Actually Greg, Erden was using a Petzl Reverso not a Gri-Gri at the time of the accident. Also he stated that he thought he had pulled some of the slack through the belay device and then wrapped it around his arm giving him a nasty rope burn when it caught.
Anyone who choses to use a Gri-Gri to belay a trad leader is free to climb without me...
Also small point but i think many would appreciate you not refering to him as having killed himself, but rather him having died...
Hmmmmmmm...Having Belayed, and caught a number of leaders using a Gri Gri, and knowing of a number of other accidents that could have been prevented with it's use, I'd like to counter your sweeping statement about not leading with a gri gri.
Just yesterday at Index I SAFELY caught my leader, with no jolting fall, on pro, using my gri gri. I'm pretty sure that with an ATC or some such device, normal reaction time and the resulting slack in the system could have caused him to ground. As it was, I caught him as softly as jumping ont o a bed (just ask him...)
I'm sorry, but I take issue. I've never short roped anyone because of the gri gri, and I have successfully caught more than one person, on natural pro, using my gri gri.
It doesn't matter who is belaying with what device, when your leader dyno's or moves fast, or pulls up the rope to clip with lightening speed, it still takes the belayer's natural reaction time to feed the rope. Rope management 101.
Belaying a leader with a gri gri is an art, which takes a little getting used to. However, when you leader is smooth and deliberate with the movement, it is easy to "keep up" as well as to tell the difference between moving up, clipping, and falling, just by the feel of the rope.
So, Greg, don't blame the gri gri for your rope drag issues, or your height for feeling some amount of pull on the rope when you are leading, regardless of the belay device that is being used. Speaking from experience, you aren't always so cognizent of communicating effectively with your belayer, or being respectful of how your belayer has a difficult time telling the difference between falling and clipping and moving forward, when it all feels the same.
Most importantly, I can name so many accidents that would not have been as tragic if a gri gri were used instead of a atc type device. I'm sure the debate will continue for ever, but I've kept more than one partner safe and completely unharmed with my Gri Gri.