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labrat0065
May 7, 2006, 8:25 PM
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i know its a sad topic to talk about, but at work today we were discusing the possibility of getting tangled up in a rope that you were clipped into while sleeping on a portaledge and strangling yourself, i know it seams far fetched but from a risk managment standpoint its something that needs to be checked on. there for my question is ; has there to date been any deaths or "near misses" involving sleeping while anchored in, on a prtaledge or other bivy.
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majid_sabet
May 7, 2006, 9:51 PM
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John Long wrote on one of his books about climbers with near death experiences, One-chapter talks about a guy who was planning to get nutty with his female partner on the big wall so they headed up to EL CAP. The plan was to get wild on some ledge but when he got to the ledge, there was a Asian team already camping out, so he went for plan B, climbing little more and getting wild on the portledge.
He went up and find a good anchor and got ready for the WILD THING but to become wild, the harness was on the way so he took the rope and tied a knot to one his foot and got all naked ( Sort of) during this time, the canvas on the portledge broke wide open and he fell feet first but then turned upside naked from the wall, a Historical moment in the big wall climbing. Later; Dude managed to turn around and climbed up the rope some 10-15 feet .
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mistymountainhop
May 7, 2006, 10:13 PM
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Registered: Oct 14, 2003
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And what happened to the Lady? Thats a big hole I'm drawing a blank on.
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valeberga
May 7, 2006, 11:22 PM
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That's because he named his portaledge "lady," unfortunately the ledge was not designed to have a hole cut in the middle, and he probably should have at least installed a grommet...
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tradmanclimbs
May 7, 2006, 11:30 PM
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As I recall the tale , they did do the wild thing to the extent os at least half the possitions in the Kama sutra and the hammock ripped after the fact spilling all their cloths and gear off the wall resulting in a verry cold night and extreemly embaressing rescue the following day :D back on topic I have had near strangleing incidents with the drawstring that cinces up the hood on my mummy bag. Pretty freaky to wake up with that cord arround your neck :shock:
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slacklinejoe
May 8, 2006, 12:55 AM
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The only rope strangulation story I've heard was a Japanese guide who mysteriously fell and got the rope around his neck. I've not heard of anything portaledge related though.
Other than that, it's far easier to end up with hanging asphyxiation (harness making it too hard to breath while unconscious) which theoretically could occur anytime you could take a whipper and could hit anything to knock you out. I suppose if you fell out of your portaledge and hit something that could occur and may be more likely than straight up rope strangulation.
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papounet
May 8, 2006, 9:46 PM
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Registered: May 28, 2003
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In reply to: Other than that, it's far easier to end up with hanging asphyxiation (harness making it too hard to breath while unconscious) which theoretically could occur anytime you could take a whipper and could hit anything to knock you out. I suppose if you fell out of your portaledge and hit something that could occur and may be more likely than straight up rope strangulation.
I believe you are referring to suspension trauma or harness syndrome which does not require the victim to be knocked out to happen. It is the mere fact of hanging motionless in a harness which causes the syncope.
http://www.suspensiontrauma.info
http://www.osha.gov/...shib/shib032404.html
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krusher4
May 8, 2006, 10:16 PM
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Registered: Nov 17, 2005
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I heard that once some dude was up on El Cap and his anchor failed while he was sleeping. His rain fly opened like a parachute and landed him safely at the base.
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