Setup An Institutional Rappel
Howdy Stranger
Detailed Description
There are many ways to run a rappelling day with clients. By far the most conservative is the institutional rappel.  It is also the setup that keeps most people from passing their AMGA SPI certification.

First, set up a master point anchor.  This anchor should be a safe distance from the cliff edge.  The anchor should have multiple levels (ie a top and bottom shelf).

Next clip a carabiner on the lower level (bottom shelf) lower a single strand of rope to the ground.  Tie a munter mule on the carabiner with the strand of rope that reaches the ground.  This is the strand of rope your client will rappel on.  The munter mule is so that you can release and lower the client if something goes wrong like they freeze and need to be lowered the rest of the way or their hair gets caught in the belay device.

With a second rope (or the other end of rappel rope if the rope is at least 3 times as long as the cliff) clip a carabiner to the higher level of your anchor (the top shelf) and tie a munter hitch with the second rope.  Tie a figure 8 in the end of the second rope and attache a carabiner to it.

Now when the client comes up to rappel you can set them up with a rappel device (ie ATC) on the first rope and clip the carabiner at the end of the second rope into their belay loop.  Now as they rappel you can feed slack and have a backup belay on the munter hitch.

If things go wrong you can mule off the belay munter and then untie the mule on the load strand to unweight it.  You can also rig a 3 to 1 pulley and pull them back up with the belay strand.
Prerequisites
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Setup An Institutional Rappel Progressions
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