Introduction

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Orange Tape indicates that a member possesses the minimum skill set required to safely participate in multi-pitch activities with the Club under normal conditions. For all Club multi-pitch activities, one or more qualified Black Tape trip leaders will be present to manage unusual or emergency situations. When a member has achieved their Orange Tape, they are allowed to multi-pitch climb under the supervision of members with Black Tape. 

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First and foremost, UQMC promotes a safety first culture that guides all our activities. That means that whatever you are doing, you must make sure that your and others safety is the number one priority at any given time. 

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This document will guide you towards a successful completion of the assessment of your Orange Tape. In order to obtain your Orange Tape, there are three main steps:

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1. Read and remember the knowledge displayed in this document;

2. Put all this knowledge in a correct manner into practise;

3. Get yourself assessed by a member of the executive or Trip Leader team who will ask you theoretical questions and will assess your practical skills.

 

Orange Tape includes the procedure of multi-pitch climbing and rappelling, for both leaders and second climbers. It also includes testable material for several basic self-rescue scenarios.

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Contents​​

1. Prerequisities

2. Testable Material

2.1 Practical

2.2 Theoretical

2.3 Assessment Process

3. New Knots

3.1 Mule-Overhand

3.2 Munter Hitch

3.3 Alpine Butterfly knot

3.4 Munter Mariner hitch (optional extension)

​4. Multi-pitch climbing

4.1 The process of multi-pitch climbing

4.2 Multi-pitch anchors

4.3 Rope management

4.4 Communication

4.5 Dropping gear

4.6 Falling and catching falls

5. Self-rescue - ascending a rope with prussiks

6. Self-rescue - bypassing a knot​​

7. Single-strand retreivable abseil (optional extension)

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1. Prerequisites

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You must be a member of UQMC and possess the Yellow Tape and Green Tape competencies to be tested for the Orange Tape competency. Blue Tape is strongly recommended prior to Orange Tape, as it covers essential anchor theory.

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2. Testable Material

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2.1 Practical

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The member being tested must be able to physically demonstrate the following new skills that are additional to the skills from Yellow Tape and Green Tape:

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• Knot tying: Alpine Butterfly knot, Munter hitch, Munter-Mariner hitch, Mule-Overhand hitch

• Ascend a rope using Prussiks

• Tying off a belay device

• Build a top belay anchor (using 1 of 3 methods: rope, sling or quad anchor)

• Setup a top belay using an ATC in ‘guide mode’;

• Safely lead-belay from a multi-pitch anchor;

• Demonstrate adequate rope management

• Rappel with knot bypass.

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2.2 Theoretical

 

The member being tested must have a comprehensive understanding so as to explain the theory behind:

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• What makes an anchor SERENE.

• Process of multi-pitching​, including communication and rope-management

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2.3 Assessment Process

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The Orange Tape can be awarded by a Trip Leader with Black Tape.  The member will have to demonstrate the practical competencies and be able to answer questions regarding the theoretical material without error. The Assessor will complete a checklist, stating that they have witnessed the member completing the practical competencies, and that the questions regarding the theoretical material were answered without error.

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3. New Knots​

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3.1 The Mule-Overhand knot

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Uses

Ties off a belay or abseil device (i.e ATC, GriGri, Munter hitch, etc) to allow you to go 'hands-free' and let go of the break strand.​ Essential step in any self-rescue scenario.

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Resources
The Mule Overhand: Tying-Off a Belay Device - VDiff Climbing

Tying off a Belay Device - YouTube

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3.2 The Munter Hitch

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Uses

Allows you to rappel, belay a climber, and lower a climber without a belay device. Essential for situations where you don't have a belay device (eg. you have dropped it)

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Resources

The Munter Hitch: How to Belay without a Device - VDiff Climbing

How to Belay with a Munter Hitch - YouTube

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3.3 The Alpine Butterfly

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Uses

Forms a fixed loop in the middle of a rope. This provides a clip-in point which can be loaded in 2 or 3 directions.

Used for anchor building, tying a climber to the middle of the rope, and isolating a damaged section of rope.

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Resources

The Alpine Butterfly: Trad Climbing Knots - VDiff Climbing

How to Tie Alpine Butterfly Loop | Most Versatile Knot

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3.4 The Munter-Mariner Knot (optional extension)

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Uses

Creates a classic prusik hitch that can be released under load. Useful when performing a knot bypass. It is released by slowly unwrapping the coils of the mariner hitch and then using the Munter hitch to do a controlled transfer to the weight off the classic prusik hitch. When releasing, you must keep a hand on the cord at all times until the classic prusik is fully unweighted.

