A rather pleasant day was spent at the hall looking at procedures for tying onto a rope without a harness and the creating of anchors and belaying using only a sling and carabiner. These techniques are most at home in a true mountaineering environment where the use of a "confidence" rope allows for the safe guarding of short steep pitches of technical terrain. Following that we looked at the inclusion of working with a harness.
Proof positive that you don't need to go far to train!! Utilising a local disused railway bridge allowed us to spend a couple of hours one Sunday afternoon to look at rigging ropes for abseil before progressing to the more technical aspects of abseiling and new rigs involving extending the abseil device and safety back up's using prussik loops and locking off the rope to go "hands free".
Once we were all confident with that it was time to learn and, more importantly, put into practice the skills and techniques involved in rescuing a climber or stuck abseiler.
This involved abseiling down to the "injured party", connecting them to the rescuers harness and rope before confidently removing them from their now redundant rope and set up and thereafter continuing the descent to the ground on one line, totally controlled by the rescuer.
Sounds complicated but when practised and carried out confidently and methodically it's an impressive ability 'though one you'd hope never to have to use in anger.
"We who go mountain-scrambling have constantly set before us the superiority of fixed purpose or perseverance to brute force. We know that each height, each step, must be gained by patient, laborious toil, and that wishing cannot take the place of working; we know the benefits of mutual aid; that many a difficulty must be encountered, and many an obstacle must be grappled with or turned, but we know that where there's a will there's a way: and we come back to our daily occupations better fitted to fight the battle of life, and to overcome the impediments which obstruct our paths, strengthened and cheered by the recollection of past labours, and by the memories of victories gained in other fields."
Edward Whymper 1870 (Think he would have made a good Scout??)