Rock Climbing Systems: Passing a Knot

Learn how to pass a knot while lowering a climber in 2 different ways from our head climbing guide Casey Graham, AMGA Certified Rock Guide. This skill is important to know for potential rock/alpine rescue situations in order to get and injured person off a cliff as efficiently as possible.

Here we go though both the tried and true load transfer method, which is also the 5min. examination standard for guides pursuing AMGA certification, as well as the knot "pop" technique which is a little more time efficient, but comes with a few potential snags. Casey will break down the advantages and potential disadvantages of both. These same skills can be applied to lowering with other devices like ATCs or GriGris as well.

These skills can be easily practiced on the ground or at home. We highly recommend and encourage you to practice these skills with supervision from a certified guide/instructor to proficiency in a safe, non-life dependent environment before attempting to do this on your own.