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hamersorethumb
Trad climber
Menlo Park, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 14, 2015 - 05:08pm PT
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I am teaching a young buck about climbing. Recently I taught him how to rappel. By how to rappel I mean I taught him how to slide down a rope backwards with a friction device and a backup friction knot. No big deal, he picked it up beautifully. Now I want him to really understand rappelling, not just how to do it. By that I mean I want him to be able to name and describe all the ways you can kill yourself rappelling, and how to prevent them. Here are the ones I have thought of so far. Please add.
1a. Rappel off the ends of the rope because the rope is too short.
1b. Rappel off one end of the rope because it is not hung from the middle.
2. Place bights of rope in belay device, but fail to clip with beiner. Fall to death.
3. Place bights of rope in belay device, clip with beiner, but forget to connect beiner to harness. Fall to death
4. Connect to only one side of the rope. Fall to death.
5. Fail to connect rope to anchor correctly, lean back. Fall to death.
6. Release break hand during rappel, due to rock fall, bee sting, thorn in rope….. Fall to death.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:13pm PT
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- rap anchor fails (many examples)
 rope breaks (could be due to your knocking a rock down onto it, then failing to notice - I did this once, but noticed the rope was "clumped/melted together" where the rock had impacted and batmanned back to the anchor)
sheath on rope slips at core shot and you lose one end, then enter other failure mode (non-fatal sheath slip happened to my partner last fall; my fault due to bad old rope)
rope knocks a rock onto your head while rapping or while pulling rap line (many examples, recently Chad Kellog on Fitzroy)
party above knocks rock onto you, or spontaneous rockfall
rope hangs up when you try to pull it, and you don't know how to safely climb up it or climb up the rock (or have a spare rope - Steve Schneider carried a 3rd rope and needed it when one of his hung up rapping down the Central Tower of Paine; happened to me rapping from South Howser Tower; I had a knife and cut off lead line halfway; were able to find anchor to rap with single rope, but needed to leave recovered half of lead line to reach down past bergschrund)
you can't find the next anchor or place any gear that holds and are unable to ascend back up the rope (almost happened to Bridwell on Moose's Tooth)
rap route becomes a river due to rain
rap device is not attached to right part of your harness and breaks off (usually it holds on a gear loop and then person notices it and freaks at bottom of rap)
belay loop on harness fails (Todd Skinner)
you forgot to double back belt on harness and it comes off (happened to me hauling ropes on Half Dome, but I caught myself in the leg loops. :-) )
hair, clothing, skin, etc. catches in rap device and you can't free it
clothing catches in rap device, you smugly whip out knife to cut it free but cut through ropes instead (this infamously happened to Jim Waugh on the Nose, but he had a hold of the ropes above the cut strands and was able to get rescued)
"autoblock" knot cinches down and you can't loosen it
you try simulrapping and do not coordinate exactly with partner
improper knot joining 2 ropes (figure-8 version of EDK caused a Canyonlands rap fatality once - it unrolls under body weight; rewoven figure-8 is what I use)
you have haul bag on your shoulders instead of hanging from belay loop and you turn upside down and can't correct
knot on ends of rope, but it slips through biner brake (Jim Madsen from top of El Cap)
you are rapping down a fixed rope which has knots, and you make a mistake when passing a knot (become unanchored)
biner gets crossloaded and breaks a notch in locking ring, then opens
you are using a single sling to clip self to anchor and it fails (happened to Bridwell descending Cerro Torre, using found sewn hammer sling - he went 165' and broke ribs but lived. Maybe he was downclimbing the diagonal bolt ladder and not rapping at the time.)
rap device does not give enough friction and you fail to realize this until too late (happened to person rapping single 3000' rope on El Cap - they impacted the wall; this is a variation of "letting go") This can happen with a single strand small diameter rope and rap device that is designed for 2 larger diameter ropes; use a Munter hitch instead.
ropes are initially equal length, but smaller diameter rope slips through your ATC a little faster (due to your inattention) and they are unequal when you near the ends; then enter unequal rope lengths failure mode. Partner can help with this.
