Building Skills: High Angle Rescue (HAR) #1 Thursday 7/16/26 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

When: Thursday 7/16/26 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Where: Probably SW Portland (near Zoo) at a park or local crag in town - location will be shared with Participants

What: The following agenda is a draft and subject to change

Class 1 – Foundations of Self‑Rescue & Problem Solving

Theme: “You’re safe, but something is wrong.”

Primary Goal:

Build confidence transitioning from normal climbing systems into rescue systems, emphasizing control, redundancy, and communication.

Learning Objectives

Understand when self‑rescue is appropriate vs. outside rescue

Safely escape a belay and convert systems under load

Manage climber weight transfers without panic

Build clean, redundant anchors suitable for rescue operations

Classroom / Ground Session (Brief)

Rescue mindset & risk management

Common accident chains in climbing

Terminology alignment (as used in Nicholson’s book)

Hands‑On Skill Blocks

Escaping the Belay

From guide mode and plaquette systems

Rescuer is always backed up before disengagement

Load Transfers

Transferring climber weight from belay device to anchor

Assisted vs. non‑assisted devices

Anchor Evaluation for Rescue

Redundancy, directionality, extension concerns

Basic Counterbalance Concepts

Feet‑on‑wall rescues (top‑managed environments)

Scenarios

Second can’t climb a crux

Belayer needs to let go of the rope

Belayer needs to transfer belay to someone else

Rope tangled mid‑pitch

End‑of‑Class Benchmark

Students can:

✅ Escape a belay smoothly

✅ Transfer a load without shock

✅ Return to normal climbing mode safely

Who:

Primary Target Audience: Priority will go to SAC organizers, then assistants and attendance is encouraged. Finally recreational climbers who already climb or work on rope and need rescue skills that are realistic, efficient, and field‑appropriate. Often climbing in remote environment (Multi‑pitch rock climbers, Trad climbers, Alpine climbers, and Ice climbers). Come if you want to learn new skills, refresh on already acquired skills or come out and help participants.

Why HAR matters to them: Climbing environments are remote and self‑rescue is often the only option.

Baseline skills assumed: Knots, belaying, rappelling, Anchor building, Comfortable hanging on rope

Contact me if you have questions: noel.tavan@gmail.com