Hi Liam, they are filmed in Scotland in winter. Thanks for watching.

outdoor research

using to ropes makes it possible to abseil 60 meters, instead of 30 (doubling your single rope). Also two ropes makes it possible to reduce ropedrag, because you don't need to zig-zag your single rope, making lots of turns. These turn build up really fast, and over 40~meters your rope can get nearly stuck

Also the impact force is lower with half ropes than with single ropes. This means that in case of a fall, less force is exerted on possibly weaker protection (nuts, friends, etc.); 'weak' meaning weak placement or weaker material (e.g. some types of nuts have strengths well below 10 kN).

Hi. There will be differences in what's thought as best practice for the situation in different instructor schemes across the world. Our winter skills films are made with and approved by the Association of Mountaineering Instructors. Hope you enjoy the films.

I definitely enjoyed the video. Many aspect are brilliant explained! But such things like belaying, finding good anchors is such a complex topic and often you may find yourself in worse situation outdoors, where you know that the current anchor is bad. However, in an instructional video you either consider those aspects and show all the pros/cons of e.g. belaying off the harness vs. fix point, drag/forces in case of a fall,... or just completely exclude this sensitive topic. From other comments I had the feeling a lot of viewers are not aware of the risk of a fall of the leader and an upwards drag against the rock. As this is THE argument against this method in such a situation I just want to inform all future viewers. Especially, in the next video your guide is explaining that "tucking in under the rock" is good against snow/ice fall from above. This, in my honest opinion is completely misleading and dangerous if you belay off your harness!

ape man i always belay off my harness so if the belay isnt great you can do your best at a brace belay. If its clipped into a dodgy belay and that rips its no good. There is also the problem of when you clip the atc into the belay you will need two load direction for the belay. One downward for the second, and one upwards for the lead, and as you put it if the leader falls and you dont have it clipped into a 50kg woman, the gear is ripping right out if its a couple of downward nuts. Having the bodyweight to brace for the second and also to act as a counterweight to a leader fall is the safest in my opinion. Clipping atc into a belay is fine for bolts, but this was filmed in scottish winter where bomber bolt belays don’t exist. Also the belayer in this video was totally fine in belaying where she did. One shes protected from debris coming down and injuring her, and also if the leader did fall, i doubt she would be smacked into the rock. The pitch wasn’t vertical and so with the rope drag plus the fact the fall would be dampened by hitting the slope/ledges i think the leader fall could be safely arrested. Also the weight difference between the leader and belayer isnt even that vast. Your point on the munter hitch or Italian hitch is completely daft!? Why does bmc have to explain use a atc? Its more efficient, safer as its easier to pay out and take in rope. Sure if you drop your atc use an itialian hitch on a spare crab, but dont fuck about with it otherwise. BMC did a great job in explaining a complex topic, in scottish winter its rare you get ideal gear, weather conditions are often poor and trust me things don’t always workout textbook. Thanks for the video BMC

@@UKmarkj I agree. I will only belay directly off an anchor if my whole weight is held by the anchor anyway or I'm in such a tight spot that any fall would crush me by the rope. If I'm stood on a ledge, I will always belay off my harness. I trust my weight more.

An old thread I know but nothing’s changed. IMHO it’s not productive to dismiss the munter as daft in this context - there are risks and benefits. Certainly the use of the ATC reflects established, proven and popular practice in the UK. The other consideration that’s not obvious from the video is that’s it’s possible that the belayer has assessed the terrain below the leader and is fully prepared to give a slightly less than full lock off should the leader fall. This plus the reasons previously stated are probably sufficient to make tucking safely in under the rock a feasible option.