similar, but rope is also very muddy/dirty and cuts through anchor sling while you are rapping (I have had it cut through 1" anchor sling when pulling ropes down)
you are rapping on a single strand and relying on the middle knot to not pull through a ring. No extra knot/locking biner backup. But the ring is oversized and the knot pulls through (Serenity Crack a few years ago)
Type groups:
1. anchor fails
2. attachment of climber to anchor fails, while waiting to rappel
3. attachment of climber to rope fails
4. rope breaks or is cut
5. insufficient friction on rope - free fall, strike rock or go off ends
6. rope pulls through anchor while climber still on rope (uneven ends, knot pulls through ring, or failure to maintain sufficient friction on both strands)
7. climber cannot locate an adequate next anchor (possible stranding)
8. rope does not reach only next anchor (possible stranding)
9. rope hangs up when pulling down from previous anchor (possible stranding or falling when climbing up to fix problem)
10. falling object hits you
11. weather / water kills you (maybe related to stranding)
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:15pm PT
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Have anchor fail while weighting ropes or during rappel, and fall to death.
Using a daisy chain or long runner to keep you anchored when you test weight the rope is a good way verify the belay device is properly attached to the rope and harness.
Also worth adding that getting a rope snagged while retrieving it can lead to unplanned 4th classing to free the rope, and falling to ones death.
when using two ropes to rap, having the knot fail.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:21pm PT
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Yikes. Grum Grum.
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rlf
Trad climber
Josh, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:31pm PT
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I can tell you how to die rapping:
1) Tie big old knots in the ends, make sure it's extra windy out
2) Whatever you do, don't pay attention to where your rope ends are
Guaranteed results.
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cintune
climber
The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:44pm PT
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1. Get complacent.
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Flip Flop
climber
salad bowl, california
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:47pm PT
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How to teach rappelling.
How to die ( disasters narrowly averted)
-rap East Ledges with haul bag on back with no jumars. Fatigue and slide off end off rope or alternately, commit to unprotected ledge while partner tries to find rap. Fall.
- decide to drop from end of ropes in the dark because it's probably not too far. It's too far.
Alternately, slide off end while dicking around with jumars and finding rap station.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:50pm PT
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Harness not doubled back (if required)
connected through belay loop that is chafed through
Catch nipple between the rope and belay device, bleed to death
Bad timing/coordination when lowering over a roof, smack face, lose consciousness (dropping break hand and dying) or mess up perfect smile, die of embarrassment
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Rudder
Trad climber
Costa Mesa, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:54pm PT
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Is that a girth hitch from the sling to the harness belay loop? What do we think of girth hitches these days? I used to use them more but read they weaken the slings significantly?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 05:55pm PT
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Frozen goldline won't feed through brake - freeze to death.
What? Maybe he wants to save money or try some retro styling?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 14, 2015 - 06:10pm PT
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Frozen goldline won't feed through brake - freeze to death.
It don't have to be goldline. Kernmantel nylon ropes can get wet, then freeze, then not feed through your rap device.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 14, 2015 - 06:13pm PT
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And one more:
Doing everything right, you smoothly rappel many ropelengths down the wrong side of the mountain.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 06:37pm PT
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Choked on my spit a little while laughing on that one Ian!
Edit: Letting mind wander while rapping, remember supertopo jokes, choke on spit while laughing, suffocate.
Edit edit: Rappelling while blissing out on one of the best songs of all time, then realizing that you just realized the art of dying:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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Flip Flop
climber
salad bowl, california
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Apr 14, 2015 - 06:47pm PT
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Skittle-ee bee- bop
We Rock
Scooby doo
Guess what America?
We Love You.
(I like hot butter on my breakfast toast.)
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Poloman
Trad climber
Anna, Il
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Apr 14, 2015 - 07:05pm PT
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When My roommate was teaching me to climb I had a very close call.
This was in about 1971. I was in college. I knew absolutely nothing.
