Mr._Chips Posted November 5, 2002 Posted November 5, 2002 Upon returning to the site, did your partner locate and keep the sling used for the rappel? If so, was it still tied? was it broken? were there signs of abrasion? was a rappel ring used? Were there possibilites to connect your rap station to another older station, I realize proxitmity and angles play a large part here. Quote
Lambone Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 Again, glad you are relatively ok Stefan. Perhaps one valuable lesson can be taken from this unfortunate accident. If unsure about the stability of the rappel anchor, back it up anyway possible for the first rappeler, have them put full weight on the rope to test the anchor. Then the second (lighter person) can remove the back up. I'm not sure if this was an option in your case Stefan. But I think it's a good idea anyway. Heal well! Quote
freeclimb9 Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 Or leave another sling. It's cheap insurance. Lost a friend when an apparently good looking sling failed. Glad you're alive. Quote
Mr._Chips Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Mr. Chips: Upon returning to the site, did your partner locate and keep the sling used for the rappel? If so, was it still tied? was it broken? were there signs of abrasion? was a rappel ring used? Were there possibilites to connect your rap station to another older station, I realize proxitmity and angles play a large part here. Any response to this Stefan? Quote
Fairweather Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 Stefan, I have read your trip reports here and on the old WTA website over the years. They have always been very inspirational. (Especially your Olympic Mountain trips.) Here's wishing you a speedy and complete recovery! Brian Quote
Mr._Chips Posted November 6, 2002 Posted November 6, 2002 Yes Stefan, sorry for my indignance there, All the best to a full recovery, physical and mental. Quote
Stefan Posted November 6, 2002 Author Posted November 6, 2002 On October 12th I had a rappelling accident off of Mount Temple in the Enchantments. Here are some of the details. I will not include approach or climbing details to keep this brief. I have not wanted to write about this before, but here it goes. My friend, Mike T., and I had just summitted Mount Temple and we had a 50 meter rope. We completed the first rappel off of the summit to a subsidiary station about 25-30 feet above the col; however a 60 meter rope would reach the col from the summit rappel. Since our rope did not reach the col, I set up another rappel around a previous anchor sling at the subsidiary station. I threaded the rope through the sling and gave two strong pulls on the anchor to make sure it was secure. The rope was threaded through only one sling and the sling appeared fairly new. There were several other slings nearby but they were well worn and I avoided them. My partner went down on the rope, using the rope as a handline while downclimbing low fifth class 5 slab/crack section and not putting full force on the rope to the col. I thought my partner’s idea was a good idea and proceeded to copy. I had my left hand in the crack and my left foot near the crack. I had my right hand on the rope. I did not have all the pressure on the rope, but I still had a fair amount of pressure. All of a sudden the rope came loose. I fell. I slid down the 5th class slab sliding face toward the rock and feet down. My partner thinks I fell 10 feet while I think I fell 20 feet. I landed and broke my talis bone on my left foot and had multiple breaks in my right foot. I was in a lot of pain. Due to the time (3:30), I knew my partner had to get out for a helicopter for me. He left me all his extra clothes and food. He took off in an incredible speed and got out to the Snow Creek trailhead in about 3 hours. I had a helicopter rescue come out of the Yakima Training Center and pick me up at 10:30pm with night vision goggles. It was cool and scary the whole time being rescued. I am not able to walk for 3 months due to my injuries. My partner has since been back to investigate the rappel anchor but could not determine what has happened. So what happened? There are four possibilities and we will never know the true answer: 1) The rappel anchor broke 2) The rappel anchor came untied 3) The rappel anchor slipped off of the rock 4) The rock moved causing the rappel anchor to slip off Did I do anything wrong? I look back on the incident and I cannot come up with a single answer where I went wrong. I have always hated rappels due to the lack of control I have and I will continue to hate rappels. I have placed my own rappel anchors, and I have come off of others rappel anchors before. If I continue to climb, I will continue with the same practice. I would like to thank Chelan County Rescue and the Yakima Training Center crew that picked me up in the middle of the night--everyone did such an awesome job. But most of all I really want to thank my partner for the efforts he put forth in my rescue—it is greatly appreciated and will never be forgotten. Thank you. Stefan Feller I have included some photographs from that fateful day. When you open the web page select “Cancel” when the window asks “Please enter your authentication information” http://www.mtnmike.com/TT/stefan.htm Quote
Stefan Posted November 7, 2002 Author Posted November 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Mr. Chips: quote:Originally posted by Mr. Chips: Upon returning to the site, did your partner locate and keep the sling used for the rappel? If so, was it still tied? was it broken? were there signs of abrasion? was a rappel ring used? Were there possibilites to connect your rap station to another older station, I realize proxitmity and angles play a large part here. Any response to this Stefan? Sorry, haven't been back to the site for a little while. As I/or partner cannot remember which sling we used, he was unable to locate the sling or decide which sling was used that was there. No rappel ring was used. We did not back up the sling with another sling..... This incident will always remain a mystery, but it will enhance my fear of rappelling. Quote