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How to tie

1. Tie a classic prusik hitch to the rope using a long loop of cord. 

2. Tie a Munter hitch to a carabiner with the same cord. 

3. Loop the rest of the cord around itself back up towards the classic prussik hitch. Do at least six loops.

4. Tuck the remaining loop between the 'legs' of the cord and pull down firmly to sinch the hitch. 

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4. Multi-Pitch climbing

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Multi-pitch climbing involves ascending a route with multiple anchors, climbing from the ground to the first anchor (first pitch), then to the second anchor (second pitch), and so on until reaching the top. It’s enjoyable if you’re comfortable at the hardest grade and have essential skills, such as self-rescue, anchor building, and rope management. These skills are crucial since you can’t simply be lowered from the cliff, and some multi-pitches can exceed 200 meters. For visual aid in understanding the process of multi-pitching, you can check out this video of a relatively normal (not elite) climb in the Blue Mountains (13 min). 

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4.1 The Process of Climbing a Multi-Pitch

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A multi-pitch is usually done by two people, where the climber-belayer pairs swap roles. UQMC recommends multi-pitching with a group of 4, as you always have two ropes, double the gear and more hands and brains to help if something goes wrong.

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To make things clearer for the following explanation, we will call the fictitious people Climber A and Climber B. Consequently, Climber A is also Belayer A and Climber B is Belayer B.

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The steps are as follows:

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1. Start:

You start at the base of the cliff. You and your climbing partner both tie in at each end of the rope with a rethreaded Figure-8 knot. Climber A will be climbing first, and carries all the quickdraws and other gear. Perform the buddy checks:

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• The rope is appropriately flaked such that it smoothly feeds slack as Climber A ascends;

• Both climbers have correctly tied into the ends of the rope;

• Both climbers’ harnesses are in good condition and are correctly fitted;

• Both climbers are wearing helmets;

• Climber B has correctly set up the belay device and is ready to belay;

• Climber A has sufficient gear to complete the climb (enough quickdraws, 2 PAS, 6 locking carabiners, guide mode ATC (and an optional assisted braking belay device), prusiks and slings;

• Both climbers are aware of the communication commands.

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Climber A will then lead climb as normal up to the first anchor. At the first anchor, Climber A will put in their two safeties and set up their own anchor (rope, sling or quad), creating a redundant master point from which to top belay. Climber A should then instruct Belayer B to take them off belay by yelling 'COME OFF BELAY'. Belayer B should respond after they have detached their device with 'YOU ARE OFF BELAY'.

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Climber/Belayer A will then pull up the rope until it becomes tight on Belayer/Climber B who will yell out ‘THAT’S ME!’. It is important to remember that Climber B is NOT on belay at this point. Belayer A will load their belay device correctly in 'guide mode'/'top belay mode', connect it to the masterpoint, and conduct all last checks (SERENE and ABCDE) before communicating that Climber B is on belay. 

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How to top belay

When belaying a seconder that is below you on a multipitch, your belay device should be connected to the anchor and not your harness. This is called 'top-belay'. If you are using an ATC, it must be in 'guide mode', per the below.​​​​

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2.  The first pitch:

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Once Belayer A has created a top belay anchor, Belayer A will communicate to Climber B that they are ON BELAY. Climber B checks to see if there is any slack in the rope by tugging hard and shouts TAKE. If necessary, Belayer A may shout ON BELAY again. Subsequently, Climber B will start climbing and will shout to Belayer A 'CLIMBING', so Belayer A knows Climber B is starting and starts taking up the slack. Climber B will climb the route and will be removing quickdraws from the wall as they climb. 

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Tip: The easiest way to remove the draws is to find a secure position, unclip the draw from the u-bolt, let the draw fall to the belay loop and then clip the draw to the gear loop. This also prevents dropping your quickdraws into the abyss.  

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3. Transitioning back to lead climbing and lead belaying

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Once Climber B reaches the belay station, Climber B will get onto two points of safety and communicate this to Belayer A. Climber B tells Belayer A to come off belay. Belayer A will let Climber B know when they are off belay. Belayer A will then switch to lead belaying from their harness with either an ATC or assisted braking device (Grigri). Climber B will pass the bag to Belayer A. Belayer A will pass all the quickdraws to Climber B.