He set me up on a single rope, gold line, rappel. The braking system was a baby angle piton across a single, non-locking carabiner. No belay and I had no gloves. It was about 70' to the base of the cliff.
He got me started and over the edge. As I made my way downward, my U gloves hands started to really take a beating from the goldline. I let go and started accelerating. Realizing that I was in trouble I grabbed the rope in front of me. I proceeded at a breakneck pace to the bottom.
Fortunately. The geound at the bottom was very steep. I came off the unknotted end of the rope and slid down the hill.
I was overjoyed to be alive but my hands took several weeks to heal.
This was one of my first rock climbing experiences.
A bad instructor can kill you!
That was the last time I "climbed" with him.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Apr 14, 2015 - 07:23pm PT
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2a. Place bights of rope in belay device, but fail to clip BOTH bights with beiner. Fall to death.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Apr 14, 2015 - 07:57pm PT
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Keep things simple, remember that 99% of rap deaths are do to PILOT ERROR....in one for or another.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 08:05pm PT
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Jim, even I don't use a piolet for a brake.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Apr 14, 2015 - 08:07pm PT
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Typo elert...will change!
I guess that was pilot error in action.
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 08:19pm PT
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A lot of the many ways to die rappelling can be safely detected before it is too late by the simple and incredibly quick method of just clipping in to the anchor, and fully weighting the rappel setup before you unclip that sling. Not all, but a lot of them. Teach your friend to do this, every time.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 08:43pm PT
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Ooooh ooooh I have another one...
Early in your climbing career, "invent" a new 'biner brake mechanism on the fly, thinking you remembered that diagram from Freedom of the Hills you skimmed over when you first started learning stuff.
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Flip Flop
climber
salad bowl, california
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Apr 14, 2015 - 08:59pm PT
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Robert,
The prussic is bright and pretty and easy to see in pictures. In reality, I usually use another shoulder length sling with a klemheist or prussic. I'm not sure the optimal autoblock for an icy rope.
When the autoblock engages below the rap device then it is easy to unload the prussic/klemheist/etc.
(Using term autoblock loosely meaning one of a selection of options, not the specific autobloc.)
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Apr 14, 2015 - 09:23pm PT
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I just keep hold of the rope with my brake hand.
No extra equipment necessary.
Two ways to die rappelling:
1- You hit the ground at velocity
2- A piece of the ground from above comes loose and hits you at velocity
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 10:21pm PT
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3. You get stranded in the middle of nowwhere and die from hypothermia, heat stroke, dehydration or starvation.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, California
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Apr 14, 2015 - 10:27pm PT
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#40. You remember that forty bodies are rotting in your basement and you fall forty inches to you death.
#69. You think about sex, you forget to clip into the rope, and you fall to your death.
#86. Your rope is chewed through by a wolverine and you fall to your death.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 10:30pm PT
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When you're not moving, you're not really rappelling. When you are lying dead on the ground, after going off the ends of the rope, you are not really rappelling, either? :-)
Really, anything that happens between the time you start the rappel route and the time when you finish, it's a risk associated with rappelling.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, California
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Apr 14, 2015 - 10:33pm PT
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You rappel into a black hole and become spaghettified to the point that other people are trying to jumar out on you to escape.
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WBraun
climber
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Apr 14, 2015 - 10:39pm PT
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One you never heard nor expect.
Guy rappels to a hanging sling belay anchor with no daisy or sling to anchor himself to the anchor.
He grabs the anchor pieces with his bare hand and pulls the end of the rope thru his rappel device.
He hangs there by his hands and arms until he can't hold on anymore.
He falls to death past his partner.
True story .....
Yeowza!!!
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, California
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Apr 14, 2015 - 10:40pm PT
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#96. You lean back to rappel on El Cap and pull El Cap over on top of yourself only to be excavated by archeologist in the year 396,207 to be exhibited in a museum as the petrified man.
