How to Ascend a Rope Mechanically

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Scott, and I'm the owner of Climb On! Indoor Rock Climbing Gym, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Today, we're going to discuss, ascending a rope mechanically. To ascend a rope mechanically, we use ascenders. There are lots of different type of ascenders out there. Anytime that we talk about rock climbing, ascending a rope, or rappelling, you want to make sure that you get the proper instruction, from a qualified instructor. You can do that at your local indoor rock climbing gym, or by a professional guide. It's very important to get the proper instruction in how to do this, because this can be inherently dangerous, and result in serious injury or death. Once we've got our system built, and there are lots of different types of ascending systems, we can begin to ascend, using our ascenders. You'll notice that I've got three different points connected to my harness, so that if one point was to fail, I've got other things to hold me. The first thing I would do, is move the ascender up, stand up on it to take the weight, move my second ascender, take the weight on that one, move the bottom ascender. This is a timely task, and again, you want to make sure that you get the proper instruction, on how these things work, and how to change over from an ascension, to rappel, because once you get up, you have to come down. This has been ascending a rope, by the means of mechanical devices."