nine to eleven millimeters can also be used for this, but if this is this case, figure eights on bites should be substituted for the overhands on bites.
SAFETY LINE TRAVEL
Safety line travel is hazardous because the dangers involved may be less obvious than when climbing or rappelling on a sheer precipice. The participants should be taught a uniform method for transferring their carabiners around knots. Each participant can be required to ask another participant to watch them throughout the sequence to make sure that they do not unclip both of their carabiners at the same time. Double unclippings occur frequently if instructors are not extremely attentive in their supervision and instruction. Moving along safety lines and transferring the carabiners should be practiced on the ground before going up on the rock. Many incidents will be prevented by insisting upon a proactive verbal contract between participants such as the following:
Art: "Transferring Jed"
Jed: "Watching Art" (Art moves and reattaches one carabiner)
Art: "Squeeze check Jed" (Art shows Jed that the carabiner is locked.)
Jed: "Thank you Art"
Repeat sequence with the second carabiner.
VERTICAL SAFETY LINES
A vertical safety line can be useful at a frequently used ascent or decent over easy terrain. It is possible to protect participants on vertical safety lines with prusiks. Each participant should walk up or down the line with two prusiks attached. One prusik should be set longer than the other so that both can grab the rope and hold weight simultaneously. The prusiks should be alternately moved and cinched down. At least one prusik should always be cinched down.