RRC Archives

Saxman wrote: The belayer was holding the gri gri in her right hand with fingers over the cam and said she didn't know how it could have happened. Worse, she said this was the third time it has happened to her.

It's that last part that just knocks this one out of the idiocy park.

ReachHigh wrote:

goodguy wrote:What kind of dog was it that got crushed?

I'd like to know to, sounds like he was a good spot till the end.

Maybe his name was Spot?

No, but serious, sucks about the dog, but get a fucking clue, people. belaying is serious business. we should know this by now. sheesh.

I have seen many strong boulderers, or even roped gym climbers, who can climb a 12 but have never climbed outside and have no idea what they are doing. That is even worse than a complete gumby because they think that their strength implies some knowledge of how to climb safely.

I know both the climber and his girlfriend who was the belayer and the owner of the dog. I'm sure they're pretty shook up over this. I don't think either of them visit this site but I'll let them know others are interested in finding out a first hand account.

dustonian wrote: If you see someone doing something stupid or belaying poorly at the crag, SAY SOMETHING!!!

While looking for friends yesterday I walked by some folks and got to chatting. I noticed the belayer had not double backed his harness so, without saying anything, I walked up and did it for him. It was an odd interaction but who knows if he'd have ever noticed.

dustonian wrote:

Saxman wrote: The belayer was holding the gri gri in her right hand with fingers over the cam and said she didn't know how it could have happened. Worse, she said this was the third time it has happened to her.

It's that last part that just knocks this one out of the idiocy park.

It's also the part that is incorrect. Be careful what you read on the internet--even from someone who 'witnessed' the event.

Please consider what you write.. The misguided comments in these two pages boggle my mind. It's crazy how some folks will just get up and run with a tangent (i.e. boombox, 'douchebags', 'buffoons', etc). What's more--the folks who weren't even there seem to have the most radical emotions about this. Please, people--if you weren't there, don't pretend like you were. There are simply too many nuances to boil this accident (or any accident) down and fit it into a category of 'douchebag flip flop wearing idiots' or 'inexperienced gumbies' or whatever. Really, name-callers--you are not helping. Be ashamed. If you're intention is to demean someone over an event that you did not witness, at least post a photo of your face...lest you be called a coward.

The accident: The climber moved past the kneebar on reliquary. As he did so, rope was pulled upward with him. The belayer, at this moment, felt a tug on the rope and held down the cam to pay out some slack. At this exact moment the climber, pumped, casually let go and fell without advertisement. Gravity is always there, and is quicker than all of us. By the time she was able to react (i.e., let go of the cam), it was too late to prevent the collision. Belay error was the critical factor in this fall--it could have been prevented with a foolproof technique (that is, do not allow the brake hand to leave the brake rope ever).

That being said, I feel that what happened was extraordinary. It was the very worst possible moment for these two things to come together. I must also point out that the same (incorrect) technique for paying out slack is what I most frequently observe from climbers at the red, the PMRP, and the lode...it just stays under the radar... Keep your hands on the brake, folks.

Many of you are likely friends with the climbers involved. Everyone's shaken up by this and we are all very glad that it wasn't worse.

milspecmark wrote:That is unfortunate. I would be interested to know more about how the gri gri failed.

it didn't..the human did.

Pretty clear-cut bad belaying, Toad. There's no way you could be watching OR even just listening to your climber and still hold down the cam for that long. My suggestion to this belayer is to tune out the distractions and pay attention... the only thing "extraordinary" about this situation is how lucky the climber was to survive or avoid paralysis.

yeah, geez you guys, all the belayer did was hold open the cam on the gri gri while ignoring the brake strand. the climber decking could happen to any shitty belayer! shame on your [s]spade[/s] name-callers!

here is what will happen--> x (single integer number) number of avoidable deaths (young people with their whole lives ahead of them, people who would have made a huge contribution to their communities - prime example is the young guy who died at Dark Side), from clearly user error and others will conclude rock climbing is a risk to its participants that they don't fully appreciate (and they would be correct). Then our sport will be regulated. Either we come up with ways to fix this problem or others will do it for us.