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Climber B puts a Jesus draw (quickdraw) into the anchor or first bolt (if this is within reach) and clips the rope through that quickdraw. Climber B gets ready to start leading the next pitch. Both perform buddy checks. Belayer A lets Climber B know when Climber B is on belay. Climber B can start climbing after taking the two safeties off. 

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Purpose of the Jesus draw

From the first pitch and up, it is important to put in a Jesus draw. Basically, this is a quickdraw with the rope clipped into it, put on the anchor system or the first bolt, if this is within reach. 

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The reason why this is UQMC protocol is because if a climber falls before the first bolt, the Jesus draw will catch the climber, instead of the belayers’ device which is attached to their harness. This also makes sure that the belayer can step up to give a soft catch as well. 

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If there is no Jesus draw, falling from the first bolt could potentially be dangerous, as all the weight falling down will be caught by the belayers’ harness. And the belayer will be yeeted down, instead of up. The weight is not good for the harness, the anchor system and the backs of both the climber and the belayer. 

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Lead belaying

Again, lead belaying on a multi-pitch anchor is the same as lead belaying on a single pitch, except that you are not standing on the ground, but dangling off a cliff. However, the communication, signals, giving slack, taking up and all other techniques are still the same. 

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Keep in mind that you are sitting (most likely) in your two safeties, carrying a backpack, hugging the wall and managing the rope. You do not want to short rope your climber. 

 

4. Getting to the anchor of the second pitch

When Climber B gets to the second pitch (anchor), Climber B will go on two points of safety and set up a top belay anchor.

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Step 2, 3 and 4 are repeated for remaining pitches, until they reach you top of the climb. More visual information can be found on this website. 

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4.2 Multi-pitch anchors

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A Multipitch anchor should allow the belayer to attach themselves to the wall using their PAS and to operate a top-belay. When building the anchor, consider the belayers comfort.

 

All anchors you build should be SERENE.

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S - Solid: The anchor, which you are using (bolts, bollards, trees), is solid and you have inspected it.

E -  Equalisation: The tension on both stands is equal, meaning they are both taking the equal load.

R -  Redundant: there are no single points of failure.

E - Efficient: The anchor should be simple, so you can easily inspect it.

NE - No Extension: If a piece fails, the remaining anchor will not shock load. 

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​Here are three great options for building safe multi-pitch anchors. 

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Option 1: Pre-tied quad anchor

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Requires an extra-long cord/sling tied in into a 'quad' and two spare locking carabiners. Main benefits are (1) very quick to create anchor (2) self-equalises (3) lots of space to clip gear/PAS/device. 

BEWARE: never clip your PAS or belay device through all four lobes of the quad - that is not redundant!

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Building a Quad Anchor - Youtube

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Option 2: Long sling with an overhand as the master-point. 

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Requires one long sling and two-three spare locking carabiners to build. Best for anchors with more than two pieces/bolts. Lighter than a quad

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Building a Climbing belay with a sling to 2 anchor points - Youtube

Building a Climbing belay with a sling to 3 anchor points - Youtube

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Option 3: Using the climbing rope. 

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Requires nothing but two extra locking carabiners. Main benefits are (1) Most lightweight option (2) highly versatile - allows you to make anchors where the belay position is far from the pieces/bolts (3) turns the rope connected to your harness into a PAS.

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A slick way to build an anchor from the rope — Alpinesavvy

 

4.3 Rope management

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When you are multi-pitching, you will keep building anchors higher and higher on the climb. This means that you will take the rope up with you as well. When you are finished setting up the top belay anchor, you will have to take out all the slack in the rope before putting the seconder ‘on belay’. 

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Rope management is important when doing a multi-pitch. For example, you do not want your rope to get stuck below you when you are top belaying your seconder - this means you have to rappel down to get it again. Or when switching from top belaying to lead belaying, it is harder to belay a climber if the rope is really tangled.

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Usually, you do not have a ledge or a spot where you can collect your rope when you are taking (the Seconder) up. You are suspended in mid-air or awkwardly hanging on the side of the mountain. Therefore, UQMC recommends good rope management by taking up the rope and placing it over your legs or over one of your safeties. To help the rope feed out you want to make the loops big and have them get smaller so they don’t overlap.