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Bushman
Social climber
Elk Grove, California
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Apr 14, 2015 - 10:53pm PT
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Guy stands on a ledge a few pitches up on a wall after fixing a rope. His partner rappels fixed line to the next anchors. First guy fiddles with gear for fifteen minutes and then prepares to rappel also. He goes to clip into the rope with rappel biners and then realizes he wasn't clipped into the belay the whole time. Could have just leaned back and whoosh for 350 feet to his death...wait, that was me. True story. I told my partner I wasn't being safe and for him to find another for that route. I took a break from climbing for about a week after that.
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jonnyrig
climber
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Apr 14, 2015 - 11:04pm PT
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Store rope near car battery. Lead route without falling, then discover acid damage upon rappel.
Climb near (choose one: angry redneck landowner, illegal cartel pot farm, or excessively angered slower/faster party with whom you've just had a verbal altercation) who proceeds to sever your rope with nail clippers or a large bowie knife as you rap past.
Sever rope with carbide lamp flame in a pit while on rappel.
Traverse needlessly while on rappel with rope sawing across a sharp edge.
Rap off overhang without downleading back to wall, forget ascenders and fail to improvise a jug system.
Use substandard cord from big box store and/or manufacture your own substandard gear. That cord they sell at home depot that claims 660 lbs? Yeah... NOT. Tied around a beam at home with a bowline, made a figure 8 in the other end, and stepped up with one foot and bounced. Crap failed in the middle. The sheath is some kind of polyester braid, and the core is twisted tissue paper. Why do I know this?
Attempt Bear Gryls 550 paracord trick-knot rappel. If the fall doesn't kill you, the perpetual shame certainly will.
Hold my beer and watch this...
Attempt to demonstrate an aussie rappel.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Screw up a tagging expedition.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/01/man-found-dead-hanging-off-16th-floor-sacramento-calif-high-rise/
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 11:17pm PT
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Guy rappels to a hanging sling belay anchor with no daisy or sling to anchor himself to the anchor.
He grabs the anchor pieces with his bare hand and pulls the end of the rope thru his rappel device.
He hangs there by his hands and arms until he can't hold on anymore. Yikes.
You might think he might be able to get the biner for his rap device clipped into an anchor piece. But I guess that didn't work for some reason....
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Apr 15, 2015 - 04:29am PT
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I saved a guys life who was in serious trouble, hanging free, off an overhang, with only one foot of rope left. He was at least 70feet from the deck, and had a heavy pack on, hanging upside down, frozen with fear. No knots in the end of the rope.
I had just arrived at a local cliff, and saw this guy up there in serious trouble. He wasn't yelling for help, but frozen in fear. His buddies down below were oblivious to his position. I told his 2 friends we got to get up there pronto, and grabbed 2 ropes.
As we hauled ass up the trail, I explained to these apparent noobs, how we would rescue this guy. I had yelled up to the guy to hold on, hoping we would get there in time. He only replied "hurry".
Once we got to the top, I set up 2 anchors for lowering me and the guy off. One guy lowered me off over the overhang, and after I clipped the guy in, I warned the guy belaying to get ready, since he was about to hold this guy, (who was heavy), plus his pack.
I was swinging free, over the overhang, and when the guy let go of the rope, he went down like a bullet. I reached over to grab his rope, in an attempt to slow him down, and got one hell of a bad rope burn. I thought
the guy up top wasn't going to hold him, but within seconds the situation resolved itself, and the guy was lowered safely to the ground.
I was glad that I had arrived at the cliff when I did, and spotted this guy
in trouble.
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Apr 15, 2015 - 04:54am PT
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^^^yikes, hope the guy bought you beer for life steveA....you earned it.
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Poloman
Trad climber
Anna, Il
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Apr 15, 2015 - 06:42am PT
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That's awful WBraun!
Thinking about that poor guy knowing what was coming...
