Tito Traversa, 12, Fighting For His Life

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Manjusri

climber
Jul 5, 2013 - 03:51pm PT
You're not helping with the namecalling couchmaster. Some people deal with grief by imagining little tito crushing in heaven, others by trying to use the moment to strategize against future tragedies. I think that this latter approach is constructive but I agree that this is best done in another thread.
CAMNOTCLIMB

Trad climber
novato ca
Jul 5, 2013 - 03:52pm PT
A sad event. Best to the parents and friends. Once again, please check your gear. Do it every time time you you tie in.

Brian
Matt's

climber
Jul 5, 2013 - 03:55pm PT
from my understanding of the french website, it looks like a young girl (probably as old as Tito, but who knows) put together the draws by clipping the carabiner-->plastic holder-->dogbone. In other words, the carabiner was connected to the dogbone by a non-structural component.

given the age of everyone involved, it's a bit hard to judge these children too harshly.

what a tragic accident...
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
Jul 5, 2013 - 04:36pm PT
I think that if I lost a child that I would want others not to suffer the same horrible experience, yet I still do not have any idea of what was done wrong here. Could people stop dancing around "dog bones" and come out with a clearly worded explanation.


Condolences to family and friends.
Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Jul 5, 2013 - 04:43pm PT
Heartbreaking.
So sorry for family and friends
Don Paul

Big Wall climber
Colombia, South America
Jul 5, 2013 - 04:47pm PT
Climbing is dangerous and has a casualty rate. If you're a member of a climbing community, you'll have friends die. At one point I stopped climbing because I thought it was only a matter of time before something happened to me. You're always in a zone of calculated risks, even with sport climbing. Whether 12 year old is old enough to be in this arena, I don't know.
msiddens

Trad climber
Jul 5, 2013 - 05:01pm PT
Senseless tragic waste. Thoughts and prayers to the family....so very sorry.
Squirrell

Boulder climber
Pebble wrestler ~ N. Cali under the bridge
Jul 5, 2013 - 05:11pm PT
Rest in peace

http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/12-year-old-tito-traversa-dies-in-climbing-fall

http://www.climbing.com/news/superstar-preteen-climber-dies-after-fall/
GDavis

Social climber
SOL CAL
Jul 5, 2013 - 05:36pm PT
Hey Ron,

This is, perhaps, what caused the accident. No way to say for sure, but regardless - a good thing to be aware of.

http://vimeo.com/4138205

Regards to his family and friends and his community. Absolutely heart wrenching. Just terrible.
murcy

Gym climber
sanfrancisco
Jul 5, 2013 - 05:55pm PT
That poor little girl.
Leggs

Sport climber
Tucson, AZ
Jul 5, 2013 - 05:59pm PT
Murcy ... I was thinking the same thing too ...

This really is just so heartbreaking... all the way around.


Again, peace and love to the family and group with Tito that fateful day.


~leggs
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 5, 2013 - 06:09pm PT
This is, perhaps, what caused the accident...
No, I don't think so. First of all you would have to have an open draw. (Petzl explicitly warns against this by the way.) And then the funky misclipping of the bottom biner would have to have been done on eight of the twelve draws; this just doesn't seem possible.

The rubber thingy in question either is or looks like this:

The quickdraw sling is inserted down from the top. The carabiner is clipped through the bottom. [The original explanation that followed didn't work; the sling would just have fallen out. But...]

Edits: when the carabiner is clipped through the bottom, it is supposed to go through the sling. But if it doesn't go through the sling, then the sling is just pinched by the rubber against the carabiner. Depending on the thingy involved and the thickness of the webbing and biner stock, the fit could be tight enough to hold the sling in place even though it isn't clipped into the carabiner.

Here is a video demonstrating how this might have happened, using a different rubber holder:
[Click to View YouTube Video]

The following shot, from rc.com, http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2630465#2630465, illustrates another way in which a Petzl String brand of rubber keeper could be catastrophically misused:
The thin rubber ring holding everything together in the picture is only meant to keep the main rubber appliance from falling off if the carabiner is removed. The draws might have been set up this way originally, or they could have been incorrectly set up as in the first edit, in which case they would with look ok or would ``default'' to this configuration if the sling slipped out of the rubber holder.

An article in Grimper Magazine, http://www.grimper.com/news-mauvais-montage-degaines-utilisees-tito-traversa , describes what they say actually happened:





What a terrible sad tragedy. My heart breaks for his parents.
briham89

Big Wall climber
san jose, ca
Jul 5, 2013 - 06:20pm PT
Wow so so terrible :,(
steve shea

climber
Jul 5, 2013 - 07:10pm PT
Good grief! What a tragedy. Parents give your kids an extra hug tonight. I can't imagine how the parents are coping. Devastating. RIP little one.
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
Jul 5, 2013 - 07:46pm PT
Thanks

I guess the take away is that when kids climb they need meticulous supervision right down to careful gear inspection.
johntp

Trad climber
socal
Jul 5, 2013 - 08:04pm PT
Terrible tragedy and condolences to his family. I agree with Ron on the supervision thing.
snowhazed

Trad climber
Oaksterdam, CA
Jul 5, 2013 - 09:37pm PT
F$#k
MisterE

Social climber
Jul 5, 2013 - 11:32pm PT
This just breaks my heart - so much spirit lost so young.
Dapper Dan

Trad climber
Menlo Park
Jul 6, 2013 - 12:07am PT
Any thoughts why they wouldn't have just bought the quick draws already assembled? And why there was no adult input / inspection in the process ... ?
monolith

climber
SF bay area
Jul 6, 2013 - 12:10am PT
Someone could have bought the dogbones with the rubber retainer already attached(either sewn or threaded), in order to use biners they already own.

The retrofit retainer described by RGold is not attached to the dogbone and thus couldn't even hold the weight of the rope if done wrong, let alone 8 of them and no one noticing.
Messages 21 - 40 of total 180 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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