Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The MMO


You need a MMO, and you don’t need to switch over from a HMO or a PPO to get one. You just need to know how to tie one. The Munter-Mule-Overhand (MMO) is one self-rescue technique that enables a climber to lower/belay an injured party using a munter hitch combined with a mule hitch (for a hands free position) and an overhand knot (to back up the mule hitch). The MMO is a must have tool for climbers and it doesn’t weight a single ounce. If you want to learn how to make one (and many other self-rescue techniques), refer to page 43 and following of “Climbing Self Rescue: Improvising Solutions for Serious Situations” by Andy Tyson and Molly Loomis. You can see a preview of the book (including the section on the MMO) via the link below:

http://books.google.com/books?id=J5_sl0YR9eUC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=MMO+rope+rescue&source=bl&ots=h_9W0Je-uF&sig=dvyW9B7QGBphUvteTPruUzGl500&hl=en&ei=65-uSejKGYS2nQf8v_TBBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA46,M1

Last night, I joined a large group of friends at the Erie Community Center to practice self-rescue and ascending techniques. A few of the guys even broke out the portaledge. Since it can be easy to forget techniques that you hope you never have to use, an annual practice session is a great idea. After all, if you can’t perform in a controlled environment, you’ll probably have little chance of success in a serious high-stress situation when you’re several pitches up your route.