Climbing Narcissist » Accident

Brief News & Notes – 6/28/2010

Narc — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:43:53 +0000

Here are a few stories that caught my attention over the past few days:

Via the Twitter feed of Max Zolotukhin comes word that Mike Foley repeated China Glide (5.14d), a link-up of China Beach (5.14b) and Livin’ Astro (5.14c), in Rumney, NH.
Out in Colorado, Jamie Emerson reports that Alex Puccio flashed Fireball (V10) in RMNP. Not to be outdone, Chris Webb Parsons flashed both Fireball and Stranger In A Strange Land (V12).
Jamie has also been spending time out at Mt. Evans where many new problems have been established of late, most notably a new V13 called The Great War for Civilisation that was found by Dave Graham and first climbed by Daniel Woods. Check out a few pictures of Graham trying the line here.
UrbanClimber caught up with Angie Payne after her recent repeat of Clear Blue Skies (V11/12) at Mt. Evans for a nice interview.
Dmitry Sharafutdinov and Anna Stohr won the most recent Bouldering World Cup in Eindhoven. Other notable finishes were Canadian Sean McColl who finished a close 2nd and American Alex Johnson who finished 9th. Results can be found here and a few pictures can be found here.
For whatever reason there have been a fair number of accidents lately in Colorado’s Eldorado Canyon including 1 fatality last week. Just this past weekend 2 climbers were attempting to climb 100 pitches in a day when the leader took a bad fall. It appears he is going to live, but this report by the other member of the party is a thorough and pretty fascinating read. (Thanks to Peter Beal’s facebook page for that link)
Mrs. Narc and I are hitting the road in a few days for a much anticipated road trip out west through Wyoming and Montana. This means two weeks of fun for us, but it also means that updates to this blog will be fleeting at best. You’ve been warned…

Brief News & Notes – 6/28/2010 from Climbing Narcissist

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Accident At New River Gorge Offers Learning Experience

Narc — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:15:26 +0000

Over the weekend there was a tragic accident at West Virginia’s New River Gorge where a woman fell to her death from the anchors of a route she was preparing to clean. While the exact details are not clear, the informed speculation is that the potentially incorrect usage of Petzl STRINGs on both of the woman’s anchor slings could have caused the accident.

The scenario is a bit hard to explain in words, but this video does a pretty good job of depicting what can go wrong when you use rubber bands or something like the Petzl STRING on open webbing slings. There is also this explicit warning on the Petzl website that shows what can go wrong as well.

I don’t think I’ve ever used this kind of setup personally, but I’ll admit that I never realized the possible consequences of it either. Hopefully this sad story can at least have the positive effect of helping people avoid this potentially dangerous scenario.

Obviously none of this speculation will help ease the pain of those who knew this woman. My thoughts are definitely with them in this tough time.

Accident At New River Gorge Offers Learning Experience from Climbing Narcissist

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Craig Luebben Killed In Cascades Icefall

Narc — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:10:47 +0000

Climber, guide, author and Climbing Magazine Senior Contributing Editor Craig Luebben was killed yesterday while climbing on 8,120-foot Mount Torment in Washington’s Cascades:

Craig Luebben, 49, an experienced climber, climbing author, and climbing guide from Fort Collins, Colorado was killed yesterday, August 9, after been hit by falling ice on 8,120-foot Mount Torment in Washington’s Cascade Range.
Craig, a friend and fellow author for FalconGuides, was climbing with Willie Benagas in preparation for an American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) test for their coveted Alpine Guide certification. After the accident, Benagas was able to call rescuers who picked the pair up by helicopter yesterday afternoon.

2009 has been a rough year for deaths in the climbing community to say the least. Our thoughts are with Craig’s friends and family.

Photo of Mt. Torment from SummitPost

Update: More details here

Update #2: Full report at Stewart Green’s excellent About.com blog and a recent interview Luebben did with Frontrangebouldering.com

Craig Luebben Killed In Cascades Icefall from Climbing Narcissist

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John Bachar Dead At Age 52

Narc — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:37:15 +0000

Legendary climber John Bachar died yesterday in an apparent free soloing accident at the Dike Wall near his home in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Survived by a son, Tyrus, Bachar was 51 52 (my apologies) years old.

Best known for his boldness and staunch traditional ethic, Bachar is a figure in the climbing community who will surely be missed.

John Bachar – In memory of a great man 1957 – 2009

My thoughts are with his family and friends…

Update: In light of what happend, I think this interview John Bachar did earlier this year with Climb Talk Radio in Boulder, CO is all the more interesting to listen to. Check it out if you want to hear more about how Bachar got into soloing.

John Bachar Dead At Age 52 from Climbing Narcissist

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Australian Bolting Tragedy Follow-up

Narc — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:25:12 +0000

Simon Carter has a follow-up with additional information about the recent accident in Australia involving some questionable bolting. Australian Bolting Tragedy Follow-up from Climbing Narcissist Become a fan of ClimbingNarc.com on Facebook Related posts: News & Notes – 2/13/2009 A Cautionary Tale About Bad Bolting Pictures Of The Bolting On Everest Momentum Video Magazine Follow-Up [...]

Australian Bolting Tragedy Follow-up from Climbing Narcissist

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A Cautionary Tale About Bad Bolting

Narc — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:54:47 +0000

Well known Australian photographer Simon Carter has an interesting post on his new blog about a fatal sport climbing accident that occurred recently in Australia’s Blue Mountains. I highly recommend reading the entire post as Carter goes into great detail, but I will attempt a brief recap here.

