Todd Skinner

Post by **merrick** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:16 pm

so sad...

Post by **TradMike** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:57 pm

The Aronoff show he put on was inspiring. Walked out of there feeling charged.

Post by **Crankmas** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:30 am

bummer, a driven man who like Hudon and Jones, Yaniro and others was ahead of his time,

Post by **local** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:04 pm

yea todd signed my petzel shirt when i was about ten......that read "were the heart is" he's a bad ass and climber of our time that will always be remembered.

Post by **One-Fall** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 6:51 pm

Brings new meaning to his route "When Legends Die".

He will be missed.

Post by **Zspider** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 6:57 pm

What a great way to go.

I remember when he freed the Salathe. That was one of the first of the aid-to-free big wall climbs.

ZSpiddy

Post by **Don McGlone** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:58 am

It appears that the belay loop snapped - apparently his harness was worn pretty bad.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... LIMBER.TMP

Post by **L K Day** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:52 pm

Damn it! I never liked the move away from the old style pure tie in harnesses. No belay loop to worry about, no buckle to worry about. With the old style harnesses, critical points could be massivey overbuilt, lots of real estate allowed lots of stiches. Such area does not exist on belay loops, and wear is concentrated on a small area that is not replaceable without replacing the entire harness. The tie in point on old style harnesses was a doubled piece of 1" tubular webbing which you routinely replaced. You belayed from the loop of climbing rope at your tie in. You did have to make sure you got two knots right, your harness knot, and your rope.

For sure it's arguable which style is safer. If you can't tie a knot, the old style is no good for you. But if you can't get your knots right, every time, you have no business climbing. I do think the current harness designs are all about convenience, not about safety.

Above comments pertain purely to rock climbing. For high altitude or winter mountaineering I believe buckled harnesses are safer. And of course the risk of equipment failure is reduced considerably if you replace your gear regularly. Of course we know climbers don't.

Post by **Yasmeen** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:04 pm

Larry, do you have a picture of one of the old style harnesses? Or did they have a particular name that I could look them up by? I can kinda picture it from your description, but I'm curious.

Post by **bazoqop** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:15 pm

When I started out we mostly used a few wraps of 1" or 2" nylon webbing tied off with a water knot. Leg loops were just some more webbing tied into loops that you'd have to adjust to fit right. Not comfy but very strong. As strong as the knot used to tie it off.