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majid_sabet
Nov 5, 2008, 5:31 AM
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Edited for title correction and update.
For full report click this link
http://web.me.com/...ers_die_in_fall.html
MS
Two rock climbers found dead Tuesday evening in the Red River Gorge area fell about 50 to 60 feet after frayed, discolored webbing "blew out," officials said Wednesday.
Benjamin E. Strohmeier of Hebron and Laura Fletcher of Brownsburg, Ind., both 18, were found off Ky. 11 at Emerald City, a climbing area near Natural Bridge State Park in western Wolfe County.Crews returned to the area Wednesday morning, inspecting equipment they hadn't seen on the rock the day before, said John May, a member of Wolfe County Search and Rescue.
There was webbing, a type of strap climbers use, on an anchor bolt, and the webbing "essentially tore in half, and as a result the climbers fell," May said.The climbers probably died from the impact, he said.
"That's the best information that we have, and that's what it looks like happened," May said. "Unless you were there and actually witnessed it, you can't say 100 percent."Both teenagers were experienced climbers. May said crews initially thought their deaths resulted from something more than a climbing mistake.
Two climbers inspecting the area Wednesday rapelled down the climb Strohmeier and Fletcher were on and found a piece of frayed webbing about halfway down, May said.
May said the webbing probably was left on the rock by other climbers and used by Strohmeier and Fletcher. Their other equipment was in good condition. It's not uncommon for climbers to leave gear behind because of the difficulty of the climb.
Investigators say Fletcher was discovered at the bottom of the cliff, and Strohmeier had gone over another ledge and was suspended by his rope.Both climbers were in their harnesses.State police are investigating, but have said foul play is not suspected.
Added;11/07/08
Shannon Stuart-Smith, founder of the Red River Gorge Climber’s Coalition, told the Lexington Herald-Reader that the webbing could be 10 to 15 years old.
http://www.wkyt.com/...dlines/33871489.html
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on Feb 19, 2010, 7:46 PM)
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curt
Nov 5, 2008, 5:51 AM
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Not much info there.
Curt
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camhead
Nov 5, 2008, 5:57 AM
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apparently it was climbers. there is a bit of talk about it on redriverclimbing.com, but they are keeping it low key until families have been notified.
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chossmonkey
Nov 5, 2008, 12:27 PM
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Did it happen at the Muir? It said Wolfe County and Liz posted about it.
No matter what that sucks. My thoughts are with their families.
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shrug7
Nov 5, 2008, 12:53 PM
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Could just be Liz being the sweet lady she is.
I dropped some lines to some folks I know down there.
Couple more news stories:
http://news.google.com/...8&ncl=1267047503
(This post was edited by shrug7 on Nov 5, 2008, 2:30 PM)
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lena_chita
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Nov 5, 2008, 4:59 PM
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It was at Torrent Falls, I believe.
My thoughts are with Ben's and Lauren's families.
I have a hard time processing this right now.
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wes_allen
Nov 5, 2008, 5:37 PM
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Not at torrent, at Global Village. Sadness for sure.
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rtwilli4
Nov 5, 2008, 5:49 PM
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That's horrible. So they were not at Torrent Falls? I was under the impression that Torrent Falls was not open to the public on Mondays... or Tuesdays for that matter.
Prayers.
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moose_droppings
Nov 5, 2008, 6:14 PM
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My condolences to both families and their friends.
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majid_sabet
Nov 5, 2008, 6:34 PM
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Wolfe County Coroner Frank Porter told the Lexington Herald-Leader that it isn't clear what happened to the pair. He says the rope they were using didn't break.
http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/581292.html
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on Nov 5, 2008, 6:36 PM)
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camhead
Nov 5, 2008, 6:38 PM
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I've heard that some people are going out to the crag this afternoon to see what happened; so far I've just heard that it may have been a simul-rapping accident.
Very tragic, I climbed and hung out with Ben a little, didn't know Laura. Condolences to their families and friends.
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Gmburns2000
Nov 5, 2008, 6:39 PM
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wow, can't wait to hear how this happened. surprised the coroner didn't mention anything about trauma from a fall.
this death seems sadder to me than the others. maybe they were just too young? hmmm...
