Has there ever been a Gri-Gri failure?

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davidji

Social climber

Dec 4, 2006 - 12:42am PT

" Just don't thread them backwards. That will cause problems."

Yup. Fortunately not every time though. Several years ago I was climbing at a gym that leaves their Grigris on the topropes. I climbed. Got lowered. Then traded places with my partner. While I was preparing to belay, I gave the rope a tug to make sure the Grigri was working. Nope. Threaded backwards.

ricardo

Gym climber

San Francisco, CA

Dec 4, 2006 - 06:00am PT

tom ..

.. i have not heard of a grigri failure --

the only things i've heard about is that solo roped climbers falling and not being caught because of

a - pilor error
b - low speed falls (grigri does not engage)
c - grigri cought in open position..

all of which i think are within the parameters of what "could go wrong" ..

.. in my solo aid climbing setup, this isn't much of an issue since the grigri is not the only system that i rig to stop a fall.

Always back up your solo belay device -- then if you make a mistake -- or someone goes terribly wrong (ie: your locking carabiner cross-loads and breaks) -- you wont die.

wootles

climber

Gamma Quadrant

Dec 4, 2006 - 09:49am PT

Not really fair to the GriGri because the rope was too large. Never the less, a worn GriGri can damage a rope quite easily.

rlf

Trad climber

Josh, CA

Dec 4, 2006 - 10:11am PT

Interesting accident report. I remember reading this when it frist came out. Sounds like a rope on sharp edge type of failure. There were however, a number of mistakes made during the initial on-scene investigation. The whole system should have been left in place as is, photographed etc. Once the system has been tampered with (i.e. taken apart) it gets considerably more dificult to analyze.

One other thing I noticed was that it sounded like the anchor and belay setup were fairly close to the ground. Rigging the anchor high so the belay could be operated while standing might have helped. It would have cut down on the sharp angle of the rope going over the edge.

All in all, just speculation on my part. Really sad.

Merdynn

Trad climber

Tyler, TX

Jul 21, 2014 - 10:50am PT

I had a grigri fail on me 2 days ago at a rock gym. After topping out and descending halfway, I freefell the remaining distance and landed on my lower back. (I'm fine now, just really sore.) I asked my partner what happened the next day and found out that the lever was stuck in an "Open" position. She had rope burns on both hands because she couldn't get the grigri to arrest so she let go and tried to grab the rope going up to me.

Not sure this is typical for someone who uses their OWN grigri and keeps it maintained....my spine is killing me.

Merdynn

Trad climber

Tyler, TX

Jul 21, 2014 - 11:17am PT

I should also say "Fail" means it didn't lock up because there was no sudden load on the device...not that it was defective

couchmaster

climber

Jul 21, 2014 - 11:47am PT

Merdwynn said:

"I had a grigri fail on me 2 days ago at a rock gym. After topping out and descending halfway, I freefell the remaining distance and landed on my lower back. (I'm fine now, just really sore.) I asked my partner what happened the next day and found out that the lever was stuck in an "Open" position. She had rope burns on both hands because she couldn't get the grigri to arrest so she let go and tried to grab the rope going up to me.

Not sure this is typical for someone who uses their OWN grigri and keeps it maintained....my spine is killing me."

Sounds like operator error and not device failure. Wish you well, but I have a suspicion that if you check with witnesses, there may be a different explanation. ie, both of her hands could have been on the brake using it as a tube/ATC style device had the grigri (and not the belayer) failed.

How long had your belayer been climbing?

Good luck with your health!

Merdwynn then added:

"I should also say "Fail" means it didn't lock up because there was no sudden load on the device...not that it was defective"

Yup, partner fail. For that matter, curious how long you've been climbing?

TrundleBum

Trad climber

Las Vegas

Jul 21, 2014 - 01:29pm PT

We do not wear two harnesses, right? jeeze.

I do !

It's called a chalk bag.
It is suspended around my waist with a piece of 1" tubular tied with a water knot with descent tails. And yes I put the climbing rope and/or locker for my rap device around it as well.
Call me a wuss' ~ I love a respectable amount of redundancy if it does not clutter or weigh a ton.
Plus it gives me a last ditch bail sling.

One of the things ^ that made me realize I should get over my aversion to the term 'Trad'. That yes I am a 'Trad climber'. I back things up, double check knots, watch the weather and love gear that serves many purposes.
I am glad I know how to do a biner brake rap. and don't understand why people use 'little dipper' chalk bags in Yosemite or Indian Creek...
And especially don't understand having a chalk bag on a shoe lace / 1/4" flat webbing with a 1/4" plastic fastex buckle ?
But I am just an aging, crusty, has been... :)

Moof

Big Wall climber

Orygun

Jul 21, 2014 - 02:12pm PT

There is adequate friction that a locked open Gri-Gri should still not result in free fall. A solid grip on the brake side should still keep your arse off the deck. Sounds like a panic response to a malfunction (or operator error) resulted in droppage. I really wish that no gyms required the use of in-situ Gri-Gri's. Only well trained people should belay at all, and only experts should be put in command of a Gri-Gri.

So did the Gri-Gri get sent in for analysis? Most gyms would take such an event rather seriously. I'm looking forward to hearing what the report comes back as.