In climbing and mountaineering, a fixed-rope (or fixed-line) is the practice of securing in-situ anchored static climbing ropes to assist any following climbers (and porters) to ascend more rapidly—and with less effort—by using mechanical aid devices called ascenders.[1][2] Fixed ropes also allow climbers (and porters) to descend rapidly using mechanical devices called descenders.[1][2] Fixed ropes also help to identify the climbing route in periods of low visibility (e.g. a storm or white-out).[1][2] The act of ascending a fixed rope is also called jumaring, which is the name of a type of ascender device,[3] or jugging in the US.[4]
Fixed ropes are put in place by the lead climbers, and may or may not be removed as they descend after completing the route.[5][6] For popular Himalayan climbing routes, fixed ropes may be put in place to last the season (e.g. the Khumbu Ice Fall).[7][8] While storms can strip a mountain of fixed ropes that have been left behind, the existence of old—and often unreliable and dangerous—fixed ropes along popular climbing routes, is a concern in climbing.[5][9] On popular European, and latterly American, climbing routes, the fixed rope can be replaced by permanent metal cables, which are called 'via ferrata' routes.[10]
Fixed ropes are not used in 'alpine style' mountaineering as they are considered akin to a form of aid climbing.[1][2][6] Fixed ropes are commonly used on big wall climbing routes where it is common for the non-lead climber(s) to jumar up on fixed ropes to save time and conserve effort;[4] the re-belay technique is often used on big walls to reduce wear on fixed ropes.[11] Guided climbing expeditions to Himalayan peaks such as the easier eight-thousanders, often set up extensive networks of fixed ropes on steep or icy sections of the climbing route to help their less experienced clients, and to allow their porters and sherpas move quickly along the route.[12][13] For example, on the Hillary Step of Everest, networks of fixed ropes improve client safety but then cause bottlenecks at a location that is in the death zone.[12][13] The ethics on the use of extensive fixed rope networks by commercial adventure companies to facilitate weaker climbers access dangerous eight-thousander summits is a source of debtate in mountaineering.[12][13]
^ abcdSoles, Clyde; Powers, Phil (June 2003). "A Matter of Style: Expedition, Capsule, Alpine, Extreme Alpine, and Combined". Climbing: Expedition Planning. Mountaineers Books. pp. 25–31. ISBN 978-0898867701. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ abcdThe Mountaineers (2018). "Chapter 21: Expedition Climbing". Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills (9th ed.). Quiller Publishing. pp. 456–469. ISBN 978-1846892622.
^Ellison, Julie (6 May 2016). "Learn This: How to Jumar a Rope". Climbing. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ abSynott, Mark (23 February 2022). "Everything You Need to Know for Your First Big Wall". Climbing. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ abPrasain, Sangam (3 December 2022). "Ropes on climbing routes litter Mount Everest". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ abSynott, Mark (9 April 2015). "Elite Climbers to Blaze New Route up Everest: Climbing without bottled oxygen or Sherpa support, team tackles unclimbed line on Northeast Face". National Geographic Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^"Everest Season Begins as Icefall Doctors Fix Ropes". Gripped Magazine. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^"Progress on Everest Halts with Rope-Fixing Confusion". Gripped Magazine. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^Lambert, Katie (16 October 2019). "Out on a Ledge: Tangled. Confronting the knotty issue of fixed ropes". Climbing. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^Parks, Shoshi (28 February 2024). "Via Ferratas Are Finally Catching On in the United States". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^Chelton, Neil (2024). "How To Climb a Big Wall – Fixing Pitches". VDiff Climbing. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ abcWilkinsom, Freddie (29 May 2019). "Traffic jams are just one of the problems facing climbers on Everest". National Geographic Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
^ abcSynott, Mark (21 April 2015). "The Everest Moral Dilemma". National Geographic Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
Examples of fixedrope climbing In climbing and mountaineering, a fixed-rope (or fixed-line) is the practice of securing in-situ anchored static climbing...
a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls his own movement down a static or fixedrope, in contrast to lowering off, in which the rope attached...
Top rope climbing (or top roping) is a form of rock climbing where the climber is securely attached to a climbing rope that runs through a fixed anchor...
ascends the fixedrope, allowing the rope to pass-through the PCD, but in the event of a fall, the PCD grips the rope tightly; top rope soloing can be...
distinction that the non-lead climber usually ascends by jumaring up a fixedrope to save time and energy. It requires an extensive range of supplies and...
the rope is W/3 yielding an advantage of three. Diagram 3a: The Luff tackle adds a fixed pulley "rove to disadvantage." The tension in the rope remains...
form blocks and then blocks are paired so that one is fixed and one moves with the load. The rope is threaded through the pulleys to provide mechanical...
ropes - a working line and a safety line. Fixedrope "Rope Access | SPRAT". Retrieved 2021-04-23. "What is Rope Access | IRATA International". www.irata...
Below the First Step, they radioed in to report seeing one person on a fixedrope. Thereafter, one of the climbers, Shigekawa, exchanged greetings with...
The Bregenz Forest Mountains, also the Bregenzerwald Mountains (German: Bregenzerwaldgebirge), are a range of the Northern Limestone Alps and Eastern Alps...
used to attach a loop of cord around a rope, applied in climbing, canyoneering, mountaineering, caving, rope rescue, ziplining, and by arborists. The...
permanently fixed on the route (and in such cases, the second (or belayer) didn't have to take any placement out and just jumared up on a fixedrope). Clean...
weeks, with 5000 m of fixedrope. 1984 A Canadian team achieves a semi-alpine-style ascent of the North Spur, using much less fixedrope than the Japanese...
demonstrated (e.g. at Navy Days) commando methods of abseiling and high-speed fixedrope descent from clifftop grapple-hook anchors. These would typically include...
Germany on 15 June 2021 in Munich, a man with a paramotor got stuck on a fixedrope during a flight over the stadium, fell into a descent, grazed the spectator...
the same rope is used for both breasts so that the rope harness is automatically held together at the front. The rope may then also be fixed behind the...
go ahead, and a buckle on her harness opened, releasing her from the fixedrope and sending her plunging down 6,000 feet (1,800 m) into a crevasse. Hoey's...
the route beforehand on a top rope (called headpointing), or worse still, practiced the crux moves from a hanging fixedrope (called hangdogging). The arrival...
Yadav, unmindful of the risk involved, volunteered to be in the lead and fixedrope of his team to climb up. On seeing the team, the enemy opened intense...
Southwest Pillar without using bottled oxygen, slipped off the end of a fixedrope and fell to his death. On 4 August, Muhammad Ali, Sardar for a South Korean...
single static fixedrope, anchored to the top of the route, is laid along the length of the climb. The climber then clips-into the fixedrope using at least...
Dren Mandić, from the Serbian team, decided to unclip himself from the fixedrope to attend to his oxygen system and to pass Cecilie Skog of the Norwegian...
alpine-style climbs because more supplies are carried between camps. Fixedrope lines are often used to minimize the danger involved in continually moving...
leader did not set fixedrope lines as others believed he agreed to do so. Following an avalanche, a serac fell, cutting all the fixed lines on his and...
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