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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Mar 18, 2018 - 01:07pm PT
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Sounds like a hiker
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 18, 2018 - 03:15pm PT
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Authorities say the two were experienced hikers and had appropriate gear.
Do they ever say anything else? If they were experienced ‘hikers’ then they were therefore
experienced ‘climbers’? Fake news.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Mar 18, 2018 - 07:58pm PT
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Salamander Canyon...canyoneering accident methinks.
Condolences to friends (especially my friends who know/knew her) and family.
Take care out there.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Mar 18, 2018 - 09:39pm PT
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hey there say, all... oh my, very sad stuff, yet again... :(
my condolences and prayers to her family and loved ones...
and the partner of course, that must get through this, now... :(
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Mar 19, 2018 - 07:17am PT
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Wow- what an incredibly insensitive batch of replies - even if facetious. A young woman died. It's a terrible accident. Her friends and family are mourning.
You people know ZERO about her experience level or the circumstances of this accident . We all push ourselves and take risks- if rappelling waterfalls was her way of challenging herself, who are we to judge? "Experienced" climbers f*#k up rappels all the time. It's one of the top killers of "experienced" climbers. A more detailed accident report at some point would be educational to prevent a repeat but speculation is worthless.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Trad climber
Will know soon
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Mar 19, 2018 - 07:31am PT
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So right on, justthemaid!
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Mar 19, 2018 - 07:53am PT
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Agree^^ that canyon is a canoneering route rather than a rock climb.
The people who write the articles and blogs don't know the difference. Everyone outdoors is a "hiker" regardless of what they were actually doing.
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Roots
Mountain climber
Redmond, Oregon
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Mar 19, 2018 - 08:04am PT
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Respect.
RIP
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Mar 19, 2018 - 10:16am PT
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Well said, justthemaid.
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bobinc
Trad climber
Portland, Or
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Mar 19, 2018 - 11:32am PT
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What a terrible situation. I feel really bad for her family. The FB page indicates her 60 YO uncle also recently passed away.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Mar 19, 2018 - 04:53pm PT
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She is a climber, lots of climbing shots on her facebook page.
So sad to see young lives ended so suddenly.
RIP Joy
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Inner City
Trad climber
Portland, OR
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Mar 19, 2018 - 07:16pm PT
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There is a more detailed accident report over on canyoncollective org (.com?)
It is listed undr the ‘accidents and near misses’ section and it says she and her partner were using a ‘biner block style rappel..rigging failed and rope pulled through anchor it seems..
Canyon is called Hot Springs or something close and is also known as Salamander..
My condolences to the family and friends of the deceased..
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Mar 19, 2018 - 07:27pm PT
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http://canyoncollective.com/threads/accident-in-hot-springs-canyon-ca.25243/
“Using two, 200-foot ropes, we used Joy’s Imlay Canyon Fire rope, pulled about ten feet of a tail and used a figure 8 block.”
Casey did not put a twist in the figure 8 block, nor did they secure the small hole of the 8 with a carabiner.
“I slid the quick link away from the edge, pulled away from the webbing with all my weight against the figure 8 block and it was secure. Looking back at Joy, we both agreed and I threw the bag over. When Joy transitioned on Rappel, I watched and talked with her for the first 15-20 feet of her decent until I could not see her. I then walked away to grab my 200 ft rope to attach to the tail as a pull.”
Casey explained his rope was near his pack which was 20 feet away from anchor. Note that the anchor is a large boulder knuckle of granite set on the edge of a 160 – foot waterfall. It is wrapped with two strands of 1 inch tubular webbing (not bolts).
“She was on Rappel for at least a minute or 2. At which point, I heard a clink and looked over and saw the rest of her rope go over the edge and heard her hit. My guess was that while shifting on the face of the falls, the 8 may have been caught on part of the rock, somehow releasing the 8. I have used this block technique and never seen it fail. I yelled for her, no response. I looked over the edge and could not see her. I checked to see if I had service, although it was slight I was able to call 911 knowing I would not have any service at the bottom of the falls. I spoke with dispatch and was able to quickly describe my position in relative to the mountain range and my coordinates, then lost signal.”
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Mar 19, 2018 - 08:08pm PT
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It looks like the use of a "Figure 8 block" added complexity to the rigging and it failed.
The top anchor was several slings around a big, fairly solid block which terminated in a quicklink.
They rigged a single strand through the quicklink, with 10 feet of tail on one side.
Some rappellers use a figure 8 loop knot on the tail side, which prevents it from pulling through the quicklink.
Instead, Welling and Peterson used a "Figure 8 block", where the tail goes through a separate Figure 8 rappel device.
http://ropewiki.com/Figure_8_block
(Person rappels on the red strand in the above photo).
This is supposed to prevent the rope tail (blue) from pulling through the quicklink,
and possibly allow the top partner to convert the system to a lowering system if something goes wrong.
(In this case it would allow a lowering of less than 10 feet, which does not sound useful).
However, the "Figure 8 block" looks very insecure to me - the quicklink could enter the large opening of the Figure 8 and release everything.
You would still need a big knot on the tail end to back it up.
The accident report states they did not use the locking biner in the above photo.
(Maybe understandable, since the biner would get pulled down the cliff afterward, and maybe impacts the ground, depending on the length of the rappel relative to the rope lengths).
The accident report also states "Casey did not put a twist in the figure 8 block".
I believe this is the light blue and light green part of the rope in the above photo.
This would make it much easier for the quicklink to release friction from the Figure 8 device, by entering the large opening of the 8.
Personally, when I'm doing a double rope rappel, if one partner wants to go down first on a single strand (such as on the last rappel to the ground),
each strand is normally on an overhand loop knot on a separate biner on the anchor (prior to the joining knot being tied).
A backup knot or biner would likely be added, if the joining knot is not in place when they start their rappel.
No simple friction rig like the "Figure 8 block" above, instead a real knot.
The ropewiki.com site in general shows only the risky rigs like the "Figure 8 block" - it doesn't even have a photo of the much safer "knot block".
An inexperienced person trying to choose a rigging method from one of the illustrated examples on this site would be in a bad situation.
http://rope-work-101.wikidot.com/ghosting-techniques
One of the linked sites shows several "ghosting" (retrievable) rigs.
It warns that the party should consist of at least 5 experienced riggers to evaluate the basically sketchy rigs.
That's fine for the goal of descending a canyon without leaving any anchor materials.
But it's not a good place for a relative beginner.
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F
climber
away from the ground
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Mar 19, 2018 - 08:14pm PT
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I want a tye dye rope like that one!
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Mar 19, 2018 - 10:31pm PT
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hey there say, sewellymon... thank you kindly for sharing more about the
gal, so her life is not fully lost...
she was special to folks, and we get to learn a bit, as to why...
thank you...
prayers again, to her family and loved ones... :(
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Mar 19, 2018 - 10:41pm PT
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Thanks Clint, very informative post.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Mar 20, 2018 - 02:15am PT
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Jon,
Thanks.
It just built a little on the original sources and the careful accident report by DanielleM, linked in your post.
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