Moderator: Tim White
Scott McCrea wrote:Anonymous_Coward wrote:Chads93GT wrote: i stood in the bottom of the slippery sink, grabbed the rope, rigged my rack and immediately slipped. I fell into the pit and as the slack came out of the rope I swung violently under the undercut, slamming into the opposite wall of the pit.
Dude!!! Why was there slack in the rope? Rigging in with slack above you is a very dangerous habit that exposes you and your gear to big fall forces. Maybe I misunderstood?
Also, did I miss the part where you did your rappel test?
chh wrote:Also, I think it bears repeating again, this guy was not a climber. Just like how climbers think canyoneering is caving. Whatever,
Had the guy tested his knot he would have stood a better chance. Better technique and it wouldn't have been an issue. What have we learned here?
Don't be stupid.
I agree with you when you say bottom belays may not work on longer drops. I was in a rather lengthy debate on a previous thread ( bridge day) when I said that we could not get one to work when we tested it on a long drop there. Others disagreed with me. I do feel there is a place for a bottom belay when training new people on shorter drops. I have personally seen one person saved from death or serious injury many moons ago in a short Indiana pit when a vertical novice was sent down on too few bars. I was on bottom belay and saved him. I will admit that the problem in that case was up top when he was sent down on too few bars , he was a young man that did not weigh much. If I were up top it would not of happened. But I do feel there is a place for them in some situations. I bet money the guy I saved was glad I had him on one." On rope " has an illustration where you can use a deviation on bottom to protect the belayer from the fall zone. Not sure how effective that is as it seem to me it takes alot of force to stop someone.gdstorrick wrote:Batgirl wrote:I think what disturbs me most about this video is what seems to be the laughter under his breath as he's asking if his friend is ok. Maybe its relief laughter, but it makes him seem disingenuous about the ordeal plus the fact that he continues to video it rather than running to his friends aid and grabbing the rope for tension which would have been a more appropriate response. Should he have been belaying his friend while he was descending? Probably would have been a good idea.
I am one of the people who does NOT favor bottom belays; in fact, I will NOT allow people to bottom belay me. First, it puts people in the rockfall zone. Second, and of much less importance, their "help" can interfere with my control of my rappel. Finally, bottom belays often fail to work effectively if the drop isn't short. Yes, I can imagine things going wrong without a bottom belay but I can also imagine things going wrong with one. A better way to avoid rappel injuries is to stay at home and watch Jerrry Springer on TV like most normal Americans.
George Dasher wrote:It appeared to me as if his only mistake was to try to catch him self with his braking hand--and taking his braking hand off rope to do it.
He could have come down barefoot, upside down, and wearing a pink ballerina outfit and been ok--as long as he kept his braking hand on the rope and braking.
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