Maple Canyon accident

Thanks, jackii. Tough stuff for sure.

Did she ever use a bowline to tie in?

Take care...quadruple check!

Good to chat the other day. Best wishes.

Really sorry for your loss

A very experienced long time climber in the Adirondacks was injuried a few years ago. The crag was very crowded. A mix up in whether or not the rope made it to the ground occurred. The climber rapped off the end of one end of his rope. The only positive thing was there were plenty of volunteers to help caterpillar the litter out.

It can happen to the best of us especially when commutation breaks down.

She never tied in with a bowline -always a figure eight follow through

Brian in SLC wrote:Did she ever use a bowline to tie in?

This doesn't strike me as an appropriate place to start that debate...

RIP Melissa.

To me, the point of sharing this experience is "wake up -pay attention" life can end in less than the blink of an eye

There's never "too careful"

I was certainly more careful over the weekend - and last week I wrote out a general process for performing the last person off routine, and distributed it to my friends and family.

So thanks for posting.

Very sorry to hear about the accident. I know that nothing we can say can dull the pain of losing someone, but the least we can do is try. Do know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. While the pain won't ever subside completely, the wounds will heal eventually. Hopefully you will be able gain something, such as a greater appreciation for loved ones and the limited time you're able to spend with them.

Perhaps the climbing community as a whole can learn from this accident to help prevent future accidents. Obviously drop in anchors can prevent accidents like this and are well worth the extra coin. Unfortunately many anchors aren't equipped with them, sometimes for reasons beyond our control (ie land manager's rules, etc.). Maybe there is a way to lower off that could prevent this from happening.

Whenever I have to thread the ropes through the chains/rings I always tie in with a clove clipped to a locker on my belay loop. I mainly do this because I find it quicker and easier than re threading my tie in loops. I have to wonder whether this could prevent accidents such as this. Another option may be to always use a double overhand as opposed to a single for your backup knot

A single fishermans never seemed like enough. I always tie a double .
Thank you so much for sharing. I know it's hard. Your comments may save a life.

jackii wrote:There was no evidence of any knot in tie in end of rope Analysis of what most probably happened (although I will never know for sure but most probable scenario).

Thanks for sharing as I am sure it has been hard.

jackii wrote:Climber distracted in retying in and looped rope through tie in points not having realized there was no figure eight or follow through and proceeded to tie a single fisherman back up (which this climber always did as last step in tie in process).

If I am understanding correctly the only knot believed to have been tied was a stopper knot (A single fisherman's knot makes no sense as this incident was a lowering incident thus there was only one end of the rope). So it sounds to me that only an overhand knot was tied. If so that really boggles my mind. I can understand a climber getting distracted and not completely tying the knot or incorrectly tying a bowline as both have happened before (and probably again).

But to completely skip tying the primary knot and only tying the backup knot really seems improbable.

jackii wrote:This knot would have held temporarily enough to be taken by belayer, undo personal anchor systems, and be lowered approximately seven feet before the improper knot slowly untied.

This description is the classic description of a knot not being tied correctly and then coming undone once weighted.

jackii wrote:Whether climber self checked and all looked good we will never know

Unfortunately, I think we know the answer to this question.

Allen Sanderson wrote:So it sounds to me that only an overhand know was tied. If so that really boggles my mind.

Me too. With nothing but a straight piece of rope left in the air...I'm not sure what other conclusion could be drawn.

Scary/sad.

Played with tying a finish knot a bit and hanging from the rope the other day. Interesting. Overhand knot finish behaves a bit differently than the half of a double fishermans.

For me, see that figure eight knot! And continued focus.

Cheers.

This appears to be an instance when an unnecessary step in a protocol contributed to a tragic accident. A back-up or “safety knot” to a double figure eight is unnecessary (according to the AAC and the AMGA). Its conventional use is to check that the tail is long to prevent its slipping back through the figure eight. A safer finish to the figure eight is to “pull on all four corners” of the knot (both sides of the bight, the tail, and the “standing end”), as is the standard of the AMGA. Doing such removes slack from the knot and diminishes the likelihood that the tail could be drawn back through the knot. Pulling on the tail of the figure eight ensures an adequate length (if the tail is short to be gripped and pulled, the knot should be retied). Even if the tail did pull through the first overhand loop, the remainder of the knot provides redundancy. Systematically removing slack from the figure eight also provides a hands-on check of the knot. The current accident might have been prevented if the climber’s protocol did not include a “safety knot” and instead pulled on all four corners as the final step. In this case, the safety knot as a finishing step to the figure eight tie-in may have contributed to a false sense of security and completion of the knot as well as initially holding the climber’s weight during the lower.

First, let me add my condolences and prayers. I know Melissa and her family well, having climbed at their gym since its opening and shared a rope with them at the Gunks. They are wonderful, wonderful people. Melissa was loved by all and I really miss her.

These are such tough conversations to have. I want to share a thought in the hope that it may help somebody somewhere. While we may never know the full details of this mishap, it seems clear that it likely wasn't equipment failure or objective hazard. At some point in the process a mistake was made. Others here have pointed out that Melissa was a diligent, careful climber and I can attest to that as well. It's important, because it underscores the fact that even the most experienced and cautious among us are prone to error. I know this because I too had a serious accident while coming down off a sport climb. In my case, I committed the unpardonable sin of rapping off the end of my rope. I fell a very long way and only by sheer luck am I alive. I may not be the most experienced guy but I like to think I'm cautious. I read Accidents in N American Mountaineering and was fanatical about knotting my rappel rope ends. My point though is this - if you had asked me prior to the accident what the one climbing accident I would NOT have is, I'd have answered "rapping off my rope." But it was a 100ft sport climb and I could see the ground, and something happened. I got distracted and made a mistake. For those who think you are always methodical enough to alleviate this kind of error, I hope you're right. But I thought so too.

These things may never be fully preventable but one thing that definitely helps mitigate the risk is process. I used to be an Army aviator. I flew with many experienced combat pilots, who could fly the airplane in their sleep. And yet every time we flew, every single time, we pulled out a checklist to start the aircraft. One guy read, the other guy did. It was just understood and institutionalized that process helped prevent oversight.

We learn the same thing when climbing. "On belay. Belay On. Climbing. Climb." How many of us as we've gained experience cut corners when we do this now? I sure have, but I've redoubled my commitment to talking myself through a little verbal and visual checklist every time I do something - checking my knot, leading or belaying, preparing to lower or rap. I've caught myself making mistakes more times than I like to admit.

I hope this doesn't come off as preaching or patronizing in any way. Most of you here have more experience and ability than I ever will. I also don't mean to hijack a thread. Knowing Melisssa, I bet she'd want people to discuss and learn from her accident in the hope that we can prevent other tragedies. Jackii, thanks for your input even as you grieve for your friend. I think it's a worthy final act of friendship.

-Wen Barker

Tragic accidents like this happen.

I wish to extend my sincerest condolences to Melissa's Family, friends and fellow climbers.

This is what I do before I ever commit to the Rap or the lower ALWAYS.

I extend whatever Pass, Leash or what you use to tie in to the anchors, to its maximum length, then I ask for a "TAKE" and get up really close to the anchor and FEEL the rope hold me.... not the pass. Give it a bounce if your unsure that you feel the rope tugging at your harness. Then start removing what other things (another pass, runner whatever)that are holding you and the last thing you check is this "the rope has me and it's whats holding me" then un-clip.

Be safe out their, this is a wonderful sport but gravity rules always.