Rope support with tuber

Rope support with tuber
Other names	Rope support
Use(s)	Multipitch, mountaineering, rescue
Pros	Gives leverage to help with making a hard move
Cons	Taking slack is much slower

Rope support is used in a case when the climber belayed from top needs help by lifting up while performing a hard move. It can be also employed as a support to the second climber during rescue if second climber just needs a bit of help to complete the ascend.

Building the rope support

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  This rope support can be performed only while belaying from above

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  Start with a tie-off of the tuber (1)

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  After the tie-off you can let go (2)

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  Tie a prusik onto the life strand (3) and place a quickdraw if you want to pull in downwards direction (optional, 4)

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  Pull the rope through the carabiner(s) (5)

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  You can close the lock (6) and remove the tie-off while holding the brake strand (7)

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  Now you are ready to provide the rope support

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  Alternatively, this is an illustration of the finished setup without the redirecting quickdraw and with unlocked carabiner for Prusik

Using the rope support

As the ATC adds a lot of friction to this system, the pulley gives only 2:1 advantage (only the belay strand part of the rope which is behind the ATC is active during pulling), but 3:1 amount of slack must be taken (as the rope must be still pulled through the ATC). Due to a friction on the carabiner, real world testing done by John Gordino (Alpinesavvy) shown that in reality, it provides only roughly 1.5:1 advantage. Than means that for 75 kg climber, 50 kg of weight has still to be pulled up.

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  Pull the belay rope up

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  After the ATC gets unblocked, additional slack is pulled out of the system

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  Once the pulley is in its top position, grab the belay strand above the carabiner

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  And reset the pulley by sliding the prusik down on the live strand of the rope