The recommended tie off method (in Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills 7th ed; see pg 185-186 ) is to use a prusik attached to an anchor to unweight the rope to the belayer and then tie off the rope to the anchor using a figure 8 or something similar.

There are actually whole books and courses written about this topic -- it's called Self-Rescue. If you already understand glacier travel, crevasse rescue and how to set up z-pulley systems, then at least some of the material shouldn't be too much of a surprise. I like this book. We should all probably spend more time practicing these kinds of things -- escaping the belay, tying someone off, ascending a stuck rope, etc. and at least think about what would need to be done in some of the more arcane situations.

rhyang wrote:I like this book. We should all probably spend more time practicing these kinds of things -- escaping the belay, tying someone off, ascending a stuck rope, etc. and at least think about what would need to be done in some of the more arcane situations.

Ditto on the book. You can simulate a rescue scenario and practice using some deadweight, rope, carabiners, pulleys, etc. Hopefully you'll never need it, but better to have tried it in the backyard than practicing on a real (fallen) leader. Your climbing partner will (should) thank you.

Ditto Self Rescue by David Fasulo. Concise, well illustrated. The basic procedure is: escape the belay, ascend the rope, build a secure anchor as high as you can, secure the leader to the top anchor, go down and free the rope, back up the rope to the leader and rap with him, or lower him as necesary. You can't leave a person, especially an unconscious one, hanging in their harness for a long period of time. You have to get them supported and horizontal somehow or risk potentially fatal circulatory problems. Then, if they remain unconscious, you have to keep their airway open. I see one guy out there now is suggesting you safety pin their tongue to their lower lip. And while you are accomplishing these complex and spectacularly dangerous tasks, you must remember above all else not to fuck up and die, because if you don't live, nobody does. Even if you just learn about this stuff it helps, because it makes you realize: when you're on lead, you're placing gear for both of you, when you're running it out, you're running it out for both of you, and you better have a plan.

rhyang wrote:There are actually whole books and courses written about this topic -- it's called Self-Rescue. If you already understand glacier travel, crevasse rescue and how to set up z-pulley systems, then at least some of the material shouldn't be too much of a surprise. I like this book. We should all probably spend more time practicing these kinds of things -- escaping the belay, tying someone off, ascending a stuck rope, etc. and at least think about what would need to be done in some of the more arcane situations.

I also backup that recommended self rescue book!

In one of my climbing instructor courses we did a demonstration of rescuing an injured climber from a stuck rope aprroximately 20 feet off the deck, i.e. lowering is not an option. The situation was a toprope. Due to the rules of the organization, a new belay had to be setup, the rescuer lowered, the injured climber tied off to the rescuer, injured climber "released" from their belay and finally lower rescuer and injured climber to ground. All told the minimum time I've seen this demo done in is 45 minutes and this was with guys who've practiced this demo multiple times.

Practice makes better (not perfect) so do it.