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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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This is so sad, my condolences to his friends and family.
We shouldn't get nonchalant with belay signals.
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Greg Barnes
climber
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crusher, Owens & Clark anchors are replaced with a combo of the Wilson's and MMS donation boxes, ASCA donations, and personal gear on the part of many locals. Tony Puppo at the Rubber Room did lots of replacement for years and helps out with getting the gear. Also Marty Lewis does a lot of replacement that he funds from his guidebook sales. Generally speaking, the donation jars cover most everything.
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Cool Greg, thanks. I'll be sure to donate next time I'm up there and encourage everyone else to do the same. Thanks to you all for the work.
And sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ian.
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schilds
Trad climber
eastside
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My heart goes out to the family and friends of Ian, and especially to his climbing partner. This was a terrible accident and I don't think that any of the posters know what happened exactly, though some good points have been raised. Neither do I, as I wasn't there that day. I was at work at the hospital though when they brought him in, and I wanted to send my thanks out to all of the people, climbers and non, involved in the rescue. Many people worked very hard to try to save his life, and I would hope that any of us would do the same if we were at the scene of such an accident. So thank you to all of the rescuers, and to the people who stuck around and took care of Ian's partner. I can only imagine her heartbreak and pain, and hope that she may eventually find some peace. To me at least, it is a comfort to know that the climbing community takes care of each other.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
LA, Ca
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All the speculation is just that. I think it would be good to know what happened, but either way we should just wait and see rather than trying to find fault. This could happen to any one of us. I caught my girlfriend by the hand once when her improperly tied knot came undone at a stance. Our lucky day, that was.
Schilds' comments open a small window on how deeply an accident like this can cut. I hope the best for his friend and partner.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
LA, Ca
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Whitey, didn't mean you in particular. Just there's been a lot of stuff said and suggested on this thread overall... by folks who don't have a clue what actually happenned.
Cheers,
Kris
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Bodega, CA
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I don't pretend to have a clue what happened, just was wondering about the anchor because it crossed my mind while clipping one in the area, as I said up thread. I am an advocate of rapping/lowering on my own gear as well. However, hardly anyone does this at Owens because the place is so dialed for convenient lower-offs, as Greg detailed. I was just trying to figure out what might have occurred, and it's been made clear that something other than anchor failure was at fault.
I didn't realize the God of Anchor Preservation was passing judgement on off hand comments with a hair trigger today. (Was it worth the trouble to sign up for the forum just for that little flame fest? Whatever, Shawn...)
Peace to Ian's family and friends.
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BringYourOwnTR!
climber
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It was abolutely worth signing up to the forum to get this point accross to all climbers! ORG is a unique area with a vast climbing community in Bishop. Never have I seen such involvement in maintaining a climbing area anywhere else in the world. I am very thankful (and still alive because of it) that people maintain the area. However, we need to start passing the word that TR-ing and lowering off the anchors is a bad thing to do.
Consider this scenario. A person is taken out climbing for the first time to ORG with someone who is TR-ing and lowering off the anchors. That person gets hooked, liked we all did, and starts climbing seriously. That person is learning to climb without knowing that this is a problem and he/she thinks that's the right way to sport climb. Fast forward a couple months to where this person is really into climbing now. Now, this person wants to climb in some other areas and states. This person goes to any other area ouside of Bishop and takes these bad habbits with him/her. Now the problem has spread to other areas besides the Gorge. Fast forward a few years, this person has kids and gets them into climbing and teaches them the same bad habbits....I think you get the picture here.
For those of you who do not think this is as serious as I'm making it: you're nieve. We shouldn't have to wait until someone gets seriously hurt or killed for everyone to finally wake up on this issue. This is something that can EASILY be prevented, and can avoid completely unneccessary accidents. I'm not saying that was the case with this accident, but if climbers continue to do this, then it's only a matter of time.
If I can open at least one person's eyes to this issue, then yes: IT WAS WORTH SIGNING UP TO THIS FORUM.
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10b4me
Trad climber
California
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sorry to hear this. my condolences to his family, and friends.
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Greg Barnes
climber
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Bringyourown.., if you feel so strongly about this why don't you start another thread, and leave this thread to condolences and reports on this accident.
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briand
Trad climber
bay area
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Condolences to the family and friends. Thanks to all who keep the anchors safe. I always try to give money for that.
Yes people, always check your partners knot/harness.
Years ago, my partner and I were the first to show up to an accident at the Pub wall. This guy had decked from the top of one of the .11s in the middle(100+ feet). I couldn't believe the guy was still alive and he wasn't too injured relatively speaking. Csuse of accident was not finishing his knot. His rope was still clipped to all the bolts and anchors with his half finished knot stuck at the top. From what I last heard, he was doing ok after mult. surgeries and a lot of rehab.
(anyone know? I understand he was a local)
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dede
climber
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Hugs & prayers to the family and friends of Ian Mack - my heart aches for you.
Doris Dworkin (Jimmy Ray's mother)
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Marty Lewis
climber
Bishop, CA
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It will be very interesting to find out what caused this tragic accident.
It seems the integrity of the anchor had nothing to do with this accident.
Greg Barnes-great comments-especially about starting a new thread on anchors.
But I just can't help chiming in:
News flash-all anchors wear out. Remember adding slings or rap rings to anchors back in the day? Or seeing chains half worn and using your own carabiner? Wether you lower or rappel when you pull the rope through it puts wear on the anchor.
All anchors will wear out. If you see a questionable anchor sacrifice some carabiners or fix it yourself. If you can't do that then let some local activists know about the problem. Don't blame it on what previous climbers did. Climbing is always up to you assessing your own safety.