The gist of the accident is that the climber, Nick Kaczorowski, was on a multi-pitch sport route when he found that he had deviated from the proper bolt line onto an unknown line of bolts. Unable to climb a blank section of rock, he went in direct to a bolt in order to attempt to stick clip the next bolt. This would allow Kaczorowski to aid past the difficult section and continue up the pitch. As he did this, the bolt he was clipped into pulled clean out of the wall causing him to fall. As he fell past his belayer, his rope was cut on a sharp edge running along the base of the belay ledge causing him to fall to his death.

Obviously all climbing accidents are a sobering reminder that we can all be more careful, but the fascinating part of this accident story is the issue of how this particular route was bolted. I think it is safe to say that many of us that sport climb often place near blind faith in bolts of whose origin we have no idea. We tend to assume that in general bolts are pretty bomber. Unfortunately, in the case of Kaczorowski’s accident this proved not to be the case when Simon Carter went back and examined the bolts at the accident site:

So next I decided to test the first bolt, the one that they had belayed off. This time I clipped a quick draw to it, and with my hand, gave it two gentle tugs outwards before it popped out. Sickened, I put the bolt back in and attached a warning sign to this bolt (written on piece of wood) as a temporary measure until all the bolts on this route can be removed.

The fact that these bolts were so poorly placed begs the question of how the belayer was not also pulled off the wall:

Later I was wondering: if this belay bolt was also so bad, then why are we not looking at a double fatality here — with the belay bolt failing and the belayer getting pulled off? It is likely that the bolt held long enough because, since the belay bolt was three meters above the belay ledge, the load on the bolt was mostly downwards, not outwards, so it held long enough that the rope was severed before it was fully loaded.

Apparently the route in question had been bolted by visiting climbers who were either not finished with the route or were not aware that the Blue Mountains sandstone generally requires glue in bolts instead of expansion bolts. Obviously all climbers assume any risk involved with climbing of any kind, but this accident raises an interesting question of whether or not someone could be held responsible for potentially negligent bolting:

Still, I’m having trouble getting past thinking that the bolting on this route was more than a little irresponsible. For a visiting European climber the lure of acres of unclimbed rock must be great, but I think it exceptionally poor form to visit an area, totally ignore the local ethic and what you are told by the locals, spend days placing bad bolts, and then bugger off again without providing a proper warning.

(Via the blog OnTheSharpEnd)

A Cautionary Tale About Bad Bolting from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes: 1/6/2009

Narc — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:18:05 +0000

Now that the 2 day work weeks are over and the normal grind resumes for the foreseeable future, it is time fore more climbing news & notes to pass your day with:

In Bishop Shawn Diamond put up a new terrifying looking V11 highball called Luminance, Alex Johnson climbed Evilution (V10) to the lip, Matt Wilder climbed the highball Evilution Direct (V11) and Tim Clifford and Matt Wilder both repeated The Swarm (V14).

Shawn Diamond climbing Luminance

Photo: Wills Young

Adam Ondra recently repeated (2nd ascent?) Francois Legrand’s route Robi In The Sky (5.14d) at Les Calanques, France. Legrand first opened the route back in 1999, adding 100 feet of steep climbing to an existing 5.13d. Speaking of Francois Legrand…
Matt Segal has been exploring the bouldering potential near Chihuahua, Mexico. Despite a bit of choss he is finding good rock with lots of potential.

Photo: Matt Segal

I can’t say that I understand many of the words in this post from Michael Fuselier on the bouldering in Tuzgle, Argentina, but the pictures look amazing!
UKClimbing recently did a series of year in review articles to close out 2008. Of particular interest to my audience would be the bouldering article written by Ty Landman. There were also reviews done for sport climbing, trad climbing, alpine climbing and female achievements.
My Five Ten Camp 4 shoes have been holding up great, but this article on how to reinforce a pair of flagging approach shoes looks to be very helpful if/when your shoes start to wear down.
Via Allclimbing & GetOutdoors comes word that the assets for Alpinist Magazine were sold for $71,000. Whether or not that ends being a bargain or a huge rip-off remains to be seen.
This story about an accident that took place in Colorado’s Garden of the Gods is another a good reminder that you can’t always trust the fixed gear you find.
Congratulations to the Red River Gorge Climber’s Coalition for a hugely successful 2008 in which they raised over $74,000 to help ensure future access to areas like the Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve.

News & Notes: 1/6/2009 from Climbing Narcissist

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Climber Falls 100 Feet in Yosemite and Lives

Narc — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:58:23 +0000

It’s not every day that you can get a person’s thoughts on what it is like to rappel off the end of their ropes and fall 100 ft. to the ground. The accident in question took place coming down off the Royal Arches in Yosemite, CA. The climber was nearing the end of her rope on rappel only to find that she was not in the right spot to reach the next belay. Certainly not unscathed, but happy to be alive, the climber (Meghan) describes her accident on the forums at Super Topo:

There was an almost ledge just below the anchor, and I sort of felt like I could stick it or something. I don’t know, I just knew it would be okay somehow. This is all I can give you, really. I have no memory of the fall whatsoever. I think that bachman’s must have slipped just as I feared, and in my grab for it, I must have let go of the red too? Somehow, I just fell right off both of them…My fingers were ground down to meat it seemed, so I think I must have scraped my way down the slab trying to grab on, and maybe that is the secret slow down to my surviving?

According to her partner she suffered the following injuries:

Fractured C2, dislocated C3 (top of cervical spine)
Several broken ribs leading to a punctured lung
Fractured tales bone of right foot
The usual scrapes and bruises

Read both of their accounts to get a more clear picture of what happened. My basic trad climbing skills leave me a bit perplexed as to what actually happened, but it is a good reminder on how important it is to be safe no matter how much experience you have.

Royal Arches in Yosemite, North Dome in the background

Climber Falls 100 Feet in Yosemite and Lives from Climbing Narcissist

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