jstluise wrote:Here's an illustration from
Glacier Mountaineering: An Illustrated Guide To Glacier Travel And Crevasse Rescue:
I think the argument is that if the direction of pull is coming from behind you, then having the rope on the uphill hip helps you from spinning all the way around.
Ah, those pictures clarify the idea. Not that I agree with it, but at least now I understand. I think that two different scenarios are relevant here: either the falling climber pulls the rest of the group without any warning, or the group somehow gets alerted before the rope is taut. In the second scenario the argument isn't relevant, because the rest of the group can act before getting spun. So far, that's the only scenario I've experienced personally. I've seen the other one happen. First time was when a big group came sliding down a steep slope, fortunately not on a dangerous place. They tried to stop but failed completely, until the slope flattened out a bit further down. No harm done, but a good lesson.
Without warning, I can see how the uphill hip might have its merits, though I'm unconvinced. I suppose that testing would be required to find out one way or another. That said, I can't see a valid test for it. I mean, knowing that we're testing that the climber behind me is going to fall, how can I behave as if I'm unexpectedly getting pulled off my feet? With advance knowledge I may be able to react fast enough to get into a self arrest position, and it's worthwhile in itself to test that. However, if I'm pulled off my feet unexpectedly in a real setting, I seriously doubt that I'll react fast enough. I think the unexpectedness combined with the momentum of getting pulled off my feet will quickly get me past the point, and I can't predict in what position I'll be tumbling down the mountain. Fortunately I've practiced self arrest from whatever position I'm tumbling. Unfortunately that won't help me much if the whole group is tumbling - which is why I mentioned that sometimes I prefer going unroped.
We are traversing a steep, snow covered slope. It's no glacier, the snow is old but soft because it's warm, and we're not roped up. We don't expect to fall, but in the unfortunate event, it's either a real quick recovery or a pretty long drop. I remember this traverse vividly: mere minutes from this moment, she lost her footing. It all happened in an instant. She tried to arrest her fall and at the same time I grabbed her. A reflex action, by both of us, but it worked and she stopped almost immediately. I like to believe that she did it on her own and that my grabbing her wasn't really necessary. But to this day I'm not 100% sure about that.jstluise wrote:Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that stepping on the rope will stop a fall. I meant that if you travel with the rope on your uphill hip that you'll have a tendency to accidentally step on the rope when walking, since gravity will push it into your feet if any slack develops.
My mistake, I misunderstood that. And I agree that accidentally stepping on the rope is a potential risk associated with having it on the uphill side, so that's another argument for having it downhill instead.