Vertical caving terminology and methods > Calls > Warning calls
Shouted when someone is about to drop the end of a rope down a pitch. Most often used when dropping the climber's end of the lifeline down a pitch for the next climber to attach to. Usually shouted as two distinctly separate words; "rope ... below", to give other cavers time to understand what is about to happen. Enough time should be given between the warning call and actually dropping the rope, for cavers to react, get out of the way or assume a defensive posture, and possibly shout something in response to stop the rope from being dropped. SRT ropes should not be dropped down pitches in this way, since the rope could get tangled or caught on on something part way down. Instead, they should be packed. The common (and, frankly, downright dangerous) American climbing call of "rope" must be avoided, since the word on its own is hard to understand in noisy environments, and leaves the person below questioning whether it is part of the rope free call, so that they look up instead of getting out of the way, and get hit in the face by the falling rope. If you use that call, it is your fault when someone gets hurt because of it!
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