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4.4 Communication

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When multi-pitching, communication is very important. If you start climbing, but you're not on belay, this can have deadly consequences. Therefore, you must keep your communication short, clear, loud and simple. The most common commands are:

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• ON BELAY + person’s name

• OFF BELAY + person’s name

• CLIMBING

• THAT’S ME

• ON SAFETY

• CLIMB WHEN READY

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Be aware that you sometimes cannot see or hear your belayer or climber, so you should also have rope tug signals in case this happens (very likely). Discuss the rope signals before you start climbing the multi-pitch. Never take someone off belay unless you are 100% certain the climber has instructed it. Never start climbing without testing the belay while you are on safety. These are some recommended signals. 

 

• Lead climber rapidly pulling up 5+m of rope = come off belay

• Lead climber tugging up on rope three times = you are on belay

• Seconder tugging down on rope three times = climbing

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Bringing up walkie-talkies is also a good idea. 

 

4.5 Dropping Gear

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Dropping a quickdraw

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The situation where you drop a quickdraw does not necessarily mean you cannot ascend your multi-pitch. It makes it a bit harder, but not impossible. 

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If you have dropped your quickdraw/s, assess first where they have fallen. 

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• Have they fallen on a ledge? Great! Then you can ask your belayer to lower you to the ledge and grab them. Or climb up then rappel down to grab them. 

• Have they fallen all the way to the bottom? Well, that sucks. You can either grab them when you rappel all the way down, or hope that someone has found them and will return them back to you (the climbing community is usually quite honest). You might want to inspect your quickdraws and consider retiring them if they have fallen from a substantial height.

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Assess how many quickdraws you have left, how many pitches you need to complete, how many bolts each pitch has and how long/high each climb of the multi-pitch is. If a route is 40 metres, you need more quickdraws. Shorter routes usually require less. 

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Assess the gear you have left, can you for example ‘make a quickdraw’ with a sling and two carabiners? 

Lastly, assess how safe it is to keep on climbing with one or more missing quickdraws. This is different for every situation, so therefore talk this over with your climbing partner. 

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If the situation is unsafe, rappel down immediately and try to climb the multi-pitch another day. 

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Dropping a belay device

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Dropping your belay device is not ideal, but you can complete the multi-pitch without a belay device. 

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The first step is determining who has the least experience, this person should carry the remaining belay device. The more experienced climber will use the Munter hitch to belay and rappel.

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4.6 Catching a fall

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Falling on a multi-pitch can be quite scary, as you sometimes are very high. But catching a fall on a multi-pitch can also be equally as scary. In essence, catching a fall of a climber on a multi-pitch is the same as on a single pitch. You still need to give a soft catch if you can by standing up. 

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However, there are more factors to consider when you are multi-pitching. 

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1. You cannot jump, as you are tied to the anchor with your two points of safety.  So just step up - a big step when someone is lighter and a smaller step when someone is heavier. 

2. You have all this rope on you, near you, around you. So when you step up, make sure that you do not send the rope down the wall. It is immensely annoying to retrieve the rope back up. 

3. You might be belaying in an awkward spot and stepping up is going to be difficult.

4. You might not hear the climber as you are higher up. There might be wind noise, and the distance between you and the climber may be larger.

5. You may get pulled up to the extent of your safety in a large fall, this can be uncomfortable and can result in a harder catch, the climber should be aware of this eventuality and climb with this in mind

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So when multi-pitching, as a belayer, be more alert when the climber is falling. 

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5. Self Rescue - Ascending a rope using Prusiks:

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1. Set up by tying 2 Prusiks to the rope, the top Prusik (waist Prusik) is attached to the belay loop and a longer Prusik is used as a foot loop to step on. 

2. Maintain 2 points of safety by tying a calamity knot, and connecting it to the belay loop. A new calamity knot should be tied every 2 meters ascended before removing the previous one.

3. If the rope is taut, use an additional waist Prusik instead of the calamity knot as the 2nd point of safety.

4. To ascend, step into the foot Prusik and slide the waist Prusik up as far as possible.

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6. Self Rescue - Rappelling Past a Knot

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Rappelling past a knot in the rope is an essential self-rescue technique. Some situations where you may need to do this is:

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• If your rope is damaged, you should isolate the damage by tying an Alpine Butterfly knot. You will then need to rappel past the Alpine Butterfly knot.

• If you have joined two ropes together using a rope-joining knot and need to rappel past the rope-joining knot.

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There are many ways to bypass a knot safely and effectively. The important things to remember with any method are: 

• Always maintain two points of connection between the rope harness while the abseil device is detached. 

• Always have enough extra gear to ascend the rope slightly if needed.  

