RRC Archives

caribe wrote:I was belayed by a guy one time who told me that his grigri was through one of his equipment loops of his harness..

Man... that's the kind of fear that you only get when you first start out climbing and you're convinced that every pitch could be your last. That was what made it great. It was exciting!

Caribe, will you belay me from your gear loop the next time we are at the same cliff? Preferrably on a route that is hard for me and where I might fall. I can't wait!

I would rather kiss you in greeting on both cheeks at the crag, oh wait I did that already.

bcombs wrote:

caribe wrote:I was belayed by a guy one time who told me that his grigri was through one of his equipment loops of his harness..

Man... that's the kind of fear that you only get when you first start out climbing and you're convinced that every pitch could be your last. That was what made it great. It was exciting!

Caribe, will you belay me from your gear loop the next time we are at the same cliff? Preferrably on a route that is hard for me and where I might fall. I can't wait!

Andrew wrote:The same thing that happened to Artsay, happened with my sister and me. Meadows was there. It is the exact same scenario with the gri gri.

So getting back on topic here. Andrew - would what happened to your sister and Astsay have happened if they were using an atc type device? If not then we all know how to avoid figuring out who to call when someone decks.

I have solo toproped with the gri-gri thousands of times and I never have my break hand on when I fall. It has caught fine every time without any sort of problem.

funny thing is, if i fall when solo tr-ing with a gri-gri, my first instinct is still to grab for the brake end of the rope, though i never get it before the gri-gri has already locked up. So i agree with both was and caribe. let go, but develop a muscle-memory for brake-hand. I think it is wise to learn to belay with an atc style device to get a feel for this before switching to a gri-gri.

there, i can't believe i contributed to a gri-gri thread!!!! DOH!

TradMike wrote:I have solo toproped with the gri-gri thousands of times and I never have my break hand on when I fall. It has caught fine every time without any sort of problem.

Yep, Mike. It is most probably not an issue. The activity is within your acceptable level of risk. Do you pick your ropes carefully avoiding the thinner slicker ropes?

Saxman wrote:Maybe we can put together an alphabetical listing of all crag names with directions for emergency personnel. This could be given to local dispatchers.

We've provided the Wolfe County Dispatchers with a complete cross reference and detailed instructions for getting to all climbs in Wolfe County - not just once, but three times. Yet, not a single W.C. dispatcher even knows where a copy is located. Pretty sad.

We were called out at 2 AM this morning (5/18 ) to rescue two kids who managed to get themselves stranded on a tiny ledge half way up Serenity Falls (1/4 mile north of the Via Ferrata). Damnedest predicament we've ever seen. They managed to shinny down a steeply angled 30 foot wet log to the ledge 50 feet up and directly over the lower falls, and of course, hadn't a prayer of getting back up. We had to create a rig that looked like a Polish Cirque du Soleil to get the hypothermic goofballs off there.

The Wolfe County Dispatcher did not have the guide handy, didn't know it existed, and caused us about an hour delay getting there because she couldn't even reference Torrent Falls Via Ferrata to Serenity Falls!

Just out of curiosity - i know there are a lot of EMS/FD/Paramedic type people that climb in the red. if you're one of them, even if you're not associated with wolfe, lee or powell county - maybe you might be able to figure out a way to communicate with these responders so that they can be a bit more responsive... obviously the efforts that have been made aren't working i'm glad the extra hour delay didn't cause any more serious problems.

Josephine wrote:Just out of curiosity - i know there are a lot of EMS/FD/Paramedic type people that climb in the red. if you're one of them, even if you're not associated with wolfe, lee or powell county - maybe you might be able to figure out a way to communicate with these responders so that they can be a bit more responsive... obviously the efforts that have been made aren't working i'm glad the extra hour delay didn't cause any more serious problems.

The problem isn't with the responders. Fire/EMS/SAR teams are doing a pretty good job in responding - especially on inter-jurisdictional operations on Forest Service land.

The problem is that the dispatchers don't seem to be receptive in learning the names and locations of climbing areas. As you may know, in the past year there have been five climbing accidents at Roadside requiring SAR and EMS. Every one of those dispatches was imprecise - if not downright befuddled, in providing directions to the teams.

Both Powell and Lee Counties, effectively have SAR teams in name only. Powell County does have a first class paramedic/rescue tech and search dog (David Ramsey and Indy.) Menifee and Wolfe County have teams whose members include High Angle Rope Rescue Techs, SARTECHs, and EMT/WFRs. These two counties, often aided by Ramsey/Indy, work together to handle almost all incidents on Forest Service land.

"grigri's dont make mistakes, climbers do"

@Artsay: Turry always rested with the rope in a munter around his palm for just that scenario. It was complete instinct for him, as was other stupid, nonsensical things (not using cruise control, excessive hand motions, attempting to fly)