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offwidthclimber
Jun 11, 2001, 8:41 PM
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the american alpine club puts out a book each year called accidents in north american mountaineering. this book is filled with accidents and why they happened. if you go to their website, i think they have some statistical information, or at the very least you could order a copy of the book or get in touch with someone to see if they have the statistical information you need.
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offwidthclimber
Jun 11, 2001, 8:43 PM
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oh yeah, the url: http://americanalpineclub.cncdsl.com/
and yes, people have died from equipment failure, although this is more rare. most deaths occur from operator error.
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rrrADAM
Jun 17, 2001, 8:39 AM
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I was climbing at 'The Gunks' 18 months ago when a climber fell 80 feet to the deck. A guide and I performed CPR on him but he did not survive. (Half the people who fall 20 feet or more die due to internal injuries or head trauma)
The guy was a solid 5.12 climber who was setting up a 'TR' above some .12's, when he weighted his system to rappel he pulled it all down having never tied a knot in the webbing used through the ancors to his 'biners.
It doesn't matter how good you are, complacency will KILL YOU in the sport.
DOUBLE CHECK YOURSELF & EVERYONE AROUND YOU!
Even if you don't know the people, if you see something unsafe, it's your RESPONSIBILITY to say something, PERIOD !!!
[ This Message was edited by: rrradam on 2001-06-17 01:42 ]
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offwidthclimber
Jun 18, 2001, 9:09 PM
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try contacting the folks at black diamond. they do a lot of gear testing. maybe they'll share some of their results of equipment failure with you to help your project.
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coach
Jun 19, 2001, 1:41 PM
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You may also want to check out the technical section on the Petzel homepage. They have some very good descriptions of the math involved in falls and the loads exerted on the system during falls. When you think about the load charactaristics of the equipment you use and what the human body can withstand the descriptions will be an eye opener. It may also explain why systems fail. There are tremendous loads exerted when a body falls, and it doesn't have to be a long fall. Fall factors are easy to compute and the Petzel section explains it very well. As far as the question about using quickdraws to top rope off I would say the immediate problem would be that if the climber moves off route and is not directly beneath them at all times then the anchor is not truely equalized and a fall would put the load on one side of the anchor.
Be Safe, Climb On
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coach
Jun 21, 2001, 10:56 PM
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The last time I was at Gus Fruh Wall in Austin I saw someone set up a toprope on two anchors that were about 10 feet from an edge that was jagged. He was using webbing that only reached halfway to the edge so he just ran his rope over the edge. I loaned him a 50 foot piece of webbing for his anchor since we were on a route only 30 feet away. He had a new kid climbing with him who had never climbed outside a gym so I wondered what would have happened if my partner and I had not been there. Don't hesitate to tell someone politely if there is something wrong with what they are doing. If he had fallen, my partner and I would have had to help carry him out which was a two mile hike.
Climb On
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fiend
Jun 22, 2001, 2:29 AM
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the figure 8 broke? i'd like to see a picture of that.
I'm not sure if any of you know of Steve Townsend, he's a local and was in the VRG(i think) with Sonnie Trotter, when he fell 70 odd feet to the deck. Sonnie tried to catch him and busted his wrist or something. Steve was bloody and bruised but relatively ok.
Steve claims he has also been struck by lightning and mauled by a bear and that God is sparing him untill he can send 5.14.
(apologies if i have any of the facts wrong, i'm feeling lazy and couldn't be bothered to look it up, it was in R&I and Gripped magazines I believe. I saw Steve a couple of months after the incident and although he had some marks on his face still he said he was climbing strong again)
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kendall927
Jun 28, 2001, 3:24 AM
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I was setting up a TR up top, clipped into a bolt while dangling from a ledge. After I tied the waterknot I clipped in to let my belayer lower me down. The clyf was about 60 feet high, he lowered me down about half way, and I you not, the webbing broke on me, and I dropped 30 feet, and didnt break a single bone. Webbing breaking, no broken bones, seems like a miracle to me. Just badly bruised my heel, was out for 2 weeks, going strong again. With double anchors!
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mofeta
Jun 28, 2001, 2:33 PM
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Hi,
my cousing was rock climbing and he fell down of 13 meters(its like 35 feet)and he live, he was top roping and he didnt close the garabine........he couldnt clim in a yeard right now he is the best climber of Venezuela and he went to nederland for the world cup.........by the way he is a 5.13 climber now
[ Este Mensaje fue editado por: mofeta el 2001-06-28 07:35 ]
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tradclimber2
Jun 28, 2001, 7:02 PM
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As noted in other replies, "Accidents in North...." is about the best info on climbing/mountaineering accidents. You can order thru any of the on line book dealers, REI, or the American Alpine Association. Each year in the late fall a new edition comes out. The back lists statistics on number of accidents due to various factors, etc. This is your best bet, for sure. If you can get hold of previous editions, they make very interesting reading. People do die from equipment failure - but it is usually linked to other factors, rope cut, 'biner broke, anchor bolts pulled, belay tree unrooted, etc. Hope this helps with your class.
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congo
Aug 21, 2001, 10:38 AM
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mofeta, thats probably why most people dont use carabiners to hook into the harness outside.
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