Fatal Rappelling Accident in the Icicle

[ivan]

Just to be extra extra pedanticly clear, here is how you can avoid dying due to this error:

 

1) rig your belay device for the rappel

2) while you are still connected to the anchor via your daisy or a sling or whatever, take up all the slack and transfer your weight onto your rappel device.

3) Lean back. Jerk backwards. Really weight that thing.

4) If you have mis-rigged your rappel device, this test should reveal that error

5) Only then should you disconnect your daisy/sling from the anchor and start rappelling.

 

I know we've probably all heard this before, but I thought I'd spell it out explicitly for anyone hoping to learn the take-home message from this accident. I don't ever do the prusik back-up thing while rappelling and I seldom wear a helmet while cragging, but I pretty much always do the steps above.

word - i pretty much always do this - also since i'm a very large mammal i usually use 2 biners for increasing the friction which reinforces getting both ropes through the device and through a biner and onto the harness

 

rappeling sucks (unless it's monkey face!)

[underworld]

i'm never not scared enough to not do this before rapping...

[sobo]

I also do what Alpinfox does, although since I became a parent I started wearing a helmet while cragging.

 

Another thing I've been doing for decades... before I commit "over the edge", I look my partner straight in the eye and say, "I hate rappelling." I want that to be clearly known if I ever get the chop on rappel. Call it my epitaph.

[russ]

I think the climber only put one rope through the belay device and rappel carabiner.

 

I don't think this is likely. You would "discover" this mistake as soon as you put weight on the rope. Emily completed the first 10-15 feet of the rappel in full sight of her partner and nothing was noted out of the ordinary. I glanced up and saw her twice as she was coming down - didn't note anything unusual. Let's wait for the final report...........

[DirtyHarry]

I think the climber only put one rope through the belay device and rappel carabiner.

 

I don't think this is likely. You would "discover" this mistake as soon as you put weight on the rope. Emily completed the first 10-15 feet of the rappel in full sight of her partner and nothing was noted out of the ordinary. I glanced up and saw her twice as she was coming down - didn't note anything unusual. Let's wait for the final report...........

 

Ok. Sorry for the conjecture. As I understood it, that is what happened in the Snow Creek incident and Montypiton posted that the same thing happened here.

[billcoe]

Another thing I've been doing for decades... before I commit "over the edge", I look my partner straight in the eye and say, "I hate rappelling." I want that to be clearly known if I ever get the chop on rappel. Call it my epitaph.

 

OMG ! I am so gonna steal that line from you and start doing the same!

 

How about this one: Look em in the eye and say "it's gotta end sometime", smile and lean back.

[sobo]

Shit, bill, I think I'll steal yours from you!

[Alpinfox]

 

I wrote up a little blurb about safety while rappelling, but thought it might be a bit outside the scope of this thread, so I started a new thread for it.

 

HERE IS A LINK

[olyclimber]

Nice work Senor Fox.

[Ducknut]

Another thing I've been doing for decades... before I commit "over the edge", I look my partner straight in the eye and say, "I hate rappelling." I want that to be clearly known if I ever get the chop on rappel. Call it my epitaph.

 

OMG ! I am so gonna steal that line from you and start doing the same!

 

How about this one: Look em in the eye and say "it's gotta end sometime", smile and lean back.

 

No disrespect meant to the seriousness of this thread, but Bill, I know I said that to you the one time we climbed(I won't call my effort that day climbing) at Rocky Butte. The only thing I hate more than rappelling is clipping into a rappel setup that someone else rigged and then asked to be the first down those ropes.

[hollyclimber]

I don't like rappeling either, especially since I have had an accident involving rappeling myself.

 

I think a much better vibe will be created if you say something positive before each rappel. I cringe to think of the negative energy you are creating by saying "I hate rappeling" every time. I don't have a mantra right now specifically for rappeling. But, my climbing mantra in general is "CHECK CHECK DOUBLECHECK" (which is then actually three checks!). I find myself saying this outloud all the time. When I leave base or a topout to make sure I have all the gear, when I rig a rappel, when I am doing some kind of big rope trick, whatever.

 

Rappeling does suck. So does jugging a fixed line on a steep overhanging wall. Mantras like- I am brave, I am safe and check check doublecheck support the positive environment and help create a reality that doesn't suck.

 

Loves---

 

hgb

[korup]

I think a much better vibe will be created if you say something positive before each rappel. I cringe to think of the negative energy you are creating by saying "I hate rappeling" every time.

 

Look, I don't mean to be an a**hole here, but gravity really doesn't give a damn about your "vibe" or disposition. If you screw the pooch, you die, even if your aura is yellow-happy and you are grinning ear-to-ear. Moreover, I think it is a good, healthy thing to remind youself "I could very easily DIE doing this." everytime you rap. Morbid, yes, but completely true.

