CCH Cam Failure

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Party Boy
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2003 3:32 pm

CCH Cam Failure

Post by Party Boy »

Unfortunately another CCH Alien has failed this time resulting in a serious injury. Although at this time I will not go into specifics concerning the accident, the cam was an orange CCH, it had an early 2004 manufacture date. I do know that this cam did not have a “dimpleâ€
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." (John Muir)
dhoyne
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Post by dhoyne »

Much more info is needed. The above is like saying a Ford car broke, without any mention of how, what the circumstances are, etc. It's good to get a "head's up" though.

I'll remain using my tried and true Metolius cams.
Sarcasm is a tool the weak use to avoid confrontation. People with any balls just outright lie.

[quote="Meadows"]I try not to put it in my mouth now, but when I do, I hold it with just my lips.[/quote]
RRO
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Post by RRO »

Have you contacted CCH ? I would contact Paul Fish at mgear as well. He did a lot of testing when the news first came out about failures. I heard a little about this accident and it does sound like it was cam failure and not operator error but hear say is always just that. Once you get the "specific" information I would like to see pictures and read an accident report from someone that was there.
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endercore
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Post by endercore »

this was posted on rockclimbing.com
capn_morgan wrote:You guys should be appreciative that the OP took the time to pass that little tidbit of information on as they obviously felt it was important to share. Being as it is a new development in an ongoing list of problems what they did seems very reasonable. The location and information about the climber are irrelevant to what they posted. It is rather pathetic that this site has gotten to the point where no one believes anyone else unless they have "pictures" and "facts"....facts are often hard to come by soon after an accident like this and posting guesses and rumors doesn't help anyone. And whoever correlated post count to what someone can post should be smacked.

I hope that the next time the OP has some information like this they will again be kinda enough to share it and not decide to forgo the verbal abuse by a bunch of Internet wankers who think they are superior because they have 1000's of posts. Ever think that maybe the reason the OP only has 5 posts is they are too busy climbing to dick around here?


As for information, I'm only going to post what i know for sure. Ive heard a lot more but don't want to start any rumors.

The accident happened on Saturday, august 19th at Paradise Forks outside Williams, AZ.

The climber was on "the prow", some distance into the thin hands crack off of the large ledge.

He weighted a piece (the orange alien) a which came apart and he fell and hit the ledge below.

He sustained a massive head wound toward the top of his head. The people he was climbing with worked to quickly stop the bleeding and the witness that I talked to, who was a nurse, stated that there was obvious swelling/internal bleeding. He was not wearing a helmet and based on what I was told by the witness that was certainly a contributing factor to the severity of the injury.

I don't know any details on where he was taken or who he was. If you are concerned that you may know him pm me and I will tell you what I have heard.

If I hear anything about his condition I will post it.

Climb Safe.
you can find the rest of the posts here:
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RRO
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Post by RRO »

thats pretty much what we heard here as well. its a sad accident but imo the small details are what matters most. climbing "safety" hinges on the small details and facts. thats what will save lives and hopefully help prevent things from happening. thanks for posting follow ups on this topic. i use aliens and want to learn as much as i can about the issue.


and another thing. is this post saying people on internet chat rooms are verbally abusive ,take things out of context and strive on creating drama within any topic. :lol:
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ynp1
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Post by ynp1 »

if you stop using your alians, feel free to send them to me...
I don't have haters, I have fans in denial.
RRO
Posts: 1949
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:18 am

Post by RRO »

you wished you could be that lucky. these have been flight tested by more than myself. i thought you were quitting climbing and focusing on cliff diving....
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ynot
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Post by ynot »

Failure with just body weight sounds scary.
"Everyone should have a plan for the zombie apocolipse" Courtney
RRO
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Post by RRO »

i heard it was a 3-5 foot fall but that is all hear say and has not been verified by anyone. either way is pretty scary. you should read the rockclimbing.com thread that was posted. its worth sorting thru the bs.
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If you need to contact me , email me. Less Internet, less stress
Party Boy
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Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2003 3:32 pm

Post by Party Boy »

I’m the person that originally posted this thread and I want to clear up a few concerns and issues. Also I apologize for any repeat information (I haven’t read past the first page of this thread and I intend not to).

1) I was belaying when this individual fell and I assisted with every step of the rescue
2) The socket of the cam did separate from the stem which suggests a brazing issue. I held this cam in my hands and inspected as did many other climbers at the scene
3) I have spoken directly with the climber who was involved and he is doing fine and should recover fully.
4) I took several pictures of the cam and I will post them when I get permission from the individual who owned the cam.
5) The accident took place at Paradise Fork on the Prow on August 19, 2006
6) The cam appeared to be brand new
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." (John Muir)
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