Climbing knots

Read in Telegram in English
Leer en Telegram en Español

MCS AlexClimb climbing Club and Mountaineering School

There is a point of view among beginners that for mountaineering it is vital to be able to tie a huge number of special mountaineering knots.

Not every mountaineering route requires a confident skill in tying mountaineering knots

People who come to my climbing School with this conviction have extremely vague ideas about mountains and mountaineering techniques. For some of them, it even turns out to be a disappointment that at the initial stage of preparation for the mountains we are considering completely different issues, limiting ourselves to minimal knowledge of mountaineering knots.

Tactics and physical training in mountaineering are usually more important than the nuances of using equipment

In this text, I want to dispel some misconceptions and talk about the minimum skills in climbing knots that may be needed on routes of initial difficulty - where the use of a rope is dictated more by general stereotypes about mountaineering than by practical necessity.

Climbing Mount Gestola, Central Caucasus

The fact that using a rope is not always a panacea for all troubles and misfortunes is described in detail in my article "The illusion of safety - a rope".

If you are planning your first ascent of Mount Elbrus (Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua), I would advise you to postpone learning climbing knots and focus on your physical and tactical training - these skills will certainly be more useful to you on a basic mountaineering route than the ability to tie a bowline with your eyes closed.

Climbing Mount Bazarduzu in Dagestan - the alpine route of initial difficulty

But if you have something more interesting in your plans (including a desperate plan to fix the chimney at your country house), then having the skill of tying 3-4 basic knots in reserve may be very useful.

So, what are mountaineering knots?

This is a group of special knots that have passed into mountaineering from seamanship, where they have been used practically unchanged since the advent of the sailing fleet.

The knots that we call mountaineering knots appeared in seamanship long before the advent of mountaineering

The main criterion that allows these knots to be used for their intended purpose - both in sailing technique and in mountaineering - is their main property - the load inside the knot is distributed evenly and safely for the rope structure.

The probability of a rope breaking at a knot, when using the correct method of fixation, is minimal. All mountaineering knots do not overload the rope when used normally and are easily untied after the load if off.

Basic sea knots used in the sailing fleet

There are more than 30 most important knots in the sea navigation that every sailor on a sailing vessel should know.

-------------------------

In mountaineering or rock climbing, I will highlight just 8 important knots that you may need on the alpine routes.

1. "Figure eight" knot - the most common and easy to tie mountaineering knot. It is used for fastening to the end or intermediate section of the rope if it is not used along the entire length. Limitation - the load on the knot can only be applied along the axis of the rope.

Figure eight knot

2. Single / double bowline - a classic of seamanship, the most practical and quick knot for fixing the end of the rope. Like the "figure eight" knot, the bowline works only along the axis of the rope. The main advantage of the bowline is that it does not tighten at all under load. This advantage dictates certain rules when using a bowline - you should always tie a fixing control knot, and when climbing lead, you should attach yourself to the rope with a more secure double bowline

Bowline knot

3. Butterfly loop - unlike the first two knots, this knot allows a load at an angle to the rope axis and can be used to attach more than 2 people to the rope when climbing roped.

Butterfly loop knot

4. Prusik - a grasping knot - an extremely useful knot that can be used for belay when rappelling or ascending the rope. Prusik knot can even replace a jumar if you need to climb a rope.

Prusik knot

5. Double fisherman's knot - reliably connects two ends of a rope of the same diameter

Double fisherman's knot

6. Clove hitch knot - commonly used to quickly secure an intermediate segment of a rope safety system, for example, to divide a fixed rope into sections. The Clove hitch knot is used only as an auxiliary intermediate knot; this knot is not suitable for securing the ends of a rope. In the original, the knot is used to secure the steps of a rope ladder

Clove hitch knot

7. Munter hitch knot is used as an alternative method of lowering or belaying if a carabiner is available. This method should not be overused - the Munter hitch knot provides braking of the rope due to its friction against itself and, therefore, wears out the rope very quickly.

Munter hitch knot

8. Sheet bend knot - the least frequently used in mountaineering practice, a typical seamanship knot. In the original, it is used for quick adjustment of sheets - equipment at the ends of sails for their positioning relative to the wind.

In mountaineering, the sheet bend knot is used to connect the ends of a rope of different diameters - for example, the main and auxiliary ropes when pulling through a station or to adjust the position of a hanging belay system. The scope of application of the sheet bend knot in mountaineering is a narrow professional rescue specificity or industrial mountaineering.

Sheet bend knot

Author of text and photographs - Alex Trubachev
Your mountaineering, ice climbing and rock climbing guide

MCS EDIT 2024