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saphius
Jan 20, 2008, 8:19 PM
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"She is thought to have been changing her safety clips when her handhold gave way, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards."
As always, reporting raises questions.
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curt
Jan 20, 2008, 9:01 PM
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Since the rope remained behind, it sounds like she may have been setting up an anchor when she fell. If that's the case (and you don't tie-in to the anchor with your rope) always remember to never untie from the rope until you are securely anchored in with your cordalette, slings, or whatever.
Curt
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sausalito
Jan 20, 2008, 9:22 PM
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curt wrote: Since the rope remained behind, it sounds like she may have been setting up an anchor when she fell. If that's the case (and you don't tie-in to the anchor with your rope) always remember to never untie from the rope until you are securely anchored in with your cordalette, slings, or whatever. Curt
I don't really think she simply untied because if she was weighting the rope it would be incredibly hard to untie an 8. Futhermore, the article stated she was experienced which would lead me to believe that if she did start to untie her 8 before she clipped into the anchors then she would have realized it was about 1000x's more difficult this particular time. AND even if she did untie the rope the only way it stays if she had already threaded it through the anchors because the weight of the rope would just pull her end through if she had not fed at least a good bit.
My take on it is that she led the climb, clipped herself into the anchors, threaded the rope, fed the rope through her rap device (atc ect.).... but she may have failed to run the rope through the rap device AND then the carabiner. When she weighted the rap device she fell.
The only really perplexing thing is that if she was only climbing with one rope even if it was a 70m rope she would not have reached the ground if the deck was 150+ meters below.
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majid_sabet
Jan 20, 2008, 9:54 PM
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She had been climbing for a year, that what the other report said an hour ago .It is just best to wait for some locals to update us on what really happened.
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on Jan 21, 2008, 1:56 AM)
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blondgecko
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Jan 20, 2008, 11:42 PM
Post #6 of 14
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Damn.
Damn, damn, damn.
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curt
Jan 21, 2008, 1:57 AM
Post #9 of 14
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sausalito wrote: curt wrote: Since the rope remained behind, it sounds like she may have been setting up an anchor when she fell. If that's the case (and you don't tie-in to the anchor with your rope) always remember to never untie from the rope until you are securely anchored in with your cordalette, slings, or whatever. Curt I don't really think she simply untied because if she was weighting the rope it would be incredibly hard to untie an 8. Futhermore, the article stated she was experienced which would lead me to believe that if she did start to untie her 8 before she clipped into the anchors then she would have realized it was about 1000x's more difficult this particular time. AND even if she did untie the rope the only way it stays if she had already threaded it through the anchors because the weight of the rope would just pull her end through if she had not fed at least a good bit. My take on it is that she led the climb, clipped herself into the anchors, threaded the rope, fed the rope through her rap device (atc ect.).... but she may have failed to run the rope through the rap device AND then the carabiner. When she weighted the rap device she fell. The only really perplexing thing is that if she was only climbing with one rope even if it was a 70m rope she would not have reached the ground if the deck was 150+ meters below.
Well, I was assuming that she was at a stance or ledge (where she felt comfortable untying) when she fell--and not hanging on the rope. The article says that she hit her head on another ledge just 3 meters below--so, this might be a reasonable assumption. Besides, most of us have done exactly that before, without the bad outcome.
Naturally, this is just a guess--but it would be consistent with all the facts reported so far.
Curt
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majid_sabet
Jan 21, 2008, 2:00 AM
Post #10 of 14
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curt wrote: Since the rope remained behind, it sounds like she may have been setting up an anchor when she fell. If that's the case (and you don't tie-in to the anchor with your rope) always remember to never untie from the rope until you are securely anchored in with your cordalette, slings, or whatever. Curt
News report suggested the girl had untied to take photos around the 150 meter mark.
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curt
Jan 21, 2008, 2:39 AM
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majid_sabet wrote: curt wrote: Since the rope remained behind, it sounds like she may have been setting up an anchor when she fell. If that's the case (and you don't tie-in to the anchor with your rope) always remember to never untie from the rope until you are securely anchored in with your cordalette, slings, or whatever. Curt News report suggested the girl had untied to take photos around the 150 meter mark.
I read that too--but that makes no sense to me.
Curt
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blondgecko
Moderator
Jan 21, 2008, 2:49 AM
Post #12 of 14
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If I understand correctly, she was on Halfway House terrace.
Haven't been up that way myself, but I'm guessing it's common practice for climbers to scramble around there unroped. A sobering reminder that, when doing so, one should never, ever trust oneself to any single feature - especially when the rock is as notoriously chossy as the Glasshouse Mountains.
Again, really, really sad.
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Zeee
Jan 21, 2008, 12:10 PM
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The ledge in the picture is Halfway House. It is common to untie and belay off this ledge, it is quite large and relatively comfortable.
It is two to three pitches up and around 80 meters.
There are a number of climbs that lead off from the Halfway House. The rock is Trachite (old slow cooling volcanic...i think...am not geologist) and is a little chossy in the area. Rock breakage is a real danger here.
This is still very raw for many who where involved. Please keep this thread sanitised until the official report comes out, and her friends are ready to tell the real story of what happened on Sunday.
Love those around you, live your life like there is no tomorrow, and be careful out there.
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my_name_is_fake
Jan 21, 2008, 4:28 PM
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while not adding anything significant to this sad news, just to add that this girl is a Malaysian ( im a malaysian myself). condolences to her family.
here;s the news from a malaysian news feed:
MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- A teenage university student of Malaysian heritage fell 150m to her death in Queensland's Glass House Mountains yesterday after part of the cliff she was climbing gave way.
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) student Annabel Choy was climbing on the eastern face Mount Tibrogargan with eight other people when the incident happened about 1.30pm, the Australian Associated Press reported.
The 18-year-old, who was a member of the QUT Cliffhangers Rock Climbing Club, was reportedly changing her safety clips when the handhold gave way.
A message of condolence on Choy's Facebook page identifies her as the cliff fall victim.
"For those who are not already aware, there was an accident on Mount Tibrogargan on Sunday afternoon and tragically Annabel passed away," the friend wrote.
"Her positive and enthusiastic attitude and bubbly approach to life will be sorely missed by all those lucky enough to know her."
Choy's Facebook profile attests to her love of rock climbing describing here as a member of the "addicted to rock climbing" group and various photos of her negotiating cliffs were posted on the website.
On the Qurank message board for Queensland climbers, users left messages of condolence and eyewitness accounts of the drama surrounding the fall.
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=309282
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