Edited July 13, 2006 by korup

[archenemy]

And sometimes voicing something helps alleviate the stress around it. I often say that I hate rapping, and it makes me feel better for some reason.

 

Gravity *really* pissing me off though!

 

 

 

And respectfully,

RIP Very sad.

[hollyclimber]

Being negative effects your entire self and the way you perform your actions. Archenemy says we might feel better if we express our fear/dislike of the dangerous activity. I think its probably more productive to feel better because we checked and doublechecked. I am well aware that gravity doesn't depend EXACTLY on which mantra you use. I am also well aware that we create our environment through what we say and do. Much easier to be relaxed and extremely confident and safe when we are confident and positive about ourself and our abilities. How about the mantra RAPELLING IS EASY to calm fears! After all, while it is still the most dangerous part of climbing, it should be easier than whatever we just did to rappel. We all rappel alot (especially if you are a soloist-you have to rappel every pitch you climb) so we should be confident experts at it, not dreading victims waiting to die and moaning our fears.

 

Loves to all of you and wishing you more happy rappeling mantras-

Holly

[Gary_Yngve]

Often we say "See you soon" when I rap with my partners. If it's with a special partner, then there may be a quick kiss.

[ivan]

this thread is begining to make me want to have a lobotomy

[billcoe]

this thread is begining to make me want to have a lobotomy

 

What? You mean you already don't have one?

[korup]

Holly-

We all develop a personal philosophy of climbing; I abhor the Twight-y "Dr. Doom" school as much as anyone. However, if you want to be "dancing with the stone" etc, bouldering is a perfect place. Many, many "confident experts" die or have serious accidents rapping (eg, Lynn Hill not doubling back). My belief is that making myself realize the (deadly) seriousness of any error each and everytime, focuses my thoughts on the details, all the details. It is a mission critical operation, and as serious as a plague.

[Gary_Yngve]

I think all nurses should yell, "Fuck, I hate giving injections! I could get HIV from you and DIE!" prior to giving patients injections.

[scot'teryx]

I just hate rappeling in general. I know a few friends that I dont climb with that go out of their way to rappel, because it's so much fun

[chelle]

I think all nurses should yell, "Fuck, I hate giving injections! I could get HIV from you and DIE!" prior to giving patients injections.

 

WTF! That's a pretty stupid comment, Gary. You need to review some pretty basic infection control info, or are you just a complete idiot.

[Gary_Yngve]

No, it's very likely that every nurse, at some point in their career, will accidently prick themselves with a needle. Yes, there are protocols for handling sharps, but if you're only 99.99% foolproof, that might not be good enough.

[Figger_Eight]

I don't think staying confident and positive makes you ignorant of the fact that rappeling is a serious task and very dangerous. I agree with Holly that if you put yourself in a good headspace you're less likely to make mistakes. Doing the "Holy crap I'm gonna die" routine has made me more distracted in the past than confidently following a routine I've set for myself to make sure everything is just the way it should be. I think there's a difference between ignorant bliss and being secure with your competence. BTW (not that it matters) I'm pretty sure Holly's logged more vertical feet rapping and climbing than most people on this board...

[Choada_Boy]

Being negative effects your entire self and the way you perform your actions. Archenemy says we might feel better if we express our fear/dislike of the dangerous activity. I think its probably more productive to feel better because we checked and doublechecked. I am well aware that gravity doesn't depend EXACTLY on which mantra you use. I am also well aware that we create our environment through what we say and do. Much easier to be relaxed and extremely confident and safe when we are confident and positive about ourself and our abilities. How about the mantra RAPELLING IS EASY to calm fears! After all, while it is still the most dangerous part of climbing, it should be easier than whatever we just did to rappel. We all rappel alot (especially if you are a soloist-you have to rappel every pitch you climb) so we should be confident experts at it, not dreading victims waiting to die and moaning our fears.

 

Loves to all of you and wishing you more happy rappeling mantras-

Holly

 

When I fuck up on rappel and fall, I just create my own reality by asking the ground, in a loud, clear, positive tone of voice, of course, not to hurt me when I land. Next, a quick pass of the sage smudge to purify and align my Chi with the ground's before impact. Finally, the instant of impact, I take the time to ponder the painful fact that all the new-age mumbo jumbo bullshit about positive energy, and mind over matter, and aligning the atoms in my body with the atoms in the ground like I saw in "What the BLEEP to we know?" isn't going to do shit for me because I FUCKED UP and I'm about to take a long, dirt nap.

 

All of this can be avoided pre-rap, though, by PAYING THE FUCK ATTENTION and telling your partner "I will see you in HELL" before any rap. Of course.

[SmallShoes]

I didn't recognize her pic in the PI but after seeing a higher quality one elsewhere I realized I had goofed around with her at SG several times. Sad...