Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
the goat
climber
north central WA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 1, 2017 - 01:49pm PT
|
Another tragic accident occurred Monday when a 20YO Western Washington student fell to his death while descending "Sisyphus" on Goat Wall near Mazama. The climber was simul rappelling when he either came to the end of the rope or the rope became unsecured at the other end and ripped through the anchor. In either case the result was deadly.
I'm curious since I saw at least two parties doing this at COR a couple of weeks ago, is simul rappelling a thing now? I don't ever recall seeing it much in the valley or anywhere else in years past. While perhaps expeditious, it seems wrought with potential perils should any one variable come into play.
Regardless of the cause, my heart goes out to the young man's family and friends, very sad.
[url="http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article153691649.htmlhttp://"]http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article153691649.htmlhttp://[/url]
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
hey there say, the goat... oh my... i hate these things-gone-wrong, when folks die while loving their climbs, :(
my condolences and prayers for his loved ones and friends, that must go on without him, :(
thank you for sharing, so we can at least help, in some way...
:(
|
|
Studly
Trad climber
WA
|
|
Contrary to popular opinion, simo rapping is not faster. If you can't get your rap device on the rope and down it in a minute or two, then you need to practice your changeovers, and rap with gloves. and that's no matter how many years you have been climbing.
Simo rapping is ridiculous thing to do most of the time. I see guy with their girlfriends doing it regularly, its become the cool thing to do.
Fyucking stupid.
|
|
AP
Trad climber
Calgary
|
|
Darwin in action
|
|
Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
^^^
I know you're just joking but not cool.
|
|
snowhazed
Trad climber
Oaksterdam, CA
|
|
Matt's nails it
|
|
Killer K
Boulder climber
Sacramento, CA
|
|
With a gri gri its fairly safe.
With an atc if either un weights the rope without communicating to the partner it can be hard to control the slack.
Knots at the end of the lines are imperative.
|
|
drF
Trad climber
usa
|
|
^^^^^^
Matt's reply.
That was priceless!
|
|
Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
|
|
I don't understand how it was not double fatality? There were scant details in the article. Was the second guy into to the lower anchor and then let go of his brake hand allowing the rope to go free, or did the lower guy rap off the end and not die? Usually simulrapping is mutually assured destruction (MAD) situation, but somehow not this one? Is there some scenario in which his partner did not kill him? I can't think of one. Again, maddeningly few details.
Regardless of the simulrap idiocy, it sounds like no knots in the ends of the rope.
|
|
Matt's
climber
|
|
Was the second guy into to the lower anchor and then let go of his brake hand allowing the rope to go free
I assume this is what happened, but who knows.
|
|
Matt's
climber
|
|
^^^^^^
Matt's reply.
That was priceless!
Thank you. I've simul-rapped off big things, with both climbers on grigris-- I can assure you that it is very fast. The biggest time savings come from having two pairs of hands able to tend to deal with the rope (eg undoing small tangles, putting rope in correct place).
Like everything in climbing, there is no "right" way to rappel-- you have to balance factors like speed, safety, efficiency, weight, simplicity, etc...
|
|
guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
|
|
Moof.... the climber who did not die was the first one to the anchor.
Sad.... My condolences to the fallen climbers Family and Friends.
|
|
Studly
Trad climber
WA
|
|
Matts reply was worthless, not priceless. What Alex Honnold or Colin Haley do is generally not what the regular climbing population should be doing, and promoting it is as normal technique is extra stupid.
Alex and Colin solo things that most people would not climb with a rope. But hey, your stupid off the cuff remarks might just result in more fatalities.
|
|
Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
|
|
The friend reached solid ground (at the sixth pitch) first, which eliminated the counter-balance
huhhhhh????? sounds like the guy plain and simple dropped his partner.
|
|
nathanael
climber
CA
|
|
huhhhhh????? sounds like the guy plain and simple dropped his partner.
almost certainly, but it was probably deemed a bit harsh to print it as such in the paper
whether that is for the better or not could be up for debate
|
|
the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
|
|
This sounds like a terrible incident and my heart goes out to those who grieve.
I'm 100% with Matt's. I don't see any difference between trusting someone to belay you properly (on TR or lead). I've mostly only simul-rapped off big formations and it sure can be nice to have your partner right there, as in, "man look how incredibly exposed we are now." Plus, it can be safer if you happen to have a 80 pound haul bag hanging between your legs. I'd much rather get hit by a football sized rock from 6 feet then 160 feet.
We trust our partners to build solid anchors, to thread the belay properly, and we trust them in all sorts of ways. I don't see why we can't walk down a huge wall side by side talking to each other (I see the anchor 20' down, watch for this loose rock, etc). Besides savings lots of time on many rappels there are other advantages which may make it the safest option.
|
|
Matt Sarad
climber
|
|
I simul rapped one time. A friend wanted to go climbing. 5.7 was perfect fir a beginner on a two pitch slab. He had never rappeled before. I got him set up and we descended slowly together. I told him if he let go we would both die, I knew both ends were equal and that they would reach the middle belay and the ground.
That was it.
|
|
the goat
climber
north central WA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 1, 2017 - 05:10pm PT
|
Am I missing something here? If they were both on ATC's wouldn't the weighted side always have "leverage" over the unweighted side. How could the climber who reached the anchors first unclip his rap rig with tension on the rope? Possible scenarios: 1) he was at the end of the rope and it passed through his device as he got to the anchors or 2) he was on a gri gri and simply released the loaded rope.
Either way, bad business.
|
|
WBraun
climber
|
|
Never did like simul rappeling.
Did it once but clipped my daisy to the other guy so we remained parallel and equal on the descent.
Mostly never did it because my rap line was always a 7mm line.
I've seen and bagged some simul accidents to know what you really look like at the base when things went completely wrong.
I don't get it as far as being faster.
Everyone I see was using those dumb ass ATC's and grigri to rappel.
They rappel like snails. I could rap 3 to 4 times faster than these snails.
But .... whatever .....
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!