Todd Skinners Harness

[billcoe]

"No contamination on Skinner’s harness

 

 

By Angus M Thuermer Jr.

September 15, 2007

 

An investigation of the climbing harness that failed and sent Lander, Wyo. climber Todd Skinner plunging to his death in Yosemite National Park last October found no signs of contamination that might have weakened the safety webbing.

 

The report by Yosemite ranger M. Faherty has been awaited by climbers worldwide who were stunned by the death of Skinner, a well-known pioneer, and the unusual failure of his safety gear. The Jackson Hole News&Guide obtained a copy of the report Friday through the Freedom of Information Act.

 

Climbers know that a critical part of the nylon webbing harness, a belay loop, broke and caused Skinner, 47, to fall 800 feet from the overhanging wall of Leaning Tower. At the time of his death, Skinner was descending the face after a day of climbing, sliding down a rope using a friction device linked to the belay loop.

 

Climbers also know that Skinner’s harness was worn, that his climbing partner, James Hewitt, commented on its poor condition, and that Skinner agreed the harness needed replacing.

 

Skinner was wearing an Arc’Teryx Targa harness. Tests of new belay loops similar to the one on Skinner’s harness, which were conducted by another climbing equipment manufacturer, showed them to be strong enough to hold body weight, even when cut most of the way through.

 

Climbers wondered whether Skinner’s harness might have been contaminated and weakened by a foreign substance. The Park Service report found no evidence of that.

 

Faherty wrote in his investigation that he sent the torn belay loop to Rhodia/Nexis Fibers in Switzerland for a chemical analysis. “On 06/15/07, I was notified by Rhodia representative Elman Ernst that ‘apart from the residues of the original spin-finish, no substances could be extracted from [the] analysed part of the loop’. ...” the report says

 

Also, Faherty’s report discounts the possibility that animals may have gnawed on the harness when it was cached. Skinner left his harness overnight at the base of the climb, stored in a bag. “There was no sign of tampering by animals or people,” Faherty wrote.

 

The report comes to no conclusion as to why the belay loop broke. Faherty makes several observations, however, that could lead climbers to a conclusion.

 

Skinner’s partner reiterated in interviews with rangers that he observed the loop “had been about 20 percent worn through three days prior,” to the accident. Faherty wrote that he, too, “also observed that the harness was extremely frayed and worn where the belay loop should run through the ‘swami belt’ and the leg loops.”

 

“The belay loop appeared worn near where it was torn,” Faherty wrote. “The actual torn section appeared frayed. I could see no fusing of Nylon fibers suggestive of a shock load...”

 

Faherty also found a sling girth-hitched to the broken belay loop, which Hewitt believed had been in place for some time and prevented the belay loop from rotating and absorbing wear evenly. “Also broken was the keeper strap on the leg loops,” ranger Faherty wrote. Loss of the keeper strap would free the leg loops to saw against belay loop, often in the same spot, given Skinner’s harness set-up.

 

Those observations support climber Will Gadd’s theory, published in a recent issue of Outside magazine, that the sawing leg loops contributed to the belay loop’s failure."

 

 

Link here

 

[rob]

thx for the link, I've wondered about "sawing" leg loops, I've noticed something similar on my harness.

[catbirdseat]

Jens mentioned to me how he removed the keeper strap from his REI Liberty Harness to save weight. Perhaps that is best described as false economy?

[kurthicks]

here's a classic "my friend said" to add to the rumor mill. She heard it from her friend in YOSAR.

 

Supposedly, the route he was rapping overhung, so he had the end of the rope anchored to the next station, forming a "J" in the rope. he rapped to the bottom of the "J" and was batman-ing up the (static) rope, when he fell before clipping in with the sling to the anchor. the resulting shockload blew his belay loop apart.

 

let's see if that's what ANAM publishes.

[Jens]

Yes, I cut all the shit off my harnesses.

 

I guess it might be a good practice for all of us to frequently spin our belay loops?

 

 

As a sidenote, their are some brand new sporto-rigs that feature a skinny spectra belay loop. Doesn't that stuff melt at super low temps? When rapping, belay loops get quite hot. But I guess if you are a high end sporto, you don't do much rappelling.

 

What are all those harnesses that the sponsored folk are wearing that have black leg loops with neon green edges?

[catbirdseat]

One end of the carabiner get's quite hot, but the other end shouldn't get so hot it would melt Spectra. All the same, I think nylon is the best material to use.

[crackers]

One end of the carabiner get's quite hot, but the other end shouldn't get so hot it would melt Spectra. All the same, I think nylon is the best material to use.

 

I'm not so sure about Dyneema®. As you may know, I work with Dyneema® on a daily basis. We use Dyneema® in our packs, and we're about to start selling regular production packs made in Dyneema®. The stuff really isn't friendly over 160 degrees f, and I've recently done a (as in single, as illustrative not scientific, as in worthless) test on a friends rig that suggested that over 70 meters at a decent rapping speed, I could get an old fashioned ATC to the 180d level on a new 9.2mm cord. I am currently in conversations with several rope makers about this, but personally I'm scared off from Dyneema around my belay device. There are a lot of things to consider here, and my experience with fabric does not necessarily mean that the usage of Dyneema® is contradicted in cordage.

 

Basically, you can heat Dyneema® to 180d and it starts moving in what I call "the Dyneema Dance". This dance ruins fabric. However, cordage is significantly looser than fabric, and this might not have any impact on weave. Also, the time a cord is in contact with a belay device is very short. One of the magic qualities of Dyneema® is that it has excellent recovery from the effects of heat. You can bring it up to 190 and back down without significant loss of strength.

 

For me, the ultimate thing is that having physically worked with it, the stuff will give me the heebee jeebees near a belay device. Slings for pro, no problem. But personally I will not be using it anywhere near a belay device. Again, I want to stress that this is a personal thing, not a fully rational decision. Alpine climbing can be stressful enough without adding an avoidable heebee jeebee factor into the mix.

 

I do agree that nylon is the best material to use in these situations.

 

edit: the correct temp is 160f.

Edited September 21, 2007 by crackers

[archenemy]

here's a classic "my friend said" to add to the rumor mill. She heard it from her friend in YOSAR.

 

Supposedly, the route he was rapping overhung, so he had the end of the rope anchored to the next station, forming a "J" in the rope. he rapped to the bottom of the "J" and was batman-ing up the (static) rope, when he fell before clipping in with the sling to the anchor. the resulting shockload blew his belay loop apart.

 

let's see if that's what ANAM publishes.

The article mentions that the fibers are not fused and therefore do not show evidence of a shockload. I don't know if that is the final word, but that is what the initial examination showed.

[kurthicks]

here's a classic "my friend said" to add to the rumor mill. She heard it from her friend in YOSAR.

 

Supposedly, the route he was rapping overhung, so he had the end of the rope anchored to the next station, forming a "J" in the rope. he rapped to the bottom of the "J" and was batman-ing up the (static) rope, when he fell before clipping in with the sling to the anchor. the resulting shockload blew his belay loop apart.

 

let's see if that's what ANAM publishes.

The article mentions that the fibers are not fused and therefore do not show evidence of a shockload. I don't know if that is the final word, but that is what the initial examination showed.

 

just sharing another perspective from someone whom I believe.