Saturday's Accident at PMRP

[bcombs]

Wow, talk about stepping in it.

Yeah, Bentley... give back a little. Jesus!

[Andrew]

Yea Bentley, eat it. When have you ever done anything for the community or the RRGCC. You probably can't even climb 5.10

[Josephine]

Does everyone understand that raping off of a single pitch sport route at the Red is completely unnecessary?
Yes there are exceptions, but not many.

Do you understand lowering causes wear? Do you help in the maintenance of those anchors either directly or indirectly (donating and volunteering)? Do you understand that rapping is safe if you are competent and aware?

And I typically choose not to rape sport climbs, I heard they don't like it. Besides it makes it messy for the next climber.

http://rrgcc.org/about-us/meet-the-bod/

Bentley Brackett
Director of Corporate Relations
RRGCC BOD Member since 2008

Bentley Brackett resides in Knoxville TN and works on bringing the climbing community together one climber at a time as the advertising manager at Dead Point Magazine and handles inside sales for Joshua Tree Products. His wife Jessica is a physical therapist and there dog Bella can generally be found licking small children at the crag. Bentley can be found at the Red just about any weekend during the fall, winter and spring but spends summers at the lake “resting” from the climbing season.

Having been involved in the outdoor industry for many years, Bentley brings an essential marketing element to the RRGCC. In addition to his work with Rocktoberfest, he has put hours of work in maintaining anchors, bolts and draws at both the Red River Gorge and the Obed in TN.

Bentley looks forward to the final payment of the PMRP and the next property acquisition the RRGCC will make.

emphasis added

[jrathfon]

Haha, ok, I don't know Bentley. Sorry, I'll eat that. I realized that was more personal than I wanted to word it. Bentley, I apologize.

And I am certainly guilty of not stepping up enough myself. I have been making a point to fix every sling and ring anchor I have come across in the Red, donate what I can and be a responsible steward of the land. I feel this is lacking in the new community of "fresh" climbers.

But my stance is still that lowering on a route that is easy enough to rap causes unneeded wear. And the old phrase of "someone should fix this bolt/anchor/etc." just irks me, these are typically the climbers that expect anchors and routes to be spoon fed to them and this attitude stinks.

[jenbongo]

I agree with rappelling over lowering when possible to reduce wear on the anchors. However, I have heard that the PMRP wants you to lower, and if they have enough people maintaining the anchors, that's fine. (Do they?) But Muir Valley wants you to rappel, so you can't just say, "at the Red". The logic in my circle of climbers is that rappelling removes one human from the equation reducing the possibilities for screwing something up. I'd like to know where the statistic comes from that says rappelling is more dangerous. I also agree with the idea of assessing each situation individually - experience level of climber versus belayer, are you cleaning draws on an overhanging route, is the rope going to get caught on something, can you hear the people on the ground, etc.

[jordancolburn]

Considering most of the accidents lately have dealt with belayer error and miscommunication, isn't rappelling eliminating an extra part of the system (belayer). I personally rappel off of just about every climb (can't remember the last time I lowered when cleaning). Double check everything, weight the rope first before unclipping, it's not complicated, but accidents happen. However on single pitch climbs where you can see both rope ends on the ground, I trust myself on rappel much more than my communication to a belayer.

[bentley]

Hey jrathfon, I am really glad you spoke up and said something. If more people did what you just did at the crag, I bet a lot of accidents would not happen. By the way, no offense taken. I have put my time in and will continue to put my time it. There are a lot of people in our community that have done WAY more than me so be sure to thank them!

You know you can show a lot of support to the community and the RRGCC by coming to Rocktoberfest this weekend. There will be a ton of gear to win and purchase and crazy cheap prices!

And by the way, its much easier to replace anchors than carry someone out of a crag on a stretcher. Please stop repelling off sport routes. There are too many things to mess up when repelling.

Repelling really is an advanced skill.
Advanced does not mean climbing over a certain grade by the way.

[Meadows]

Biners or quicklinks added to anchors are so easy to replace. Carry some and contribute ... and then, lower.

[jrathfon]

Hey jrathfon, I am really glad you spoke up and said something. If more people did what you just did at the crag, I bet a lot of accidents would not happen. By the way, no offense taken. I have put my time in and will continue to put my time it. There are a lot of people in our community that have done WAY more than me so be sure to thank them!

You know you can show a lot of support to the community and the RRGCC by coming to Rocktoberfest this weekend. There will be a ton of gear to win and purchase and crazy cheap prices!

And by the way, its much easier to replace anchors than carry someone out of a crag on a stretcher. Please stop repelling off sport routes. There are too many things to mess up when repelling.

Repelling really is an advanced skill.
Advanced does not mean climbing over a certain grade by the way.

Already signed up to volunteer! I'll be there dumping some cash! I'm excited for the festivities.

We're also going to take Rick up on his offer for litter training. The more people who know how to respond will result in quick rescues just like this weekend. Seriously consider a WFA, WFR, first aid, litter, etc. course everybody!

[tbwilsonky]

Biners or quicklinks added to anchors are so easy to replace. Carry some and contribute ... and then, lower.

+10