The document provides instructions for safely rappelling down a cliff. It describes how to properly put on a harness and helmet, attach gear to the harness, set up an anchor at the top of the cliff, connect a rope to the anchor, lock into the rope correctly, call out to the belayer when ready to rappel, control descent by braking with hands, unclip at the bottom, and recover the rope. Safety is emphasized throughout the detailed steps.

1. Instructional slide show created by Scott Smith

2.  Put on the harness
 The belay loop goes in front
 The legs go in the leg loops
 Pull up the waist band
 Put on the helmet
 Put on gloves
 Tighten all straps so that only three fingers fit
between the straps and the user
 Make sure you double back all straps
 Put carabineers and rappel or belaying devices
on the harness via gear loops or belay loop

3.  Using webbing,
rope, daisy chain,
etc. to secure
yourself to the top Safety Rope
of cliff while you
work on the
remainder of the
preparation work
 Use the bowline to
tie in

4.  The anchor holds the
rope to the top of cliff
 See the page
concerning anchors to
learn how to properly
prepare an anchor
 Never rappel of an
anchor that you do not
trust

5.  Attach a carabineer to your anchor
 Run your rope halfway through the carabineer
 Throw the ends over the cliff
 Make sure the rope touches the bottom with
plenty of slack left for belaying
 Make sure that the rope will not rub up against
any sharp edges during a rappel

6.  Pull the rope back to the
top of the cliff
 Pass both strands
through the big hole and
loop them over the shaft
and lock it to the harness
using a locking
carabineer
 Make sure the loose end
of the rope hangs at the
side of your dominant
hand

7.  In addition to the person
on the ground belaying,
Dominant Hand Locking Rope
you can also stop yourself
from falling
 When repelling you keep
your non-dominant hand
on the rope that goes to
the anchor and your
dominant hand on the
loose rope
 To stop mid rappel, you
squeeze the loose rope in
your dominant hand and
pull it underneath yourself

8.  Call “On belay,” to the person belaying you when
you are ready
 Do not move to the edge of the cliff until you get
the respond, “Belay on” form the person belaying
 Next, unclip from the safety harness

9.  Back up to the edge of the
cliff
 Lock yourself in place and
lean back over the cliff
 You legs should be
perpendicular to the cliff
when in the ready position
 Call “on rappel” to the
person belaying
 When they are ready, they
will respond “rappel on”
 Do not start to rappel until
you get a response

10.  Bend your legs and push of the wall
 Loosen your grip with your dominant hand to begin
to descend
 You can control how fast you descend by varying how
much brake you are putting on
 Keep your legs perpendicular to the cliff during the
entire rappel
 Continue to bounce off the cliff using your legs until
you reach the bottom
 You may also walk yourself down the cliff if you
prefer that to bounding down

11.  After landing call “off belay” to the person belaying
 Once they respond with “belay off” you can unclip
the belay device and remove it from the rope

12.  The final step is to recover the rope
 This will vary depending on how you set up
the anchor
 The method used here just requires you to
pull on one of the end of the ropes hanging
down
 You loose a carabineer at each rappel with
this method, but you save a lot of time