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Climbing: Gym Previous Next

5/8/2018

Date

6:00 PM

Time

60 m

Distance

1:30:00

Duration

0.02 mi / hr

Speed

Equipment

5.10 Moccasym (Red 2)

Health

Weight160 lb

kilojoules0

Ratings

Effort2 / 10

Quality3 / 10

CourseClimb Iowa

Notes

Met Adam a bit after he'd arrived, not the best traffic. We did 3 routes together before an incident.

I had just finished a climb and untying when I heard a yelp and a thump. Looking up, I only saw a woman on her back a few ropes away; not sure how far she'd fallen. After an uncertain pause by everyone, someone went to the office to call 911 and several professionals came forward. She was unconscious at first but her eyes came open soon and started talking. The paramedics arrived, it seemed she had control over her limbs but plenty of pain; haven't really heard anything else.

As for the cause, from what I saw, the belayer was still connected to the rope, but the climber was not, and half a figure 8 still on the rope. Likely a failed knot, but I doubt we'll ever know as neither climber nor belayer noticed anything beforehand.

Not sure how I'm feeling about this, or how it contrasts with Rebel/Emma's experience at Palisade Head. Obviously, this isn't something you ever want to happen, but abstractly, I think this possibility should always be in your mind. Not sure if I'm sounding insensitive, it just seemed like many people were in shock/in denial. Ignoring the dangers won't keep you attentive.

Not even sure why I'm writing this, the only 2 climbers that will read it taught me everything I know about safety.

Comments

Emma Spoon

That's a sobering situation. Somehow, it happening in the controlled environment of a gym makes it seem that much harder to explain. It sounds like she'll be okay, thank goodness, but I hope everyone present will feel a renewed sense of responsibility for their own and others' safety after such an incident. I wonder if the gym will have any response?

Emma Spoon

Rebel and I were reflecting on the Palisade Head incident the other day. It's something that will stay with us forever, even if we weren't eyewitnesses. The best we can do is model the best safety measures we know and hope others follow suit. The plethora of rappeling and mis-tied knot accidents are frightening. I guess I appreciate the frequent reminders to remain diligent, but I wish it didn't have to take serious accidents and deaths to reinforce such basic skills too.

Nutmeg

I've been checking the gym's facebook and haven't seen an update. Definitely felt odd tieing in today.

Rebel.

A few questions: Was what was left of the knot up the wall a bit indicating the climber failed to tie in correctly and fell as a result? Or, were both ends of the rope on the ground like someone had recently untied the fallen climber's knot? If the later I would guess a belayer error. Perhaps lowering too fast, failed communication between climbing/hanging/ lowering? However, one would think the belayer would recall something along those lines.

Rebel.

As for processing this, yes it's important to be sensitive, but the community needs closure! That's how we deal with this stuff. Call it diligence or risk management, climbing must be approached with an understanding of when and how accidents can happen. When TRing in the gym there are only a few things that can cause an accident outside of major equipment failure (which shouldn't happen because you're in a freakin' gym!): improper tie-in, belayer error, or miscommunication.

Nutmeg

I only saw a single figure 8 loop, so what you have before going through the hard points of the harness. I don't believe she was tied in after falling. But looking back, it was a brief look in an uncertain time, maybe I saw the wrong rope. Still, haven't heard anything new.