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majid_sabet
Nov 5, 2008, 6:40 PM
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camhead wrote: I've heard that some people are going out to the crag this afternoon to see what happened; so far I've just heard that it may have been a simul-rapping accident. Very tragic, I climbed and hung out with Ben a little, didn't know Laura. Condolences to their families and friends.
Simul rap or simul climb?
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camhead
Nov 5, 2008, 6:47 PM
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majid_sabet wrote: camhead wrote: I've heard that some people are going out to the crag this afternoon to see what happened; so far I've just heard that it may have been a simul-rapping accident. Very tragic, I climbed and hung out with Ben a little, didn't know Laura. Condolences to their families and friends. Simul rap or simul climb?
Just what I typed the first time, although even that is just hearsay.
Like I said, detailed reports are coming. Be patient.
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Gmburns2000
Nov 5, 2008, 8:37 PM
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clausti wrote: Gmburns2000 wrote: wow, can't wait to hear how this happened. surprised the coroner didn't mention anything about trauma from a fall. i could wait. i think a lot of people could have waited. 
OK, OK, I suppose that I can wait. But still, I'm really curious.
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tutugirl
Nov 5, 2008, 9:17 PM
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My heart goes out to both families...I used see Ben at RQ quite often since his mom and I climbed there often together. Here is a bit more information, it is normal to want to know what happened since we want to make sure we don't make the same mistake.
http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/581807.html
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Gmburns2000
Nov 5, 2008, 9:24 PM
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tutugirl wrote: My heart goes out to both families...I used see Ben at RQ quite often since his mom and I climbed there often together. Here is a bit more information, it is normal to want to know what happened since we want to make sure we don't make the same mistake. http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/581807.html
scary. my heart goes out to the friends and family.
(This post was edited by Gmburns2000 on Nov 5, 2008, 9:26 PM)
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olive
Nov 5, 2008, 9:50 PM
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This is extremely sad to read 
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reg
Nov 5, 2008, 9:53 PM
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so tell me this tat was not a mid point station that broke under the weight of two simurapping!! tell me it was something other then a single god dammed sling!!!!!
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wes_allen
Nov 5, 2008, 9:53 PM
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I would consider this info to be very preliminary, as the local paper is not all the great at getting things right. All that is known, for sure, is that they were found near whiteout/friable, and that he was belaying and she tied in. It seems that an anchor failed, but, again, no one knows for sure yet.
There are always lot of questions, but in the end, maybe the exact answers are not so important, all that really matters is something went wrong, and the consequences are severe. And that, to me, is the lessen to take away from any accident.
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jman
Nov 5, 2008, 9:57 PM
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This is so very sad to hear.
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jman
Nov 5, 2008, 10:01 PM
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wes_allen wrote: I would consider this info to be very preliminary, as the local paper is not all the great at getting things right. All that is known, for sure, is that they were found near whiteout/friable, and that he was belaying and she tied in. It seems that an anchor failed, but, again, no one knows for sure yet.
Out of curiousity are these two pitch climbs?
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wes_allen
Nov 5, 2008, 10:16 PM
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jman wrote: wes_allen wrote: I would consider this info to be very preliminary, as the local paper is not all the great at getting things right. All that is known, for sure, is that they were found near whiteout/friable, and that he was belaying and she tied in. It seems that an anchor failed, but, again, no one knows for sure yet. Out of curiousity are these two pitch climbs?
They are usually done in two, though not always. And there are a couple other routes near there as well. I guess what I was trying to get across, is that no one know for sure what happened, and any talk of the details might be a bit premature, esp. to the friends and family. I know the powers that be usually have two threads for something like this - one for details, and one for remembering the people, so maybe someone can make some decisions as to what this thread will be.
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camhead
Nov 5, 2008, 10:22 PM
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jman wrote: wes_allen wrote: I would consider this info to be very preliminary, as the local paper is not all the great at getting things right. All that is known, for sure, is that they were found near whiteout/friable, and that he was belaying and she tied in. It seems that an anchor failed, but, again, no one knows for sure yet. Out of curiousity are these two pitch climbs?
according to the guidebook, Whiteout is two pitches.
