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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Yes. Two climbers died when the anchor on Anchors Away failed.
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JLP
Social climber
The internet
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The original question - the Twight reference - is about walking up to a fixed line of unknown origin, with the anchor above and not inspectable - trusting it and and having it fail. My question is - while there are many references to this in the mountains - Harlin being the most famous that only a beginner has not heard of - has this ever actually happened in Yosemite - where 10.5+ statics and 3/8+ bolts are more the norm? Matt’s Arch Rock close call is more what we’re talking about.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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John Harlin on the Eiger was jugging an 8mm IIRC.
Harlin was on 7mm cord which he had placed as fixed rope. The 7mm was used to reduce weight.
When Clint and I were cleaning up the East Ledges route(not to be confused with the East Ledges descent, though they top out in the same location) we took down a couple of fixed ropes with major core shots which were hooked up to a number of intermediate points(the last pitch is a 5.9 traverse) which had failed such as a fixed pin, tree root. Luckily, it was still attached at both ends!
I donated the rope and it's multiple core shots to Gary Neptune. I need to ask Gary if it is now on display.
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Portland Oregon
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OP
**Yer looking at this all wrong. At 63, a paunch helps. You do dyno and the shed follows behind. By the time you reach the deadpoint, it keeps you there long enough to catch the hold, write a text, whatever.
Or start climbing slabs. Every year they will be a little lower angle. By the time you get to my age, they will be indistinguishable from a sidewalk and you can use a walker.
Mine is going to get a sticker on it that says “Dolt cart”
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WBraun
climber
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Two climbers died when the anchor on Anchors Away failed.
2 climbers?
As I remember it was only one and it really wasn't the anchor that failed.
The nut came off the 1/4" high point bolt ....
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
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Seems to me if someone is actively working on something and fixing their own ropes there is no problem. But leaving convenience tat for entire seasons has always bothered me from a style and aesthetic perspective. I don't really care about the safety part of it, people gotta make their own decisions.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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From the 1974 edition of Accidents in North American Mountaineering:
October 17 - David Bryan, Michael [Tim] Harrison. Harrison jumared to the end of p1 of Anchors Away (route named posthumously). Anchor was a single 1/4" x 1" bolt with homemade aluminum hanger. The rope ran over left 10' and down slightly through a carabiner on the last lead bolt on the pitch.
"As Bryan followed Harrison he reached the lower bolt and unclipped the rope from it. His weight, in addition to Harrison's, came onto the belay bolt. It failed and both men fell to their deaths."
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JLP
Social climber
The internet
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A 1/4 x 1” bolt - after the extra thickness of an Al hanger, the crater at the lip of the drilled hole and the location of the split and taper of the bolt - leaves like maybe 1/4 - 3/8” of actual contact? Crazy.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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#whitepeoplefixedropeproblems
LMAO +1
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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> A 1/4 x 1” bolt - after the extra thickness of an Al hanger, the crater at the lip of the drilled hole and the location of the split and taper of the bolt - leaves like maybe 1/4 - 3/8” of actual contact? Crazy.
It was after this double fatality that people started adding second anchor bolts to routes on the Apron.
At the time a single anchor bolt was thought to be fine.
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gruzzy
Social climber
socal
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Climber=narcissist=egotistical=
=lazy
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A Essex
climber
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fixed ropes are aid
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BigB
Trad climber
Red Rock
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the anchors away case, although it sucks, isnt a fixed rope failing, its a anchor failing...is there a case of a actual fixed line(rope) failing in yosemite like jlp asked?
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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During Harding's first experimental weekend attempts on the Nose, $ were scarce and they used some manilla fixed ropes. One of the climbers who participated on and off - I think it was Wally Reed - started prussiking on a manilla rope and it broke. Unbelievably, he managed to get to the broken end and went ahead and climbed it. After that gentle warning the $ were somehow found to put in all nylon. And summer of '58 when I joined, Chief Ranger Oscar Sedergren dictated that we would be required to fix ropes the entire route, as no one could rescue us. And of course, remove them afterward. I was grateful that we were all into nylon by then!
When we went back later and cleaned the climb we tossed down a number of ropes, some of which never got to the ground. Often wondered who found those.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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.is there a case of a actual fixed line(rope) failing in yosemite like jlp asked?
Yes, Jim Madsen, his rope wasn’t long enough.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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If I remember correctly, the knot Madsen tied at the end of the rap rope as a preventer, went through the biner brake..........
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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That is my understanding too. Needless rescue situation as it turned out which added to the tragedy.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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I was in the Valley and believe it was one of only two 600 ft coils that was the extent of SAR's inventory back then.
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