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Apr 15, 2015 - 06:48am PT
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Was that on overhang bypass?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 15, 2015 - 07:21am PT
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I saved three Canuckians once and felt honoured that they bought me breakfast. Then an
argument ensued about buying me a couple of new ropes that got left. The Scot, wouldn't
you know, was against it. Then I mentioned that I was from Chicago.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Apr 15, 2015 - 07:24am PT
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Rappelling usually occurs after climbing is done and often a feeling of completion has set in. Remember the old but true adage, getting to the top is optional, getting back down is obligatory. I never shake hands with my partner until I am on the ground.
Rappelling in the alpine arena often begins because weather has set in and the climb is being abandoned. I've done more rapping in Patagonia in bad weather than in good.
The commonality between the two is that your awareness should be ramped up to deal with complacency, fatigue and weather conditions.....all conditions that can shorten a climbing career.
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Flip Flop
climber
salad bowl, california
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Apr 15, 2015 - 07:56am PT
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Scrubbles has interesting homoerotic wild man fantasies. That's hot!
( death by homophobia ? Only you scrubby, only you;)
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Apr 15, 2015 - 08:03am PT
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Mix that in with the nipple caught in the rap device and I think yer on to something...
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hamersorethumb
Trad climber
Menlo Park, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 15, 2015 - 09:06am PT
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Wow, thanks for all the great responses. I love this kind of dialog on Super Topo, I really learn a lot. For those interested the photo shows the set up I've been using the past few years and that I am teaching to the new climber.
Donini I really like your comments about the metal aspect of errors. I have been emphasizing that point and we have had some opportunities to experience them, like getting a late start and feeling like you have to hurry up. I've been talking a lot about how most accidents come from compounded factors building up to a catastrophic failure. Late start - getting dark - fatigue - forget to check something.... thanks again everyone.
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tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
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Apr 15, 2015 - 09:15am PT
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One I didn't see mentioned: you didn't take care in how your rope is routed and it get's cut on a sharp edge, and you fall to your death.
A near miss I had with a group is worth repeating. I took three noobs with me for a trip to the valley with plans of climbing the nutcracker. We got there early enough the night before that I figured we should climb up a pitch or two of el cap before camping in the woods for the night.
My big mistake was assuming that one of the guys I'd climbed with for awhile was more experienced than he was and that I could trust him to get the other members of the party set up to rappel and I'd go down first so I could do a firemans belay if anyone got out of control.
One of the noobs was rapping down and the rope wasn't running smoothly and she seemed to be at a wierd angle to the rock. When she got down to the deck I discovered the reason why. Instead of the belay device being clipped to the belay loop, it was clipped to the gear loop on the side of the harness. 20+ years later I still feel sick thinking about it.
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jonnyrig
climber
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Here's a crap video from this morning involving a cottonwood, some webbing, ascenders, friction hitches, and paracord.
The webbing worked fine, exhibiting zero heat or abrasion damage during the short (like 10 feet) rappel using a munter hitch.
The paracord, using just a single strand and a monster munter, immediately made weird noises and abraded the sheath in the first foot. It still held, though I wouldn't want to rap a single strand where my life depends on it.
My editing program crashed, as in fubar, so it's the full video shot from a chest mounted gopro. Let me save you some boredom. Skip ahead:
Rappel on webbing using munter at 4:20
Tried to ascend single strand of webbing using 6mm cord, prusik above and klemheist below. Fail. Starts at 7:50
Rappel single strand of paracord using a monster munter at 13:40.
Should you elect to bore yourself with my poor ascension technique, and my wife getting disgusted with me for not answering the phone and making both of us late for work, that's your own wasted time. Don't say I didn't warn you!
[Click to View YouTube Video]
I suspect trusting your life to a single strand of paracord (via survival bracelet or some-such crap) would be a good way to die rappelling.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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One way I didn't see mentioned was simply to let go. When I teach people to rap, I always belay them. In 1969, I found out the wisdom of this when one of the noobs rapped off an overhang, panicked, and let go with both hands, turning to me and asking "Now what do I do?." If he wasn't belayed, he would have died.