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limeydave
Nov 6, 2008, 12:48 AM
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Incredibly sad.
Please be careful, everyone.
I really don't want to read any more of these.
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rtwilli4
Nov 6, 2008, 1:29 AM
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Oh God... When I read this post originally I did not realize who the two climbers were. I met Ben briefly at Miguel's as I have been in and around the Red for the past few months. It's horrible news. He will be missed. My prayers to their families.
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pawilkes
Nov 6, 2008, 1:38 AM
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I would consider both of these folks my friends, they were good kids... too young to be gone. there is way too much hearsay going on here so I thought I'd contribute some more factual info.
It happened at Emerald City, not at Torrent Falls. The news reports said the "Torrent Falls area" referring to the town, not the specific climbing area. Emerald city is just down the road.
some locals helped went out and helped figure out what happened today and posted some info on redriverclimbing.com. the summary of that post is this:
earchers found a rap ring on the ground as well as some faded webbing. it appears that Ben was lowering Laura off a rap ring tied into two bolts with some webbing. (this is assumed because she was tied into the rope and he was belaying) He must have only been clipped into the webbing because no gear was found on the anchors. At some point, the webbing failed and they both fell.
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angry
Nov 6, 2008, 1:45 AM
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I played scrabble with Ben and in talking realized we had some mutual friends. I don't know if I met Laura.
He was a really positive person.
My thoughts go out to their friends and families.
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curt
Nov 6, 2008, 2:27 AM
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pawilkes wrote: I would consider both of these folks my friends, they were good kids... too young to be gone. there is way too much hearsay going on here so I thought I'd contribute some more factual info. It happened at Emerald City, not at Torrent Falls. The news reports said the "Torrent Falls area" referring to the town, not the specific climbing area. Emerald city is just down the road. some locals helped went out and helped figure out what happened today and posted some info on redriverclimbing.com. the summary of that post is this: earchers found a rap ring on the ground as well as some faded webbing. it appears that Ben was lowering Laura off a rap ring tied into two bolts with some webbing. (this is assumed because she was tied into the rope and he was belaying) He must have only been clipped into the webbing because no gear was found on the anchors. At some point, the webbing failed and they both fell.
Aw Jesus, that's just horrible. If that's the actual scenario, this tragedy could have been so easily avoided.
Curt
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chossmonkey
Nov 6, 2008, 2:34 AM
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curt wrote: pawilkes wrote: I would consider both of these folks my friends, they were good kids... too young to be gone. there is way too much hearsay going on here so I thought I'd contribute some more factual info. It happened at Emerald City, not at Torrent Falls. The news reports said the "Torrent Falls area" referring to the town, not the specific climbing area. Emerald city is just down the road. some locals helped went out and helped figure out what happened today and posted some info on redriverclimbing.com. the summary of that post is this: earchers found a rap ring on the ground as well as some faded webbing. it appears that Ben was lowering Laura off a rap ring tied into two bolts with some webbing. (this is assumed because she was tied into the rope and he was belaying) He must have only been clipped into the webbing because no gear was found on the anchors. At some point, the webbing failed and they both fell. Aw Jesus, that's just horrible. If that's the actual scenario, this tragedy could have been so easily avoided. Curt
from RR Climbing wrote: I hate to bring the news from miguels. The two passed at global village around monday. Ben left Miguels monday with Laura. Their plan was to climb white-out and lower to the ledge to climb " The Man Behind the Curtain". Tuesday afternoon Jordan and Kobes drove by the parking lot and realized Ben's car was still there. Worried for their friend, they hiked up to the wall. They found Ben and Laura dead at the base of the cliff. They quickly ran down and called 911. At the scene Ben had Laura on belay and she was tied in. Ben was farther down the hill than her. Today Dan and I rapped in from the top to discover what happened. It appears that they climbed "white-out" and then lowered to the ledge half way up the wall. This ledge is the belay for the 11a "Man behind the Curtain". From what we could tell, they decided not to climb it........there was no chalk.... The anchors on the ledge were two rusty bolts with webbing run through them. At the ledge we found the webbing was broken. On the ground we had found a rap ring with blood on it. They must have put the rope through the rap ring and started lowering Laura. The webbing broke, pulling Ben with her. There was no gear on the anchors, so we think he went in direct to the sling that he was lowering her with. The webbing was completely white. Where the webbing was against the bolt there was a faint color of its original color, dark purple. We assume they didn't notice the poor condition of the webbing. Please keep your opinions on what happened to your self.....this is what we think happened. a funeral has not been set.........thanks climbers. Dario Ventura |
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Johnny_Fang
Nov 6, 2008, 2:54 AM
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This is so awful and my condolences go to their friends and family. The RRG is an incredible community.
