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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Aug 21, 2012 - 04:00pm PT
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Just got back from work and had a bit more time to think about what I would have done in this situation. Bear in mind I have a lot of experience in rescues and have had to deal with a few "frozen partners"
Buddy hung out free hanging on both strands at great roof.
I would not have called for a rescue period. The guy aint gonna die of dehydration anytime soon.. yep he's gonna suffer and I have water. Plus if he was gonna die soon I can get to him and help way before SAR can.
First I would have tied off the rappel with two french prussics. one on each side. (both are releasable under pressure if needed.)
Then I would have told him to put a kleimheist around both strands on his end and get it synched tight and load bearing.
Then I would have hauled one end of the line up with a makeshift haul. Can be done with just biners and slings.
After just enough slack was produced to rapel on other strand i would have switched the french prusik on my side to a kleimheist and hooked in below it and rapped down to my buddy. Taken his backpack and tied it into the bottom of my rap line. I then would have laughed and chilled and eaten and drank water and talked about the view and whatever till I could get him escaped from rap system and set up to ascend with the ascenders and I would have use kleimheists to go up staying next to him .
Keys here is to make it real clear no rescue till he puts that kleimheist tight around both strands. 3 reasons.
1. It's easy to do and hard to screw up. Switching from Rapell to ascend while free-hanging isn't that tough but it IS harder and easier to screw up
( he should have already had it on anyway going into unknown territory... double actually he should have been rapping single stranded merely tending the other line while on a gri-gri and none of this would be necessary at all) Remember this technique next time you rap into ANY UNKNOWN territory! or for that matter known but complicated territory.
2. It ensures he ain't going off the ends no matter what.
3. it allows me to haull his ass the couple feet or so I need for slack to descend the other side.
I woulda been an ass if necessary and left him hangin for an hour or two till he did it.
No freaking rescue unless your dying man and you ain't dying! You are hanging off the end of a rope perfectly safe.
From there I would have led every rappel single stranded on one side (alowing me to re ascend easily if I make an error) with buddy set up for repel double stranded (in the system) before I left. I would have fireman belayed him to every anchor and not let him do anything for himself.
Full on guide mode.
I had to do something similar but way more complicated when bailing from the triple cracks on the Sheild once.
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BurntToast
climber
CA
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Aug 21, 2012 - 04:23pm PT
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Shame on you for pinning the blame on your partner.
You were the "experienced" member of the party. The "adult" so to speak.
You allowed your less "experienced" partner to rappel without a helmet, pull the rope with a knot still tied, rappel first, take a "50/50 chance" with the correct route and rappel into the void without ascenders, all apparently with a thunderstorm approaching.
YOU risked the safety of your "friend" and the SARS members, not to mention anyone below you on the CLIMBING (not rappel) route.
Your "walk of shame" was well deserved and still continues.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Aug 21, 2012 - 04:28pm PT
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The second time I climbed Royal Arches BITD was with a partner with little experience. The climb went fine, but it took longer and was hotter than we expected. So he ran out of water, but I didn't know until the climb was done and we had to get down the north dome gully.
Dehydration definitely changes a person. About halfway thru the descent he started to give up, he wanted to just bivy there. We had a conversation with me saying we weren't prepared to bivy (no water, no warm clothes or space blanket, etc.) we'd be miserable for 8 hours instead of 1 but he started kind of babbling, just saying the same thing over and over with a glazed look in his eyes. I lost it and slapped him across the face like you'd see in a movie. And it WORKED! He came to and agreed with me and THANKED ME for slapping him LOL.
To bad you couldn't slap your partner!
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Aug 21, 2012 - 04:44pm PT
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The second time I climbed Royal Arches BITD was with a partner with little experience. The climb went fine, but it took longer and was hotter than we expected. So he ran out of water, but I didn't know until the climb was done and we had to get down the north dome gully.
Dehydration definitely changes a person.
Ironic cause the spring at the top on the climb is safe to drink and year round, that's the way it goes i guess, what you don't know can't help you
Peace
Karl
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Aug 21, 2012 - 05:09pm PT
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Actually we both drank from the spring. I was wondering why he was gulping it down like a man possessed. I still had water at the top so I just drank and left my existing water for the hike down, which I eventually gave to him. He didn't tell me until later he had run out of water on the route. If I had known I would have stayed at the spring for 15 minutes or so getting him hydrated and making sure he filled his water bottle. I think he was embarrassed that he didn't ration his water.
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The Alpine
Big Wall climber
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Aug 21, 2012 - 05:12pm PT
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CUT THE ROPE!!!
