I have been alpine climbing since February this year. Every weekend has been learning some new skills, practicing them during the week, lectures, reading books and homework and then trying them out for real.
All the months of training leads to this big day – Crevasse Rescue. I had practiced this on grass and inside a building so had some idea. However, it takes a leap of faith to trust your life to your teammates who have all been learning with you.
Crevasses are dangers in mountain climbing because they can be anywhere on a glacier and unless you mitigate risks while climbing, they can be very very bad.
I learnt how to arrest quickly if anyone on my rope falls into a crevasse. Then we do a drill of quickly setting up a z-pulley to draw the person out. See the picture below for the description and the text. But it was nice to be finally pulled over the lip and be standing on firm snow after 30 mins.
