SRT Basic
The bare minimum amount of skills to negotiate a principally horizontal cave independently and safely, with one vertical pitch whilst supported by a leader.
Skills Description
Equipment
Comfortable with the use of a basic standard suitable type of SRT kit that they’re likely to use, for example:
- Harnesses, D-Ring & cowstails
- Descenders
- Ascenders
- Chest Harnesses
Aware how to look after an SRT kit at a basic level
- Closing unused items
- Trying not to actively abuse kit
Awareness of type of rope used for SRT
- SRT rope – construction, types and applications
SRT Techniques
- Kitting up into a full SRT rig
- Putting kit on they’ve been given and checking components are suitably positioned and setup for them.
- Safely approaching a pitchhead; Traverse lines and use of cows tails
- Abseiling and locking off to go hands free
- Hard lock
- Prussiking
- Ability to make upwards progress on rope
- Understanding how tension on jammers affects one’s ability to remove it from rope.
- Reinforcement of pitchead dangers (loose rocks, “Below” shouts, etc)
- Understanding of pitch calls (“Rope free”, “okay”, “below”, etc) General guidelines of short, simple sentences, and acknowledgements from recipients.
Emergency Techniques (with guidance and supervision from a leader)
- Changeover from down to up
- Changeover from up to down
Awareness Ladders (optional)
It can be a good idea to give some learners a short experience of an electron ladder to help people understand how this compares with SRT.
- How a ladder compares to SRT
- That ladders should never be climbed without a lifeline
Example caves this might allow you to do
Giants’s Garlands Pot, Bagshawe Lower Series via Dungeon Pitch, Merlin Mine, Short Drop