Ghosting Techniques

The information on the following pages are HIGH RISK TECHNIQUES and should only be used after a lot of successful practicing with very secure backup anchors.

When using ghosting techniques it is best to have at least five experienced people in the group. I recommend that you follow these steps:

  1. Set up the retrievable anchor system and try several test pulls to make sure that it is secure and does not get hung up on rock, branches, or any other obstacle.
  2. Backup the anchor, preferably by a large obstacle nearby. If there is nothing else to anchor to, use human anchors, use two or three people to start with.
  3. Send the heaviest person down fist, if the anchor fails your backup anchor should catch the fall.
  4. If everything looks secure after the fist person down, send the next heaviest person down and repeat until the most experienced person (hopefully this person is one of the lighter people in the group) is the only one left. Note: The second or third to the last person down should deploy the pull rope to make sure that it will not get hung up and it is out of the way for the remaining two people, this will insure that the total system is secure for the remaining party.
  5. The Last Man At Risk (LMAR) will need to rappel very carefully staying in contact with as much rock as possible to minimize the load on the marginal anchor.
  6. When pulling on the pull rope, do it smoothly do not jerk the rope it may sling around something and get caught up and you may loos your rope and anchor gear.




Retrievable Ice Screws


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