Accident in the Owen's Gorge yesterday

I had a satellite messenger that is checked out to me from Sierra Mountain Guides and I would never think about being down in the gorge on a guiding day without a sat phone or the Delorme In Reach. It would be considered negligent for me as a professional yet I typically don't throw it in my pack on personal "day cragging" missions. There is not the best view of the sky but you could probably get a message out .... I will start carrying a 2 way sattelite communication Device on my days off!!!

what went wrong during belay ?

It's been a few years, but I seem to recall that rig being a bit on the sketchy side for a 5.8 sport climb. A bit sandbagged, odd bolting, weird line, slick in places...

The climber/her belayer may not have done anything wrong and she simply may have fallen getting to the third bolt. I could see it happening on that route.

My understanding after talking to a couple of good climbers who were there is that the belayer was back from the wall plus had a loop of slack in the system.

The "easier" routes on the left of the China Wall are slick and kind of sporty bolting at their starts - as people have mentioned. Its not hard to envision potential for problems on those routes.

And, no, you can't always find an anchor for the belayer--actually the norm for the Gorge

Soft catch, brah - leave a generous loop of slack - it seems to be what is being taught in several gyms these days. I don't like it, and it's wrong.

A loop of slack is not at all what a soft catch is about. It's about managing slack and moving your body by hopping, stepping back, walking into, or whatever needs to be done depending on fall distance and weight differences between climber and belayer - to soften the impact while minimizing the fall distance, doesn't matter how far off the deck or overhung it is.

Timing the jump is critical. I suspect it goes wrong a lot in the real world.

Also, the couple in the video make it very clear that the info re. slack, soft catches, etc. are for sport climbing--not trad.

According to the research in the videos, adding slack, for instance, does increase forces because the falling climber has more time to accelerate, consequently adding force to the gear--not an issue with bolts but could be for trad pro. Of course, jumping from a belay where you're anchored isn't going to happen, right?

Everytime a leader I am belaying has fallen I have immediately braked the fall...okay so far and i suspect I’ll continue in the exact same mode

Dan McD. retrofitted the route on Monday

DMT, I understand. But theres lots of routes that have deck potential, like every time before you get to the first bolt. Which on some routes in the gorge, can be quite high. Or how about 'Love Stinks' theres potential for a 40' er or more on that route, I wouldn't recommend that to a guy/gal who led a 5.11 at the gym. Nor would I recommend adding a bolt so that he can safely lead it. On the route in question its been fixed, but I don't think the 'new' answer is to sanitize all the dangerous routes, don't climb them until you can acknowledge the risk and decide if its one you'll confront or not.

The dilemma here is the judgment of the climber...

Pretty sure that there is broad consensus on this route that the bolt placement was inherently poor for the area (which is why it has gotten retroed already). I led it when I was pretty solid 5.11 and knew what I was getting into.

Yea, and others warned me about it. Deck if you blow the 3rd clip, regardless of belay quality, if the belayer is a light person and the leader "king" size lol.

Smith Rock comes to mind...but stick clips and spicy 2nd and 3rd clips on 5.12 are not the same as 5.8 sport routes.

the same guys manufacturing boldness at the lower grades were often installing very closely spaced bolts on the higher ones.

In other words, those 5.8 and 5.9 routes were never put up for a specific level of climber. They were done by a specific level of climber.

Traditional Sport Climbing

In a nutshell, in a situation like this, effectively lowering the problem clip with a length of chain is an option that retains the route's original character more than chopping the original bolt and placing a new bolt lower.

First ascentionists put bolts in based on when and where they could find hook or gear placements, just like they always had, for the entire history of climbing.

The girl fell and the rope never went tight.

Am I mistaken?

Are you saying JB rested on hooks without drilling to lead the BY?

It's unsettling,though,to see how the bulk of assumptions and conclusions are being made by those who weren't there.

Bachar was (likely) saying he was testing out potential hook placements as he went without weighting them,

I have a question, when people are rap bolting are they aid climbing? So the rap bolters have no idea what the onsighter will experience either?

2. Trip and Fall at Downtown Disney
In another case, Etheredge v. Walt Disney World Co., a teenager named Jalayna Jones Etheredge, who was 15 years old at the time, was taking part in a family vacation at the campground in Disney’s Fort Wilderness, over the Fourth of July holiday. That evening, Jalayna and her friends were on their way to meet Jalayna’s parents for dinner at Downtown Disney when Jalayna stepped off the curb in the parking lot, falling in such a way that her ankle was pinned in a storm drain. It was an accident that resulted in the teen having to undergo four different surgeries.

Her argument for damages here was based upon Disney failing in its duty to protect visitors in how they traveled from the parking lot to Downtown Disney. There was no claim that the parking lot had a design defect, for instance, or that there was a hidden danger: the teenager volunteered that she was having fun and not looking at where she was going.

Key here to Disney’s liability: the pathway provided by the theme park moved guests from the parking lot to the street through landscaped plant beds where the path then led visitors, like Jalayna, to cross the street at the storm drain. The court held that Disney had a duty of care in how the business invitees were encouraged to travel from the parking lot to Downtown Disney via this path.

What Should You Do?
A good piece of advice if you have been harmed by a slip and fall on a Disney or other theme park property, is to speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer before you file a claim to learn about some of the issues that can arise with these claims, including the type of evidence needed to prove a claim and the type and amount of damages you can recover. Most personal injury lawyers, like Alan Sackrin, will offer a free initial consultation (over the phone or in person) to answer your questions.

NOW WATCH:

What do I need to prove in order to get a Florida slip and fall settlement?

 See more at: http://southfloridainjuryaccidentblog.com/2015/07/07/how-to-prove-slip-and-fall-claim-in-accident-at-theme-park-like-disney-world/#sthash.T6fZmAEX.dpuf

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We thought we were putting in a lot of bolts and that the climbs were quite friendly.

Every beginner, particularly beginners who have only climbed in the gym, need to learn to exercise judgment and she/he needs to leqrn it fast.

selfish man: It's ironic how the same individuals who tell the badly injured girl to toughen up because climbing ain't Disneyland she thought it was, are also accusing JLP of the disrespect to the injured.

"Climb if you will but remember that courage and strength are naught without prudence,
and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime.

Do nothing in haste,

look well to each step,

and from the beginning think what might be the end."

Have any of you introduced kids to this sport? Were they your own?

What could have been a small slip on a cool-down climb became a 35 foot ground fall.

The accident was caused due to belayer error from over 20 feet of rope coiled on the ground leading towards the climber (confirmed by witnesses)

What could have been a small slip on a cool-down climb became a 35 foot ground fall. Because of the amount of rope in the system, my gear didn't have a chance to catch, and the rope never went taut.

She impacted the ground with her head neck, left shoulder and back. She was wearing a helmet that did not crack or have visible damage though her head seemed to impact a rock. I feel strongly that her outcome would have been different had she not been wearing a helmet

I had two large sub-dermal hematomas, three contusions (two on my frontal lobe), and a severe concussion.