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Crevasse - The kit

ust have

The critical consideration with glacier travel is to have enough kit to perform an effective crevasse rescue. This means you need:

Harness: a standard piece of climbing equipment consisting of a series of webbing straps which go around the waist and leg with a strong fabric loop at the front. A harness allows your friends to attach a rope to the loop to pull you out of any crevasse you have fallen into. For winter travel, the simplest lightweight harness with suffice since your clothing plays the role of the padding found on most technical climbing harnesses. Each member of the group must wear a harness and should put this on before moving onto a glacier. Once on (like an avalanche transceiver) the harness should not be removed until the whole party is safely off the glacier.
Rope: is needed to pull some-one out of a crevasse after they have fallen in. A 30m length of 8mm cord is normally considered sufficient for glacier travel (standard climbing ropes are a bit too heavy for serious off-piste use).
Glacier kit: the collective name for the various bits and pieces of climbing hardware needed to set up a crevasse rescue pulley system. The minimum kit needed to set up a system is:
- Two ice screws: to form an anchor if the surface is hard ice (skis are used in snow),
- Two 4ft slings: to build or balance the anchor,
- Two screw gate karribiners: to attach the slings to the ice screws,
- Two snap gate karribiners: to form various bits of the pulley system.
- Two prussic loops: closed loops made from 6mm code which are used with a prussic knot to form a one-way slip knot on the rescue rope.
- One ropeman: to form the ratchet at the anchor point (you can do manage without, but the system is much simpler and quicker using a ropeman - we always carry one).

The critical point with crevasse rescue kit is that enough of it must remain on the surface (after the victim or victims have fallen in) to perform the rescue. A group should always carry at least two ropes, for example, to avoid the unfortunate situation of having the rope with the victim at the bottom of the slot. The group also needs to carry enough duplicates of the glacier kit to ensure that whoever falls in the system can still be set up. Normal practice is:

Each member of the party carries one screw gate karribiner, two snap gates, two slings, and two prussic loops.
Two members of the group carry a rope. It goes without saying that one of these ropes should always be carried by the last person who can follow others’ (hopefully) safe route across the glacier.
The group carries at least three ice screws and two ropemans (ropemen?) spread amongst different members, so that at least a minimal kit always remains on the surface.

Crevasse rescue gear is not complicated, but like all technical equipment you need to learn and practice its use. The various techniques are covered in the "tricks" section.

Nice to have

Other stuff that can be useful is:

Pulleys: a small plastic pulley that can be used at the leverage point of a crevasse rescue system. Advantages: these significantly reduce the friction in a pulley system and can make the task of pulling some-one out much easier. Disadvantages: none really, more important with a smaller group where there are fewer people to help with the hauling.

Probe: you should be carrying a probe in any case as part of your avalanche kit. Advantages: on a glacier, it can be very helpful in probing an area to test for crevasses, for example at a lunch stop or before practicing crevasse rescue. Disadvantages: none since you are carrying it anyway.

Ice axe: an ice axe is again part of your standard kit for steep ground. In a crevasse rescue, an ice axe is often used to prepare the lip of the crevasse. Advantages: more solid & secure than ski poles. Disadvantages: additional weight if you were not carrying it anyway.

Crampons: again part of your standard kit for steep ground. Advantages: can be helpful if you end up having to walk around on the glacier surface without your skis. Disadvantages: additional weight if you were not carrying it anyway.