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Re: [redlude97] Lowering accident. Serious Injuries:
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jt512
Jun 2, 2011, 7:58 PM
Views: 12328
Registered: Apr 12, 2001
Posts: 21904
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redlude97 wrote: sspssp wrote: funnelator wrote: Is there a "typical" lowering-vs rappelling miscommunication accident? Seems like there are lots of variations on the theme which is why, although redundant ad nauseum, perhaps it's good to keep having these kinds of discussions, at least as long as people keep having these kinds of accidents. It has been my observation that the most common lowering-when-not-belayed is because the leader got to the top of the climb and yelled something like "I'm clipped into the anchor" and the belayer thinking the leader safe takes them off belay. This is absolutely a mistake on the belayers part since the leader never asked to be taken "off belay". But I think it is a terrible habbit on the part of the leader. Yelling something like "I'm clipped in" or "I'm at the anchor" invites the belayer to mistakenly take you off. If the leader just keeps his damn mouth shut, it won't occur to the belayer to take them off belay. And they will still be on belay when they go to anchor. So I am of the opinion that the leader shouldn't say anything unless they want to be taken off belay and they should say so directly. Why does being at the anchor mean that belayer can take the climber off belay, regardless if something is said or not? When sport climbing and lowering is to be expected, the belayer should never take the climber off belay. I think in general there are 2 causes for these types of accidents. 1. The climber, when reaching the anchors yells "off belay", which means take me off belay, when that isn't actually what they want, because they intend to be lowered. This IMO is the climbers fault. 2. The climber, when reaching the anchors yells something else(safe, direct in etc) and the belayer takes them off belay thinking that the phrased used means they want to be taken off belay. In this situation it is the belayers fault.
I think your summary of the most common causes of off-belay lowering accidents (your points 1 and 2) is spot on, although I think in both cases the blame is shared between the climber and the belayer. However, due to a subtle ambiguity in your use of the word "and" in the sentence that I bolded, it is unclear whether you mean that lowering is the expectation when sport climbing or not, and that's exactly the problem in sport climbing today.
Not too long ago almost everybody almost always lowered off of almost every sport route. Rappelling was rare, and was reserved for climbs where lowering would excessively abrade the rope or where the anchors were highly worn. Since the expectation was to lower, and everybody knew that, there was little opportunity for an off-belay lowering accident to occur. Rappelling was an unusual enough occurrance that it automatically triggered a number of verbal confirmations before the belayer actually took the climber off belay.
However, due to a recent mutation in the LNT meme, a virulent new Save the Anchors meme has emereged and become epidemic in the n00bosphere, especially at lesser and more isolated crags, where the n00bs are not protected by herd immunity from more experienced climbers. At the beginning of this epidemic, rappelling was still rare enough that when some n00b yelled "off belay" at the anchors, experienced sport climbers in the vicinity would take notice and ask the climber or belayer what the climber's intentions were. I, myself, corrected several "off belay" errors I observed, and I think I prevented at least one accident. However, infection with the new meme has become so prevalent that neither belayers nor passers-by are surprised to hear "off belay" anymore, and no one raises an eyebrow—even though a raised eyebrow might prevent an accident.
Jay
(This post was edited by jt512 on Jun 2, 2011, 9:55 PM)
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Post edited by jt512
() on Jun 2, 2011, 9:55 PM
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