Fast roping is a technique for getting men out of a helicopter to the ground quickly. The rope/line is used something like a fireman's pole in that you use it for braking before you hit the bottom. The rope is not attached to you (photo right) and there's usually about ten feet between people in free-fall on the rope. That means, when you do hit the ground, you need to move fast or the next guy will land on top of you. 
Heavy gloves are used to create braking friction on the line. So as the ground is coming up to you, holding hard on the soft, large diameter rope is what keeps you from being squashed.
The rotary wing aircraft in these photos are CH-43's.
The photo above shows a little razzle-dazzle, going off the ramp inverted (upside down) thence down the rope to the patiently waiting Earth below. And with the exception of the inverted stunt, the old thing we said as kids, "look Mom, no hands" holds true up to the point when you need to brake.