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Pcutler
climber
Iowa
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Aug 21, 2012 - 05:45pm PT
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i once lowered myself down a weighted haul line by reverse leap frogging my ascenders. Not very sexy but it got me down - doing something like that could have allowed you to get to your partner and calm him down, take his pack and give him ascenders.
obviously its easy for everyone to come up with 'you should have done this' scenarios when sitting behind a desk. Being up a wall 2500 feet and hanging out in free space is enough to freak out almost anybody. When picking a partner for a wall I always figure that I won't climb with anybody who doesn't have the skills to haul my ass off if I were, for example,to break my leg in a lead fall or something. The other side of that coin is that you should probably have the skills to haul your partner off if he were, for example, to loose his marbles hanging out in open space under the great roof.
Sh#t happens, in hind-sight it was probably a dumb move, but when you're dumb you gotta be tough!
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Poofter's Froth, Wyoming
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Aug 21, 2012 - 05:46pm PT
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Holy shit! What a big day out for the lads!
Really? Hauling the guy up to get slack in the cord? Hmmmmm.....
Here is my quick take on it in the new NSFW audio rant format™™ instead of doing all that damn typing:
Think the method will work?
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Aug 21, 2012 - 05:49pm PT
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Well there was a solution in this instructional video but might be a little too much like leaving your dog on the peak
then you just chongo hitchhike to the top
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxtg7raPDYo
peace
Karl
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tornado
climber
lawrence kansas
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Aug 21, 2012 - 06:07pm PT
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more audio rants!!!
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Aug 21, 2012 - 06:09pm PT
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Just hearing Russ's voice makes me smile and laugh
Not that his solution would have worked because there wasn't good communication with mr panic below the roof
Possible to down jumar btw on a tight rope but we already know they didn't have advanced skills
peace
Karl
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Aug 21, 2012 - 06:10pm PT
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Lol nicely said Russ on the audio! It's still looping and I'm still laughing! I think I got told..
Thus why I rarely post advice about walls. My way would work but there's some damn fine wall-masters on this site. I was just an average joe up there.
I do like the down jumar idea even better than mine or Russ'es.. doesn't require anything from frozen partner whatsoever till you get to him and can make sure nothing else gets messed up. It's more work but safer than expecting this guy to do anything until supervised.
Clearly as usual on a wall there are many ways to skin cat.
And apparently they did have communication the guy just would not listen and was freakin out.
Hmm Audio rants .. the wave of the future? love it.
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Russ Walling
Gym climber
Poofter's Froth, Wyoming
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Aug 21, 2012 - 06:12pm PT
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I thought the dudes had radios?
In true internet fashion I only skimmed the posts... anyway... a good rant is always good even if it is wrong-ish!
cheers!
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Alexey
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Aug 21, 2012 - 06:13pm PT
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i once lowered myself down a weighted haul line by reverse leap frogging my ascenders. This is what I thinking Chris can do after locking the rope with prussics.
Thanks for report Chris. I have a 2 questions:
1. Did you and Richard before the trip discuss the possibility of been hanging in the air off route , no anchors, and if yes what was the plan?
2. Why if you consider yourself better prepared you let Richard go on 50/50 chance rapell, instead of go yourself? Or it was agreement between you and Richard to switch every rappel?
more audio rants!
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Hawkeye
climber
State of Mine
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Aug 21, 2012 - 06:35pm PT
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Possible to down jumar btw on a tight rope but we already know they didn't have advanced skills
i would rephrase that to say that they had no bidness being up there at all.
chris, prior to trying to rapp the nose had you rapped of any multiple rappel climbs? you know like desert towers? retreat off of a wall? anything?
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Roger Brown
climber
Oceano, California
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Aug 21, 2012 - 06:58pm PT
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Wow,
Facelift is only a month away. It will be great meeting all you folks and being able to continue this discussion face to face around the nightly campfire.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 21, 2012 - 06:58pm PT
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Well the Audio Rant just took this pathetic thread to new heights. Maybe
YOSAR coulda patched Russ through on the radio. "Yo, numbnuts! Listen up!"
I'm just glad Rokjox isn't around any more to get any big ideas, not that
anybody would listen to him for more than 8 seconds.
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Googlymoogly
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 21, 2012 - 06:59pm PT
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Just after the official report ends with the usual pitch about how attempting El Cap is a major undertaking requiring loads of technical rigging expertise, a lady felt the need to add the following comment prior to her upcoming trip to Yos:
"I read your blog before my visit to Yosemite. I found it sobering. It made me reconsider my shoe choices and I added trekking poles to my gear list." This is hilarious!
I think anyone dumb enough to go do what Chris G. did (no ascenders, WTF were you thinking?) is in the latter category. Despite his partner's dimness. We had a pair of ascenders and numerous prussiks...at least read the report if you want to comment and then by all means tear me to shreds.
