Originally Posted by
rick t
victim was 100 ft down, and out of sight, but still 25 ft off the deck, on a single 125 ft rope. went down on a second rope, and tried unsuccessfully, to back it out using a counterbalance to lift her.
Because it was wrapped around and around the 8, and tight up against her skull, with a giant hair ball, was unable to back it out, so I clipped her to my harness just in case and got out the knife, and even that was time consuming and a difficult challenge, getting it cut free, without hitting the scalp or the rope.
In retrospect it might have been easier to have tied the second rope onto the first, and raised her using a mechanical advantage set up to free the (8) block holding her rope, and lowered her using another rappel device set above the knot.
But the first reaction when the screaming starts, absent her being on a 200 ft or long enough rope to lower her using the 8 block, is to go to the victim using a second rope.
Having no surplus length on her rope to lower her, and not being able to see her, to see how high she was, going to the site seemed like the best idea, but I had no idea how ugly the jam was going to be, and that it was not going to be reversible. An ugly situation (the hair was tied back in a pony tail), which resulted in an awkward and difficult, but safe, resolution.
Live and learn.