Also, when I started climbing in the Valley, every Valley fatality was either a rappelling or jumaring accident, so the consequences of misjudgment are always on my mind. As Donini observed, we usually rap after we feel like we've "done" the climb, and it's rather easy to let our guard down. The price for doing so can be rather, shall we say, steep.
John
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Gary
Social climber
From A Buick 6
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Rap into a waterfall and die from hypothermia.
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Alexey
climber
San Jose, CA
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After reading Clint's post I may never rappel again.
the all tread read as a horror with some imagination
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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You can always tell the neophyte climber - they still like rapping
I was almost killed in a rapping accident, pulling the ropes dislodged rockfall that hit me in the head.
You want some scary raps, try caving. They're totally into the single rope technique. Fix one rope and rap into the blackness, 400 to 500 foot free-hanging drops on a single rope. No one stays on the surface, everyone drops in.
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Da-Veed
Big Wall climber
Bigfork
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You post on ST about wanting to rap The Nose and how inexperienced you are. People tell you to go ahead and do it. You almost die, get rescued and get to tell your story on ST.
That how to almost die rapping.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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4) some drunken yokel starts taking shots at you with his varmint rifle & blows yer head clean off
I had that happen at The Needles during hunting season but the guy missed by a little. It's interesting hearing the round buzz past followed by the report of the rifle. The shot came from across Needlerock Creek. Maybe it was the pink lycra...
I've nearly been killed twice rappelling, both times due to lack of attention.
Rapping down Magical Mystery Tour (Tahquitz.) No end knots to avoid snags, and I knew where the anchors were. Double 8.5mm ropes. As I descended I saw a friend on a nearby route. He had just returned from Nepal. We were exchanging greetings when I noticed I had passed the anchor. Looking down I was horrified to see about a foot of rope left before gravity would have it's way with me. Back on the ground I went behind a tree and barfed my guts out.
Another time I led Jane's Addiction (Josh) on double 8.5's (don't ask why.) My buds wanted to TR so I set up both ropes through the anchor - two thin ropes are better than one for TR's. So I clipped the red through one side of my device and the blue through the other (why I was rapping a route with a two bit walk off is beyond me.) If I loaded this set up both cords would have pulled (you need both sides of one rope, two reds or two blues in this case.) I was over the edge hanging from the lip with one hand, the other ready to brake. For some reason I just wasn't comfortable enough to commit when I saw the problem. Pulled the exit move and sat on top. No barf this time, just anger. Perhaps a survivable fall but hideous either way.
Just show this thread to your protege and he'll get it. Many climbing accidents happen after a series of mistakes or misjudgments. Rappelling/lowering accidents happen after a single mistake.
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The Lisa
Trad climber
Da Bronx, NY
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Wow after reading all these scenarios I am going to avoid rappelling and abseil instead.
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Majid_S
Mountain climber
Karkoekstan
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last time I wrote something like this, I had it up to 60+ things that kill you while rappelling
no, that is not the middle mark tape on the rope. its some stupid mfg marking for the last 15 feet of rope
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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You are rapping in an alpine environment leaving gear. Instead of following the "fall line" you decide that if you stay up on a ramp, you can get to easier terrain sooner. Halfway down, you realize you have badly misjudged the rock angles and you are doing 5th class friction moves to keep from sliding off the ramp and dropping/swinging 20 feet into the corner.
While cursing your bad decision, you try to decide if it is better to try and struggle back up the rope and risk an uncontrolled slip off the ramp, or take a controlled fall into the ramp and see if you have anything worse than a couple of broken ankles (miles from the road), or continue on down as the ramp/corner fall distance gets bigger and the friction gets harder.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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....its some stupid mfg marking for the last 15 feet of rope
I cannot believe the utter stupidity of this idea. The first time I saw 5M marks near the end of a rope I was stunned. The real danger is if you are using someone else's rope and are unaware of this marking scheme. Climbers have died because of this.
If you're belaying and you can't fairly well judge when the leader has 30, or 15 feet of rope left, or need to be reminded to watch the rope best not to be climbing.