Mr._Chips Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Ya, I hear you on that one man, rappelling can be like throwing all your eggs in one basket sometimes. I have seen some dubious stations before, I have even left a hex or nut to back up the questionable station. Bottom line is, rappelling falls into the more dangerous part of climbing as far as I am concerned. Quote
Smoker Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 As a general rule of thumb, when I am rappeling a route using existing slings 1- always inspect the primary piece of webbing, knot tails and wear. 2-If possible, throw on a longer back-up. Have the first descend and weight the rope normally, if all is good pull the back-up when the second raps. Sorry to hear about the accident. Rest and heal Quote
Figger_Eight Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Ugh...sorry to hear about your accident. It seems reasonable what you did at the time, but I agree it might've been more prudent to have the first guy put more weight on the rope and have it backed up. To a speedy recovery Quote
Dru Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Do like Twight and make the fatter guy go down first wearing both packs with a gear backup on the anchor. If he doesnt rip it then you take the backup gear out and rap your skinny ass down after. Except it sounds like that might not have helped Stefan? Do you think the rope slipped and burned/cut through the sling or what? Quote
AA Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Glad you're here to talk about this Stefan- here's to a speedy recovery we passed you're partner at SC wall and it was an utterly helpless feeling on our part, being hours away to even try to help. quote: I have always hated rappels due to the lack of control I have and I will continue to hate rappels.I agree completely- I grapple with this every time doing something alpine. I think I will always try and back up the anchor for peace of mind as well as safety hope you heal soon Quote
chucK Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Mostly this has already been written, but if you are worried, you can have a back-up (make sure the backup is NOT weighted and use a screamer if you got one), have the heavier climber descend first (with pack), then when the first is on safe ground and/or anchored below, that person can jump up and down (bounce test) the thing. Putting on another sling is good too . [ 11-07-2002, 10:56 AM: Message edited by: chucK ] Quote
Stefan Posted November 7, 2002 Author Posted November 7, 2002 My partner went down first and I watched the rappel anchor--it never moved. Since I saw that the rappel anchor never moved, I was confident nothing would happen. I did not have full body weight on the rappel anchor when I was going down becuase I was using it as a handline like my partner, but I was still using a significant amount of weight on the rope. I understand what everybody says about backing up the rappel anchor and sending the heavier person down first. However, this was just a fluke thing that happened, and I don't think that would have worked in this instance. Quote
Dru Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Did you step down suddenly or make any other 'bouncy' type movement just before you fell? Also, when you say you were handlining down, was the rope through a rap device, or not? Hand line to me sounds like the rope wasnt through your rap device, more like you were just holding it in both hands for balance. Quote
Stefan Posted November 7, 2002 Author Posted November 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dru: Did you step down suddenly or make any other 'bouncy' type movement just before you fell? Also, when you say you were handlining down, was the rope through a rap device, or not? Hand line to me sounds like the rope wasnt through your rap device, more like you were just holding it in both hands for balance. I just downclimbed and did not make any bouncy movements, nor did I step down suddenly. I was handlining down and not using a rap device. Before my partner went down on the rap sling I have two hard pulls in the direction of the rappel to make sure the rope was secure. The sling was around a very large rock that was acting like a chockstone. Quote
Dru Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 OK then, if we eliminate a bounce or differential rope movement cutting the sling, what are we left with? It gets more confusing... Did or could you examine the sling all the way around the block? Now Im wondering if perhaps a had chewed partway through a hidden part of the sling you couldn't see. Or perhaps it was against a sharp edged flake or something?? Quote
Greg_W Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Dru, wouldn't the other option be the knot slipping? Quote
Dru Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Ya it could have I suppose... Id rank that the least likely of the 3 but I suppose it is possible. Quote
vegetablebelay Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 There were 2 intact slings up there when we went to collect the gear. One was in good shape and the other looked a little weathered. It was a mystery to us how it could have happened. Quote
DavidW Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 well a bogus knot is what nearly got me..... if the anchor had failed then the sling would still be attached to the rap line. Allison says the sling was not recovered which suggests that somehow the rope became detached from it. Cut, broken or untied are the only choices right? Quote
Mr._Chips Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Mr. Chips: Upon returning to the site, did your partner locate and keep the sling used for the rappel? If so, was it still tied? was it broken? were there signs of abrasion? was a rappel ring used? Were there possibilites to connect your rap station to another older station, I realize proxitmity and angles play a large part here. This is what I was getting at too. Quote
Dru Posted November 7, 2002 Posted November 7, 2002 Ya but we are ignoring you because we dont like your avatar, Sherlock. Quote
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