I am confused, though, by one thing. If he was lowering her off the rap ring when the webbing broke wouldn't the rope still be threaded through the ring? These reports seem to infer it was on the ground, which I suppose doesn't preclude that it was on the rope on the ground.
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macherry
Nov 6, 2008, 3:11 AM
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such sad news, my condolences to friends and family
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rtwilli4
Nov 6, 2008, 4:44 AM
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One of the nicest guys I met in a long time. I met him when his dog Callie got bitten by a wasp or snake and got all swollen. We shared Miguel's parking lot for a while this fall. Both of them will be missed. Prayers to the families.
There is a memorial post at RRC.com
http://www.redriverclimbing.com/viewtopic.php?t=10865&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
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majid_sabet
Nov 6, 2008, 5:00 AM
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Johnny_Fang wrote: This is so awful and my condolences go to their friends and family. The RRG is an incredible community. I am confused, though, by one thing. If he was lowering her off the rap ring when the webbing broke wouldn't the rope still be threaded through the ring? These reports seem to infer it was on the ground, which I suppose doesn't preclude that it was on the rope on the ground.
Here is what I think took place. Both climbers rap to mid rap station but since they were link together, one guy clipped in his own cord to anchor himself and used a rap biner and lowered the other person, therefore rap ring was not in use. when webbing snapped, rap ring got separated and fell to the ground.That is assuming a cord and biner was somewhere between the two climbers.
I just do not think he was lowering his partner straight over the webbing cause that will cut the webbing however, it is very important to carefully examine the webbing for any burning marks.
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on Nov 6, 2008, 5:08 AM)
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angry
Nov 6, 2008, 5:00 AM
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rtwilli4 wrote: One of the nicest guys I met in a long time. I met him when his dog Callie got bitten by a wasp or snake and got all swollen. We shared Miguel's parking lot for a while this fall. Both of them will be missed. Prayers to the families. There is a memorial post at RRC.com http://www.redriverclimbing.com/...rder=asc&start=0 |
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rtwilli4
Nov 6, 2008, 5:22 AM
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majid_sabet wrote: Johnny_Fang wrote: This is so awful and my condolences go to their friends and family. The RRG is an incredible community. I am confused, though, by one thing. If he was lowering her off the rap ring when the webbing broke wouldn't the rope still be threaded through the ring? These reports seem to infer it was on the ground, which I suppose doesn't preclude that it was on the rope on the ground. Johny Here is what I think took place. Both climbers rap to mid rap station but since they were link together, one guy clipped in his own cord to anchor himself and used a rap biner and lowered the other person, therefore rap ring was not in use. when webbing snapped, rap ring got separated and fell to the ground.That is assuming a cord and biner was somewhere between the two climbers. I just do not think he was lowering his partner straight over the webbing cause that will cut the webbing however, it is very important to carefully examine the webbing for any burning marks.
They would not have lowered directly off of the webbing (intentionally). I knew Ben just well enough to know that he was a competent climber that would have known not to do that. Besides, every report I have seen says that the webbing was badly frayed, indicating that it broke at the bolt and was not melted through from rope friction.
Do we actually know if the rap ring was found on the rope or was it separate from the rope/climbers?