• Your system should allow for a smooth weight transition. Do not shock your prussiks or abseil device

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We will describe three examples of safe and effective methods to bypass a knot. They are all very similar: 

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1. Using a Munter Mariner hitch

2. Using an adjustable PAS (eg. a purcell prussik)

3. Using non-adjustable prussiks​​

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Method (1) Using a Munter mariner hitch

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Set up the rappel as usual: find the rope's middle, pass it through the rappel rings, and tie stopper knots. Rappel down until you're about one meter from the knot.

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Then:

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1. Tie off your device using a Mule-Overhand knot. You can now go hands-free.

2. Tie a calamity knot two meters below the knot to be bypassed, and attach it to your belay loop.

3. Tie a Munter mariner hitch slightly above your belay device, get the length to your harness right so that it is as taught as possible.

4. Release the tie-off on the abseil device and abseil down slightly until the abseil device is completely unweighted.

5. Detach your belay device and reattach it below the knot. Tie the device off again with a Mule-Overhand knot. If you are using a third hand, detach and reattach that below the knot also.

6. Release the Munter mariner hitch slowly until your belay device is once again fully weighted. Remove the Munter mariner hitch from the rope. 

7. Release the tie-off on the abseil device and abseil down slightly to test it. 

8. Untie the calamity knot, then continue rappelling.

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For this method. You need to keep an extra prussik cord handy to use as a foot loop, in case you need to ascend the rope slightly. 

 

If you're aware of the knot to be bypassed, you can begin your rappel with the Munter mariner tied above your belay device, instead of a third hand

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Method (2) Using an adjustable PAS

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This is exactly the same as Method (1), except for steps (3) and (6)

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1. Tie off your device using a Mule-Overhand knot. You can now go hands-free.

2. Tie a calamity knot two meters below the knot to be bypassed, and attach it to your belay loop.

3. Tie a short prussik hitch above your belay device. Connect your adjustable PAS to the short prussik hitch. Get the length to your PAS right so that it is as taught as possible. 

4. Release the tie-off on the abseil device and abseil down slightly until the abseil device is completely unweighted.

5. Detach your belay device and reattach it below the knot. Tie the device off again with a Mule-Overhand knot. If you are using a third hand, detach and reattach that below the knot also.

6. Increase the length of your adjustable PAS slowly until your belay device is once again fully weighted. Remove the prussik hitch and adjustable PAS from the rope.

7. Release the tie-off on the abseil device and abseil down slightly to test it. 

8. Untie the calamity knot, then continue rappelling.

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For this method. You need to keep an extra prussik cord handy to use as a foot loop, in case you need to ascend the rope slightly. 

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Method (3) Using non-adjustible prussik cords

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This is exactly the same as Method (1), except for steps (3) and (6)

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1. Tie off your device using a Mule-Overhand knot. You can now go hands-free.

2. Tie a calamity knot two meters below the knot to be bypassed, and attach it to your belay loop.

3. Tie a medium length prussik hitch above your belay device and connect it to your harness. Get the length right so that it is as taught as possible. 

4. Release the tie-off on the abseil device and abseil down slightly until the abseil device is completely unweighted.

5. Detach your belay device and reattach it just below the knot. Tie the device off again with a Mule-Overhand knot. If you are using a third hand, detach and reattach that below the knot also.

6. Tie a long prussik hitch to the rope and use it as a foot loop. Step up onto the foot loop, unweight the top prussik hitch and slide it down. Repeat until your body weight is totally on the abseil device, and not on the top prussik hitch. 

7. Remove the top prussik hitch and foot loop from the rope.

8. Release the tie-off on the abseil device and abseil down slightly to test it. 

9. Untie the calamity knot, then continue rappelling.

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7. Retrievable single strand rappel (optional extension)​​​​​​​​​

 

You want to rappel down, but you only have a Grigri. That sometimes happens. There is an easy way to rappel down on a single strand and get your rope back! You will need to set up the rope the same way as you normally would do through the rappel rings and with stopper knots in the ends of the rope, but this time you will add an Alpine Butterfly knot in the middle of the rope. You clip a locking carabiner to the eye of the Alpine Butterfly knot and the other strand of the rope (on the other side of your rappel station). This way the rope does not friction itself when you are pulling it down, but will friction on the carabiner. You rappel down on the strand without the Alpine Butterfly knot, so on the strand with the locking carabiner. When you have reached the ground safely, you will pull the strand down with the Alpine Butterfly knot. Voila, you got your rope back and got down safely. 

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To be absolutely sure, ask yourself: What would happen if I rappel on the side with the Alpine Butterfly?. Hint: it is NOT good.

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