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labrat
Trad climber
Erik O. Auburn, CA
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Great topic. Thanks!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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last time I wrote something like this, I had it up to 60+ things that kill you while rappelling
IMHO they are all variations on a theme of inattention.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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IMHO they are all variations on a theme of inattention.
Yep. Another one for me.
Top of P1 of Devil's Delight (Tahquitz,) just doing the first classic pitch then gonna rap. I got to the belay, there was a gal belaying her leader on P2. I shared the bolted anchor and brought up The Sarge. By the time she arrived belayer gal was gone. I leaned out to size up the rappel and I began to fall outward off the ledge. I swung a leg out into the air which gave me the moment I needed to turn and grab a rope clipped to the bolts. This was a very near thing.
I know I was clipped in while I belayed The Sarge, since I leaned out to watch. I can only assume belay gal unclipped me when she left the ledge. One cannot be too careful in these kinds of situations. Yeah, she unclipped me, but it's still my job to know I am anchored.
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crøtch
climber
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#132) Pull rope, lose control of rope and drop it. Left stranded on wall.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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#132) Pull rope, lose control of rope and drop it. Left stranded on wall.
I have it on authority of a member of the first ascent party that "Steve's Folly" on the Hogback at Lover's Leap was originally named "Steve Dropped the Stupid Rope."
John
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ionlyski
Trad climber
Kalispell, Montana
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Here's what I don't get about this. How are you supposed to feed both strands of rope down thru the ATC during the early section of your abseil? Simply leaning back doesn't result in descending at least for me at my weight. I have to lift the rope and more or less push it down through the device to get started, usually a two handed method where the lower, brake hand brings the angle of the rope back down to control the descent, once that begins smoothly.
Will I die?
Arne
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clinker
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
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Do they have to call it a "death knot"?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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I've climbed for a long time and people here know that I am experienced in all facets of climbing.
Having said that.....the closest I have come to dying was a couple of years ago in Sedona. I inexplicably rapped off of a single piece of sun bleached webbing. It parted like butter....if I hadn't, at the last minute, clipped into a knotted piece of webbing in a friable crack, I wouldn't be telling this story.
Never let your guard down! Experience only helps if you use it.
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WBraun
climber
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Americans should not rappel, stay home and watch Fox news for the latest updates on how to not die .....
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Norwegian
Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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up and down are relative.
life and death,
completely misunderstood.
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Matt's
climber
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It appears that Clint has died >10 times while rappelling...
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Rap a pitch in middle of multi-rap descent.
Try to pull ropes in crazy wind, get stuck.
Set up 3:1 pulley, get stuck more.
Prussick up one rope on a face you can't climb with push-you-over wind,
unsure of what is holding the rope up there.
Reach top and see a few feet of rope still through the rap rings, and just a couple of twists around the strand you ascended. No knots.
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Gunkie
climber
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This may have been asked, but who among us has *never* had a close call when rappelling?
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25 years ago I almost stepped off a ledge 60 feet off the ground when guiding a student who was having problems disengaging the rappel device on the ground after rappelling. I *thought* I was tied in and was not.
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20 years ago while TR soloing. Got to the top (after a few laps) and put myself on rappel but the rappel device was only clipped into my gear loop on the harness.
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I could have been a lot younger, forever.
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kev
climber
A pile of dirt.
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This brings me back to jugging some of Ablegable's fine no quite coreshot ropes only to have to rap them later...
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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It appears that Clint has died >10 times while rappelling... Matt,
I keep trying, but it seems I am too busy almost dying from other climbing accidents, so the raps are not getting a good enough shot at me.
"Competing risks". :-)
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Alpinista55
Mountain climber
Portland, OR
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You go climbing Mescalito with Survival, get stuck in a big storm at the Molar, retreat by down climbing through falling ice until all seven ropes tied together reach the ground, rappel until you are 100 feet out from the wall and the rope gets really skinny as you bob up and down at a knot pass, and die of fright. (true story, all but the death. Did sh#t pants, though)
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| Messages 1 - 71 of total 71 in this topic |
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