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majid_sabet
Nov 6, 2008, 5:30 AM
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rtwilli4 wrote: majid_sabet wrote: Johnny_Fang wrote: This is so awful and my condolences go to their friends and family. The RRG is an incredible community. I am confused, though, by one thing. If he was lowering her off the rap ring when the webbing broke wouldn't the rope still be threaded through the ring? These reports seem to infer it was on the ground, which I suppose doesn't preclude that it was on the rope on the ground. Johny Here is what I think took place. Both climbers rap to mid rap station but since they were link together, one guy clipped in his own cord to anchor himself and used a rap biner and lowered the other person, therefore rap ring was not in use. when webbing snapped, rap ring got separated and fell to the ground.That is assuming a cord and biner was somewhere between the two climbers. I just do not think he was lowering his partner straight over the webbing cause that will cut the webbing however, it is very important to carefully examine the webbing for any burning marks. They would not have lowered directly off of the webbing (intentionally). I knew Ben just well enough to know that he was a competent climber that would have known not to do that. Besides, every report I have seen says that the webbing was badly frayed, indicating that it broke at the bolt and was not melted through from rope friction. Do we actually know if the rap ring was found on the rope or was it separate from the rope/climbers?
in ST, Clint mentioned rap rings were found on the ground which tells me, there had to a biner someplace in that rope in between the two. In addition to that, there has to be some sort of sling to anchor the belayer to main anchor and that should be hanging from his harness.
Beside this tragic accident, it is so important for others especially climbing SARs to clearly check everything and record the scene as detail as they can so everyone could understand what happened and how they could avoid future accidents.
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on Nov 6, 2008, 5:31 AM)
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angry
Nov 6, 2008, 5:31 AM
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I was thinking about this. Sometimes a hanging belay is crowded. It's possible (just a guess though) that while she clipped into the anchor bolts to untie the rope and thread it through the rings and retie that he just clipped into the webbing to give her more room.
Whether or not they were through that ring or just a draw clipped to that webbing really isn't important. The exact details are always going to be fuzzy but we do know what went wrong.
This is terrible. Dying at 18 is so young. I can't imagine what the parents are going through right now.
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rtwilli4
Nov 6, 2008, 5:40 AM
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I'm still confused. I know the webbing failed but it is uncommon to even have webbing on a bolted anchor at the Red. I can't understand why it was even there unless there were just two expansion bolts, which again, is uncommon. Also, if it had been there for so long... why was it not redundant? It seems that it only had to fail in one spot to be catastrophic. If there were two bolts, then the webbing should have been redundant.
I guess I'm just really upset right now. I'll be back there in a few days and will probably find out what happened.
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angry
Nov 6, 2008, 5:55 AM
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Hey, I don't know. It's all conjecture.
In the week and a half I spent at the Red, I never once lowered off webbing. It was all chains. It sounds like this route may have been different.
With the webbing I see 3 possible scenarios.
1. The webbing was tied in an American triangle
2. The webbing was standard but no knot at the low point
3. The webbing had a knot and it ripped at below the knot.
I'm not going to keep posting to this though. We know the large details, we're splitting hairs here.
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majid_sabet
Nov 6, 2008, 6:19 AM
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I have not seen webbing fail below the knot unless you shock it but you can easily shock load an old webbing if a biner was there which acts as 1:2 MA multiplying the force inconjuction with using a Gri Gri.
If he was lowering off a Gri Gri with redirecting biner, then shock loading is highly possible with a slightest rope arrest.
Can anyone tell me what he was using to lower?
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granite_grrl
Nov 6, 2008, 12:36 PM
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rtwilli4 wrote: majid_sabet wrote: Johnny_Fang wrote: This is so awful and my condolences go to their friends and family. The RRG is an incredible community. I am confused, though, by one thing. If he was lowering her off the rap ring when the webbing broke wouldn't the rope still be threaded through the ring? These reports seem to infer it was on the ground, which I suppose doesn't preclude that it was on the rope on the ground. Johny Here is what I think took place. Both climbers rap to mid rap station but since they were link together, one guy clipped in his own cord to anchor himself and used a rap biner and lowered the other person, therefore rap ring was not in use. when webbing snapped, rap ring got separated and fell to the ground.That is assuming a cord and biner was somewhere between the two climbers. I just do not think he was lowering his partner straight over the webbing cause that will cut the webbing however, it is very important to carefully examine the webbing for any burning marks. They would not have lowered directly off of the webbing (intentionally). I knew Ben just well enough to know that he was a competent climber that would have known not to do that. Besides, every report I have seen says that the webbing was badly frayed, indicating that it broke at the bolt and was not melted through from rope friction. Do we actually know if the rap ring was found on the rope or was it separate from the rope/climbers?
