Actually, what Majid wrote wasn't scolding of the victim, it was flat out wrong.

and you would explain why?

right !!!

Here's basically what happened:

The team was climbing as 3. They climbed pitches 3 and 4 separately but decided to link the hauls in one shot. Matt was at the top of pitch 4, James and Perry were at the top of 3, and the bags were hanging on the haul line near the top of pitch 2. Matt had finished pitch 4 and fixed the haul line onto a pro traxion and backed it up. James was to jug the haul line while perry cleaned pitch 4 because the rope was in reach of the 3rd belay, albeit weighted already with the bags. I'm pretty sure they were using James' 9.5mm 70 m static line -- the same one we used on the Salathe a week before with no issues.

James somehow malfunctioned the attachment of his jumars to the taught haul line, but after he had released his daisy chains from the anchor. He began sliding down the haul line until one of his jumars finally engaged some 30 feet later or so. There was a sheath piling found on the scene, so we know he broke the sheath first, initiated a sheath fall, and finally the core broke after the sheath fall ended and shock-loaded the system. He and the bags fell 300 feet to the base. Other details are not known yet. We do not know how James failed to attach the ascenders properly, but we do know that he is used to using the new BD ascenders and for just that pitch he used the petzl jumars.

Please folks, understand that jumaring taught haul lines is not safe and should always be avoided. I had a close call on the Nose in 2003 when my partner jumared a taght haul line and we broke a pro-traxion in half during the lower out. It cut the sheath, and the backup knot I tied saved his life. I only use pro-traxions these days with a full strength swivel and a big locker in the bottom hole.

When climbing as 3, the second should always jumar the slacked haul line first so he can be backed up with knots or a gri gri, then the bags can be lowered out. In their case, it was not possible because they linked the hauls. If you link hauls like that, the second should clean the upper pitch first, then the third should jumar the lead line after it's been cleaned rather than grabbing the taught haul line and comitting to it. Plus, linking hauls like that is usually not possible anwyay because the haul line hardly ever hangs within reach of the intermediate belay. And also, saving time by linking those hauls is counterproductive when you consider that to get the other two up safely, you'd need to wait until the upper pitch is cleaned before the third can come up.

If a taught haul line is going over a lip, you cannot pass it with 2 jumars and because you cannot be backed up with a gri gri or knots, you are only on one jumar during the maneuver. It's also too much strain for the hauling device and is more likely to chop ropes going over sharp edges. It doesn't save time to do it this way either. Just avoid it no matter what. I've climbed many walls with 3 people and always jug an unweighted haul line. The one time we did otherwise (on the Nose) my partner almost died.

--Pete

Interesting how nobody seems interested in discussing this.

I may have a very plausible explanation for what happened. I'm still having a hard time believing that the ascenders didn't lock onto the rope properly.

I spoke at length with a friend of mine who is A VERY, VERY, EXPERIENCED WALL CLIMBER. I described the accident as it was related from the post on the taco. He immediately said, "There's a very good chance that the sheath of the rope had a weak spot in it, and when James weighted his ascenders with the rope already under tension from the load of the bags, the sheath seperated and he started sliding down."

He flat out stated, he has had a sheath seperate on him during jugging and said it was terrifying, especialy since he had to jug up just the core.

Without getting any info from someone who inspected the rope after the fall, it's hard to tell. But I believe this a very likely scenario and cause.

Again, really sad.

there is a SAR related link that shows how on few occasions petzl jumar failed to lock.

If you got it, post it up. I would really like to see it.

there is a SAR related link that shows how on few occasions petzl jumar failed to lock. http://www.expeditioncave.com/srt/petzl/failure/

http://www.expeditioncave.com/srt/petzl/failure/