I've climbed at at least 15 major sport climbing areas in the US and 90% of the people lower off. Just use your own quickdraws (open or closed anchor) and there is no wear on the anchor. when the last person comes up they can thread the anchor and lower off or rappel. What's the big deal?
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dmalloy
Trad climber
eastside
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my partner and I have been waiting until we woke up this morning to check the weather and decide - sunny, climb at the Gorge? Snowing in Mammoth, go skiing? or raining everywhere, go to Keough's and soak? It now looks like another perfect Bishop day, just a few lenticulars floating around in a blue sky, so off the Gorge we will go.
I had to remind myself last night that climbing there is no less safe today than it was last Saturday - perhaps a bit of the joy is removed, but we'll love each day we have and remember those who have stayed in the mountains for good.
For those of us still fortunate to be here and climbing, I would like to do some chiming in and some repeating. Nothing earth-shattering here, but they might be new ideas for some people, reminders for others, or totally worth skipping for many.
Before I lived here I climbed around the East Coast for a few years, including a number of areas where anchors could not be threaded without untying from the rope. At first those anchors - frequently somewhat thin-looking chain links - freaked me out a little. But I developed some habits that provided an extra measure of safety, and I believe that if we are to think clearly about accidents we ought to pay attention to minimizing our own risk.
As the first leader to reach an anchor that required untying in order to thread, I would always leave draws or (usually) slings with locking biners as the anchor for any topropers. If I was the last person in our party to toprope or lead a climb, I would untie and thread the anchor, and then always rappel, not lower. Why rappel? Because it removed the potential hazard of miscommunication with my belayer, one of the factors in the safety chain that seems hard to control. Most folks I know would tie back in and lower, which puts additional wear on the anchor, and adds the dangerous potential for mixed signals into the situation. So one important lesson here is that if you are going to have to untie and thread, rappel, don't lower.
Second thing in that situation - when I was the belayer for a person who wished to lower rather than rappel, when they called "off belay" I would pull out about 10-15 ft of slack and leave them on belay. That allows enough room to thread anchors, retie knots, etc, while still providing a belay in case of miscommunication. So that seems like another good idea for those who find themselves threading anchors to keep in mind - you can provide oodles of slack, and still maintain a backup belay.
Nowadays I climb at the Gorge more than anywhere else, and throw some money in the Wilson's basket on occasion. We also try to pass along to the local activists some idea about where anchors or other bolts could use some help, and there is a big, experienced crew who do a wonderful job of taking care of those issues. I have often thought that there should be some sort of online resource for people to post needs and the activists to indicate when they have been addressed, but right now the grapevine seems to be quite effective without technological help.
Although Mussy hooks are a great solution for the Gorge, we still use our own slings and lockers for the initial leader to lower, or for any other people to toprope. An informal survey tells me that we are in the minority in that behavior amongst locals - most will lower from the Mussy hooks or other anchors even if another climber is planning to lead, and most will also toprope through those anchors even if multiple toprope efforts are planned. I have reached the point that I don't even encourage those people to use their own gear for toproping, since a few efforts at engaging the topic have never yielded anyone deciding to use their own gear.
That being said, we are blessed by the bombproof nature of the Mussy hooks and the attention of the local activists, which have created a situation at the Gorge that is much safer than the situation at areas where anchors must be threaded.
It is true that beginners should not be taught to transport the habits and behaviors of the Gorge to other areas, but I think that speaks more to the fact that life is most safe when we continue to always think critically about our situation, rather than allowing habits to guide our actions. Beginners should be encouraged to carefully examine the fixed gear they might use and everything else that can create a safe situation, and to make decisions based on what they think. So many people, particulary those who might have been introduced to climbing at gyms or through bouldering, want to just "GO FOR IT" - the folks who have been fortunate to enjoy climbing with accidents for many years should work to create an atmosphere of patient learning and critical thinking, even when we are out pushing our limits and whipping onto fat bolts.
I hope that was not too long or pedantic, and that it addresses the ways we can all limit our potential for accidents across a wide variety of areas. Everyone get out there and have fun, smile a little bigger at the climber next to you, find a friendly way to make suggestions to those who might look like they need them - and most of all, remember that Ian is out someplace climbing on sticky, solid stone, with miles of exposure, surrounded by friends, with no need for bolts or ropes.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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To Ian's friends and family, my wife and I extend our deepest condolences.
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Shelton Gregory
climber
Tahoe City
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To the Mack family - I can't imagine the sorrow and pain you are going through. My heart aches for your tragic loss.
We were climbing on the Pub wall, directly across from the Bananna Belt, at the time of the accident. My partner was finishing cleaning a route when I witnessed the fall. We grabbed the litter that hangs from the bathroom at the middle gorge, and met others who were already providing care to Ian. We carried Ian to the power plant (lower gorge) having instructed the person who ran to the rim to call 911 to have them meet us there. We were met by the ambulance and despite of the efforts of everyone involved we later learned he did not survive.
Another person in our party climbed the route (Love Stink's - I think) and discovered a top rope anchor properly set up (lockers on a cordalette to the hangers, to not put undue wear on the lower off hooks). The rope was tied to Ian when the first people arrived on the scene. The rope ran from Ian through the anchors, through all of the draws, and both ends were down. The party closest to him clearly heard him say "Off Belay", and Ian's partner did just that.
Communicate with your parter. Discuss what you are going to do before you leave the ground. Don't assume anything.
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WBraun
climber
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Whoa, so now we know the full details.
Thanks Shelton
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