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bearbnz
Trad climber
East Side, California
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 13, 2009 - 04:40pm PT
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The belayer dropped the climber while lowering, apparently due to inattention on the part of the belayer (let the end of the rope go through the belay device)...
From today's NPS Morning Report
Zion NP
Injured Climber Rescued Following Fall
On Saturday, May 9th, rescuers responded to a climbing accident near the
Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. A 27-year-old man was on a route known as "Feast
of Snakes," which is located on the Pine Creek Canyon wall directly below
the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, when the fall occurred. He had placed an
anchor at the top of the route and was cleaning gear while being lowered by
his partner, who was using a GriGri climbing device at the bottom of the
climb. The rope being used by the climbers was too short for the slingshot
belay technique and the end of the rope went through the GriGri, dropping
the climber 20 feet onto his neck and back on a ledge below the route. Due
to the steep terrain and loose footing, along with the mechanism of injury,
rescuers called for a helicopter for a winch extrication. The rescuers had
to first perform a technical lowering to move the climber from the ledge.
An additional low-angle technical raising, followed by a low-angle
lowering, were performed before carrying the patient to an open area away
from the canyon walls. A Blackhawk from Nellis Air Force Base extricated
the man and flew him to a waiting ambulance at the Coal Pits helispot. He
was then taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center, where he was diagnosed
with C-1, T-1 and T-5 fractures along with a lacerated spleen. About 25
park personnel were involved in the rescue. [Therese Picard, IC]
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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May 13, 2009 - 04:47pm PT
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I blame the Grigri!
Actually this almost happend to me at Courtright. My wife (the belayer) noticed we were running dangerous close to the end of the rope when I was about 3/4 way down.
Yeah, I felt pretty stupid. This is a stupid type of accident that DOESN'T/SHOULDN'T ever have to happen.
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elcap-pics
climber
Crestline CA
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May 13, 2009 - 04:56pm PT
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The belayer should tie a knot at the loose end if he isn't going to tie into the rope himself.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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May 13, 2009 - 04:59pm PT
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yeah, I agree, Elcap.
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Euroford
Trad climber
chicago
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May 13, 2009 - 05:12pm PT
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yuck, hate hearing about that sort of stuff. simple pilot error leads to heinous injury and massive rescue...
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 13, 2009 - 05:16pm PT
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Or rappel instead of lower - that way you find out in advance if the rope reaches.
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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May 13, 2009 - 05:21pm PT
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I hate it when that happens!
Seriously!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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May 13, 2009 - 05:25pm PT
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If the middle mark on your rope goes through your belay device before your partner reaches the anchors, then the rope is too short to lower him/her.
Watching for the middle mark is one of those things that should be automatic. Doesn't matter that the guidebook says "28 meters", doesn't matter whether it "looks like a short pitch," doesn't matter about nothing... Either the middle mark went through or it didn't.
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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May 13, 2009 - 05:28pm PT
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Yeah ghost, unless the middle marker was on the short end.
Before you rely on the middle marker, you better make damn sure it is really in the middle.
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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May 13, 2009 - 05:29pm PT
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On other climbing forums people have discusses a number of ideas to keep this from happening. Some of these ideas are:
-put a sign at the bottom of the climb saying how long the route is
-put a metal tag on the first bolt(if there are bolts) saying how long the route is
-put a tag on the anchor at the top saying how long the route is
Personally, I find all these solutions pretty darn lame. There are so many good climbing practices that can keep this from happening. Some of these are:
-putting a middle mark in the end of your rope so the belayer can see if the rope will reach before lowering
-put a knot in the end of the rope so it won't slip through the belay device
-have the belayer tie into the rope
Rather than proliferate our crags with signs or tags, I think climbers just need to practice some very easy to implement measures as described above.
Bruce
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville
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May 13, 2009 - 05:40pm PT
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The belayer in this incident is a very experienced climber and the victim is his good friend.
I sincerely hope the injured party recovers soon and does not have ongoing problems related to this fall.
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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May 13, 2009 - 05:43pm PT
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Hope it wasn't a SF.
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scuffy b
climber
Bad Brothers' Bait and Switch Shop
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May 13, 2009 - 05:47pm PT
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I wonder where the belayer was, as well.
In City of Rocks, people have been dropped from Strategic
Defense, while using a 50-meter rope.
The common wisdom has become that a 60-meter rope is necessary.
In fact, if most of the protection is removed while lowering,
the leader can get all the way to the ground with a 50-meter.
If none of the protection is removed, the belayer and leader can
meet on a ledge 4 ft off the ground.
If the belayer wants to hang out under a shade tree 20 ft away
from the climb, a 50-meter will be too short.
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scuffy b
climber
Bad Brothers' Bait and Switch Shop
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May 13, 2009 - 05:48pm PT
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C1 fracture tends to be correlated with problems later.
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NFB
Mountain climber
SLC UT
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May 13, 2009 - 06:37pm PT
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Anyone know who the injured party is??? Best of luck on recovery!!! I think I worked on the FA of this one... We always used 60m ropes down there... RATS.
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maldaly
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
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May 13, 2009 - 06:59pm PT
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Ohhhh, My thoughts are with the injured party. Anyone know if there was SCI inolved? C1, T1 and T5 are baaaaad places for SCI.
Mal
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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May 13, 2009 - 08:12pm PT
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Sad screw up, but definitely climber stupidity.
They should pay for rescue.
EDIT
as should all the people who pull idiotic stunts in the parks
Why should the taxpayers underwrite stupidity?
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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May 13, 2009 - 08:42pm PT
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Very sad to hear of this accident. A lot can happen in the blink of an eye.
On a related note: anyone know the best way to mark the middle of the rope, once the stock piece of tape has come off? Any problem using a Sharpee, or other felt pen, given that the real strength is in the core, not the sheath?
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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May 13, 2009 - 08:45pm PT
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I hope the injured fella recovers.
My thoughts to him.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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May 13, 2009 - 08:56pm PT
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Any problem using a Sharpee, or other felt pen, given that the real strength is in the core, not the sheath?
I've seen some unpublished test data that convinced me to stop marking the middle of my ropes with a Sharpee. I've gone back to using tape, or (much preferred) bi-pattern ropes.
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