Chris:
A potentially useful thing to do here would be for you to reconstruct how it was you came to decide
you wanted to rappel El Cap. Why that in place of something else? How did this first come to your
attention? You bring up a very good point. I don't remember when it first started as an idea
I have one question for you Chris... and I mean this verbatim....
When you going back to finish that descent and quiet your critics once and for all?
GO FOR IT!
I'm perfectly serious. Dude you got some big cajones to back them over the Big Void like that and cast down that rap route.
You're not gonna, like, let it be, are you? :-)
DO IT! If you can't count on your bud do it like Rohr did it.
DMT If I were to go back YOSAR would have my head
Sending water down the rope might have been an option
Richard said he had a 45 pound pack with him during his epic on the rappel off of Camp 5.
What was in there?
No water or just full of rocks? I did send him water down the rope actually. I think his feeling of dehydration was more nerves than anything. By that time his pack was probably considerably lighter but he should have had part of the rack, his own water, some extra clothes, and I am not sure what else in there.
We're glad you're alive to tell us about it. Hopefully your court appearance doesn't leave you too strapped to climb for a long time. Maybe you could request community service in the Valley instead of a fine? :) That would work. I have no idea about what to expect from the judge
I disagree about your brass balls though - your writeup kind of pins everything on your partner while glazing over your own mistakes. That's a big fat red line that you don't cross in my book: In climbing, you're a partnership, not two individuals. You don't hang your partner out to dry - if you trust him enough to put your life on the line with him, you two are in it together, and you have to own the outcomes together. I never meant to pin this on him. I made PLENTY of mistakes
Shame on you for pinning the blame on your partner.
You were the "experienced" member of the party. The "adult" so to speak.
You allowed your less "experienced" partner to rappel without a helmet, pull the rope with a knot still tied, rappel first, take a "50/50 chance" with the correct route and rappel into the void without ascenders, all apparently with a thunderstorm approaching.
YOU risked the safety of your "friend" and the SARS members, not to mention anyone below you on the CLIMBING (not rappel) route.
Your "walk of shame" was well deserved and still continues. I never placed the blame on my partner. We were both up there and both got rescued
Thanks for report Chris. I have a 2 questions:
1. Did you and Richard before the trip discuss the possibility of been hanging in the air off route , no anchors, and if yes what was the plan?
2. Why if you consider yourself better prepared you let Richard go on 50/50 chance rapell, instead of go yourself? Or it was agreement between you and Richard to switch every rappel? 1. We did numerous times. The plan was to ascend back up the the anchors.
2. It just so happened that we switched who rappelled and we knew if he went the wrong way he could come back up the ropes. When he got to the great roof and didn't want to move or attempt to come back up.
chris, prior to trying to rapp the nose had you rapped of any multiple rappel climbs? you know like desert towers? retreat off of a wall? anything? Yes I have
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Alexey
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Aug 21, 2012 - 07:37pm PT
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It seems easy to question someone for mistakes and being not prepared. I myself did some questionable and dumb things.
Once I almost been in similar situation of possible shameful rescue. Very close, but it did not happen.
There are two routes on Elephant Rock in Yosemity which merge at the top: Pink Dream 10a and Fatal Mistake .
Pink Dream is easier and start from the ground. Fatal Mistake has 3 pitches and first pitches from the ground is aid and never been freed. The plan was to climb Pink Dream 10a and than top rope 2 upper pitches of Fatal Mistake which rated in the book as 5.10 ( middle p2) and last (p3) 11a. After climbing Pink Dream from the top of this climb - I've been lowered two pitches down to beginning of p2 of Fatal Mistake. It was full stretch of 70 M rope- the only one rope we had and I was 100 feet off the ground . I did not take any gear or slings with me to be light.
I started climbing and instantly realize that it is not 5.10. Climbed probably 10-12 feet , fall and was back to the same place where I started because of rope elongation. And again, and again. 10 feet up - 10 down. I felt it is about 5.11+ which is above my TR ability. After trying 5-6 times I was really scared that it is going to be very stupid/shameful rescue of me. "Fatal Mistake" - this is a name. I was pumped , tired and felt that I have just one more chance to do my best TR performance in the life. My wife at the top can not hear me, but she realized what was going on and gave me all possible tension from above and basically rescue me. since I passed those first 12 feet the rest of the climb become a cruiser.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Aug 21, 2012 - 07:55pm PT
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Russ's audio rant = PRICELESS LOL!!! I'm jiggy with that. If I couldn't get him to come up... I'd have yarded his ass up like a friggin haul sack.. even if it took all night.
Chris.. thanks for posting your epic. I admire your willingness to toss yourself into the bonfire. Yup.. plenty of things we can wax nostalgic over how-you-could-have-done-it vs what actually went down. Lessons learned. Glad everyone is OK.
PS: "Guggli-mucci" should be added to the pantheon of climber lingo IMO. ;)
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