Anyone want to try this? Knotted Rope Arrest....

The knotted rope cravasse arrest...  kind of intriguing.   I saw this on TV... Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls.  In this episode he parachute drops into the French Alps and demonstrates this unique self arrest method.

I don't think I am going to go off charging across some glacier by myself with a knotted rope.  But it's a useful idea to keep in mind.  I was thinking of creating a variation... instead of tying a bunch of knots in a rope, but to attach knots along a rope using something like a fishermen's knot, even on a multi-person rope.  Of course, going solo, it would be easier to just knot the rope.

Video: lawrencetrotter.com/MiscPIcs/ManVsWild.wmv

I dunno, it's difficult to imagine trusting a demonstration so obviously faked....which makes it difficult to trust anything else the man says. Maybe we can nominate Ron to run an independent test next weekend. How 'bout it, Ron?

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My first reaction is that's a fairly aggressive disservice to mankind.  Some folks will do anything to get ratings, eh.  I hope some pilgrim doesn't get killed trying to rely on that scheme.

You're right Mark (I guess you were paying attention in glacier travel class ).  As you subtly point out, this guy skimmed over some fairly important matters... like, assuming the knots did catch and hold in the cheesewire slot, to climb out he's going to need to retie a prussik above each knot.  That's going to be a bit of a challenge on the embedded rope as he tries to climb over the lip (the operative word here being "try").  And he certainly wouldn't want to pull the rope out of the slot, or dig out around it, to get a better grip on it now, would he. 

I have read about proguides experimenting with knots in the rope with rope teams (but not solo climbing) to add friction to a fall.  But I believe most guides dismiss it as more trouble than benefit in that the knots on the loaded rope cannot be undone and invariably complicate both climbing up the rope and the setting up and operation of rescue pulley systems.

That said, I suppose a nice figure 8 knot in the rope if it happened to be in just the right place could be a major help in one of the more difficult parts of crevasse fall extraction, that is, climbing over the lip unassisted with the rope entrenched. 

That said, I think I'll stick with my personal geezer minimum of two rope teams of 3 (no extra knots, thank you) on snow soft enough to stop a fall just dragging butts across the snow 

Wow, that was on the Discovery Channel?! I don't watch TV much, but I thought the Discovery Channel was reasonably accurate. I guess not.

It seems to me that if this technique works at all it would be the pack the guy is dragging, not the knots, that is most responsible for stopping his fall. That being the case, the logical extension of the technique would be to drag around a big ship's anchor.     Yeah, that oughta do it.

Somebody should write to the Discovery Channel and suggest a segment showing the "crossed curtain rods" technique of solo glacier travel, which Jon Krakauer described in his story about climbing the Devils Thumb. Another in a series of faith-based mountaineering techniques.   

perhaps the Discovery Channel needs to have an episode of their own show 'Myth Busters'  where they highlight and test some of the screwball things that Bear Grylls has done on his program.....

Isnt that a variation of the adapted kiwi coil used for two man rope teams? His partner happens to be a "stuffed pack" in this situation. Dont think that will provide the weight needed, but possibly.

Few things should be pointed out though.

First, if he was to fall into a crevass there is no way he would be prusiking out on his own. The rope has knots in it, which need to be untied before you would be able prusik out. Good luck untying those knots when they are weighted. Even using this technique with a two man team, you would want to carry and accessory line to drop down to the fallen climber. Or at least have the rope long enough that you could get a loose end available.

Second, that is clearly a "klemheist knot", not a prusik knot.

Third, I have watched a few of his shows, I personally think he's a fake. I'll bet that rope was anchored by his camera crew before he jumped. Also have you noticed he never leaves home without parachute cord. I dont know about you all but when I go into the wilderness I normally dont pack the trusty parachute cord. If you took away his parachute cord, I dont think he'd make it, lol.