Maybe it was getting dark.
Maybe they were in the middle of a huge fight.
Maybe they were in a rush to get to the ground because one of them had to shit.
Too many maybes. We'll never know what was going through their heads, but speaking as someone who has delt with the maybes the best thing is not to get too wrapped up in them and to try to learn what we can from this and morn the loss of two climbers.
Gawd, what a horrible things to happen. 
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charley
Nov 6, 2008, 2:01 PM
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My condolences to family and friends. This is so tragic. There has been way too much of this lately.
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xtremst80
Nov 6, 2008, 2:04 PM
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my condolences to friends and family
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kostik
Nov 6, 2008, 3:24 PM
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There is a similar setup at the anchors of Tong Shing at the Volunteer Wall - another disaster waiting to happen: bolts connected with a piece of webbing with a rappel ring tied in the middle.
My condolences to friends and family. Ben was a great guy. I was surprised to know that he was only 18. He was much more mature for his age. He told me beta for Chainsaw Massacre. I met Laura at Miguel's many times, although did not know her name.
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Gmburns2000
Nov 6, 2008, 5:12 PM
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chossmonkey wrote: from RR Climbing wrote: I hate to bring the news from miguels. The two passed at global village around monday. Ben left Miguels monday with Laura. Their plan was to climb white-out and lower to the ledge to climb " The Man Behind the Curtain". Tuesday afternoon Jordan and Kobes drove by the parking lot and realized Ben's car was still there. Worried for their friend, they hiked up to the wall. They found Ben and Laura dead at the base of the cliff. They quickly ran down and called 911. At the scene Ben had Laura on belay and she was tied in. Ben was farther down the hill than her. Today Dan and I rapped in from the top to discover what happened. It appears that they climbed "white-out" and then lowered to the ledge half way up the wall. This ledge is the belay for the 11a "Man behind the Curtain". From what we could tell, they decided not to climb it........there was no chalk.... The anchors on the ledge were two rusty bolts with webbing run through them. At the ledge we found the webbing was broken. On the ground we had found a rap ring with blood on it. They must have put the rope through the rap ring and started lowering Laura. The webbing broke, pulling Ben with her. There was no gear on the anchors, so we think he went in direct to the sling that he was lowering her with. The webbing was completely white. Where the webbing was against the bolt there was a faint color of its original color, dark purple. We assume they didn't notice the poor condition of the webbing. Please keep your opinions on what happened to your self.....this is what we think happened. a funeral has not been set.........thanks climbers. Dario Ventura
This sort of thing scares the crap out of me. I know folks talk about trusting the gear, and there's certainly merits to that, but there are also merits to not trusting it as well. I'm a complete nutjob when I rap off anchors that I didn't build, and this is the reason why. I sincerely hope that people double check anchors, even if they look redundant. One never knows just how strong that anchor is, and it doesn't take much to find that out.
This is really sad; not just because of the age, but because it sounds as if it was preventable, too.
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Falcon16
Nov 6, 2008, 6:31 PM
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This is very sad. I knew Laura from climbing at the gym...she was always smiling. Ben sounds like a great guy from what everyone has been saying, I did not know him. My sincerest condolences to both families.
...lost for words.
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markc
Nov 6, 2008, 7:35 PM
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My deepest condolences to family and friends. The tragedy is only compounded by the youth of both climbers, and the seeming ease with which disaster could have been avoided.
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powen
Nov 6, 2008, 7:50 PM
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A reason the rap ring could have been free of the rope is that the rope could have been cut during the recovery process. Pure conjecture, but it explains why it would have been found off of the rope.
