To rope up, or not to rope up...

[lisa]

Risks of Roped Snow Climbing

Since the beginning of June over 50 people have died in climbing accidents in the Swiss Alps. This high number of deaths is partly the result of the great weather this summer, however the rash of recent fatalities indicates that in many of these cases the victims were roped up. Does being roped up give climbers a false sense of security?

This was the subject of an article on August 23rd in the Neue Zuercher Zeitung which is attached below for those who can read German.

The worst accident this year was in the Bernese Alps on August 15th when a rope team of four fell 600 meters to their deaths. Just three days earlier a family of three fell to their deaths in the Valais Alps.

Some well known experts are of the opinion that being roped up does give climbers a false sense of secuurity and increases the risk of deadly falls on steep snow pitches. It has always been a problem to decide if the risks of unroped climbers being unable to arrest themselves is greater than the risks to the team roping up and one person falling and pulling the entire rope team off the slope.

Experts like Pit Schubert, the long-time safety expert of the DAV-German Alpine Club-are of the opinion that it is safer to climb unroped on steep snow pitches of 25-30 degrees than to risk an entire rope team providing the climbers are equipped with ice axes and crampons and know how to arrest themselves. If a party feels it needs to rope up, then they should use some type of fixed belay for protection.

Even climbing roped up with an expert mountain guide can be risky as shown by the fall several weeks ago on the Matterhorn where a guide and his female client fell to their deaths while roped up together.

There is nothing new about this discussion other than the attention given to a series of accidents in a short period of time involving climbers roped together on steep snow pitches in a small geographical area of the Swiss Alps.

[Cpt.Caveman]

Depends if I think the people are going to endanger me or not....

[Dru]

What about roping up in bed?

[terrible_ted]

This ones pretty easy:

If I think I'm going to fall, then definitely rope up.

If I think my partner(s) going to fall, then definitely don't rope up.

Of course, I like having climbing partners that weigh a lot more than me. Then I have an excuse for not pulling them up...

[EddieE]

I'll only rope up if the terrain:

1) makes me nervous

2) is able to be protected or

3) allows a self arrest by me or my partners

otherwise it's every climber for themselves.

[Cpt.Caveman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dru:

What about roping up in bed?

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I tested this method last night with the smother@#$#@ Fun!

[mikeadam]

TMI

[dkemp]

'Course, if there's no injury or death the story will rarely make it to the newspapers. So there's lots of success stories for roped-up simul-climbing that we arent discussing.

A climbing pal of mine was at the 'shrund on the Emmons this year. He did a little "body-probing" - all part of the fun. The entire team arrested and the second on the rope reported feeling all his weight. The rope had been kept taut so he didnt go far. Soon enough he was out of the hole and on the summit. Great story - but no newspaper coverage.

I've never climbed in Europe, but if I understand correctly their methods are often quite different. A pal of mine reported that they dont extend the rope all the way out like we do here. He said that the climbers are much closer together on the rope.