Randomized Rescue Scenarios – Roll the Dice

By Sam “Oak” Johnson
Our local climbing community holds regular rescue practices where folks discuss and attempt a variety of tree climbing rescues – a chance to put our skills to the test, get ready for an unlikely but critical moment and have a good time doing it.

For the most recent practice day, I labeled four dice with key factors which would affect a rescue attempt:
- the type of system & rigging the climber is using
- whether the climber is weighting their system and the condition of that system
- climber location relative to the potential rescuer and if the rescuer is expected to use a separate rope or not
- other complications such as required transfers, knot passing, limited assistance from the climber, etc.
Rolling the dice provides the basic facts of a rescue scenario, with certain details left up to the climber/rescuer. Fellow Bay Area tree climber Chris and I put together a digital version of the dice set, which is a little easier to use in the field than physically rolling four cubes.

A single button press (or refreshing the page) will roll all the dice, and each individual die can be re-rolled using the associated button. This makes it easier to tweak the scenario to make it more (or less) interesting.
A good scenario helps me better understand where I need to improve – not just for rescue skills, but general tree climbing skills. We have found this rescue randomizer to be a fun way to test ourselves, to consider “What if…?” and to take steps during our normal climbing to prevent these situations from occurring in the first place.
Maybe you will find it useful too. Check it out here.