The community is in a lot of pain right now as I am sure many on this site and elsewhere can attest; grief is weighing heavily on the very people who can provide answers to all of these questions and more. I believe it will be some time before some of these questions and concerns about this tragedy are properly or thoroughly addressed...
My condolences to friends, family and community...
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tradrenn
Nov 7, 2008, 10:52 PM
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My deepest condolences to family and friends.
I hope it is not inappropriate for this thread but I have a suggestion for all of you climbers out there.
Please get yourself a malion and 2m (6ft.) of an inch wide webbing. I call this "my rap kit" and make your second carry it, it is very small and not bulky at all.
Whenever you are at the rap station that only has one piece of webbing on it and 1 rap ring please add your rap kit to it.
Whenever webbing feels fried use your "rap kit".
Whenever you see a webbing that has discoloration, use your "rap kit".
V.
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mega
Nov 7, 2008, 11:44 PM
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Check out the fourth post from this Supertopo thread for some scary webbing pictures. I saw similar pictures on Gunks.com a few years ago that have resulted in me always checking all webbing anchors since.
http://www.supertopo.com/..._id=716856&tn=20
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artsay
Nov 8, 2008, 1:54 PM
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A donation account has been set up to help Ben and Laura's families cover funeral costs. Your donation means so much. Please visit http://www.redriverclimbing.com/. There is a donate button on the front page.
(This post was edited by artsay on Nov 8, 2008, 1:55 PM)
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artsay
Nov 16, 2008, 5:05 PM
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If you were planning on donating and haven't yet, I'm going to close this account on Wednesday the 19th. The current total is $1837.78 and will be sent to both families next week. Thanks to everyone for your generosity. http://www.redriverclimbing.com/
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captainstatic
Feb 19, 2010, 6:27 PM
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A technical analysis of this tragic accident is now available on the Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team website. Just go the site http://www.wcsart.org/ and click on "Incidents".
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bill413
Feb 19, 2010, 7:35 PM
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captainstatic wrote: A technical analysis of this tragic accident is now available on the Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team website. Just go the site http://www.wcsart.org/ and click on "Incidents".
Thank you. Educational, if depressing, reading.
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majid_sabet
Feb 19, 2010, 7:40 PM
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captainstatic wrote: A technical analysis of this tragic accident is now available on the Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team website. Just go the site http://www.wcsart.org/ and click on "Incidents".
very good report and photos talk 1000 words.I personally never clip to a single master sling but use two independent daisy or cord and do a direct link to bolt or master chain.
Thanks for listing the link
MS
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ClimbClimb
Feb 20, 2010, 4:22 AM
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Thank you for sharing the report. It is short, well-written and does a good job of reasoning through the additional factors (e.g. low light) that probably contributed. This part is very important, since in the calm, warm, safe, well-rested environment of our desks, we can forget how easy it is to make a mistake at dusk, at end of a climbing day, etc.
Very sad.
Yet again, condolences to the families...
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camhead
Feb 20, 2010, 1:27 PM
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Excellent write-up on that report. Pretty sad to look back on this accident, and be reminded of the consequences of a tiny, stupid mistake.
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billl7
Feb 20, 2010, 2:24 PM
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Thank you for posting the report.
It is of little importance now but I can imagine Benjamin clipping in the way he did as a backup to the rap ring. However, I am uncertain of course.
End-of-the-day accident: many of us here now have come close. Stay frosty until the risk level is back to a sane level!
My condolences to those close to Benjamin and Laura.
Bill L
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clintcummins
Feb 21, 2010, 12:04 AM
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Thanks for the link to the report. Direct link:
http://web.me.com/...ers_die_in_fall.html
Good analysis of the accident.
I remember at the time, people were not sure how it happened, but having the witness at 4pm and the accident photos made it possible to figure out the chain of events.
Usually I have my headlamp, but when cragging it is often in my pack. I usually have my small digital camera, though, and a couple of times I've had to use its display screen to provide light for inspecting rap anchors and checking attachment of the rap device to the rope.
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