How to Make a Multi-Pitch Rappel (Abseil) Transition on Ice Climbs

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There is a lot to think about when transitioning from one rappel to another. As you go through the video, simply count the number of steps; it’s a lot. With every step being an opportunity for a mistake, you can see just how the risk of making a mistake can add up quickly. That is why most climbers will walk down when they can and rappel when they have to. And all of that is assuming we’ve built an anchor that is solid and will support our weight without failing.

That being said, rappelling is (in my opinion) also fun. That doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to the risks. Far from it. But I do like the ease and feeling of sliding down a rope and working with gravity, rather than against it.

But when it comes time for those transitions, I am all business for the reason I described above.

And as much as any multi-pitch rappel transition sequence has all those steps and all of those risks, a rappel on ice has a few added risks. Sure, we don’t have to worry nearly as much about a rope getting stuck (although, it can still happen if you use the rope to directly thread an a-thread or v-thread anchor point, known as a “no-thread”). But, we need to worry a lot more about ice fall than rock fall. It is almost guaranteed that every climber will kick some ice down, so the next rappel station needs to be out of the way. Frozen ropes can be tricky in rappel devices. And the slippery surface creates not different risks, but risks with a higher likelihood of a bad outcome: a dropped rope is very unlikely to stay in place, so we must ensure control of that rope at all times; and any dropped gear is undoubtedly gone. Plus slips by climbers are far more likely.

So, take a look at the video wherein the procedure provided is designed to mitigate many of these heightened risks.