Grigri gym accident, 40' to the floor

I was on climbing at the gym over the weekend when my partner dropped me 40' to the deck. Fortunately I have zero injuries, my partner received severe rope burns on both hands.

While on route prior to the ground fall I had already had 2 takes and 1 fall, so I know my partner was attentive and his Grigri was working. When I hit the deck it was on a fall, not a take, and my partner was expecting it, there was little to no slack in the rope at the time of the fall. I fell from the 11th clip, about 40'. It was a uncontrolled decent but no where near free fall. I hit the padded floor hard enough I collapsed, but not hard enough to bounce. If I had taken the same fall outside I most likely could have broken something.

Immediate review of the incident, it seemed as if my partners Grigri2 had failed, the cam action seems to not fully in-gauge causing the rope to not lock out completely under load. We discussed the possibility of it being under the recall, inspection confirmed the serial number has been recalled. I feel this was not related to the incident, even so he has sent his defective Grigri2 back to Petzl. Please inspect your equipment and check for recalls. There are currently quite a few out there in the climbing equipment world.

I have been investigating much deeper into this incident and have came up with my own theory as to the cause of me hitting the deck.
At the time of the fall It seems that the lack of slack in the rope could have not allowed the rope to bump the Grigri hard enough to lock the cam causing it to flow freely through the device. At the same time I think my partner had his top hand gripped on the rope as well as his brake hand in proper position with closed grip. If so this could be the reason as to why, the top hand was taking the force from the Grigri thus not allowing the cam to lock. He held on with both his top and bottom through the incident, resulting in severe rope burns on both hands. When I fell my partners reflex was to grip the rope where he was currently holding rather than get both hands to the braking end of the rope.

I do not believe this accident was not caused by lack of climbing experience or equipment failure but, more so conscious competence with a Grigri. The Grigri is commonly misconceived as "fail proof' and so easy to use a monkey can use it. Just like all belay devices they all require education and training to learn proper technique. It is just as important to understand where something fails and why, as well as how to use it properly.

Proper Belay technique with a Grigri, do not grip the rope with your top hand it could keep the Grigri from locking.

Please take the time to inspect, study and practice proper use of all your equipment so you have unconscious competence. Your muscle memory will save you and others.

-The End

Super Fluke wrote:At the same time I think my partner had his top hand gripped on the rope as well as his brake hand in proper position with closed grip. If so this could be the reason as to why, the top hand was taking the force from the Grigri thus not allowing the cam to lock. He held on with both his top and bottom through the incident, resulting in severe rope burns on both hands. When I fell my partners reflex was to grip the rope where he was currently holding rather than get both hands to the braking end of the rope.

This, in all likelihood, is the sole explanation. And you're not the first victim.

Rgold, among others, has advocated for teaching people to grab the brake strand with BOTH HANDS to catch a fall. When I teach people to belay, on all devices, this is now what I teach.

11th clip, 40ft? That is a crazy number of draws for that height. Glad you didn't get hurt.

So if your partner had been unconscious this wouldn't have happened? Lol. This is gonna be fun.

Oh, two weeks ago I saw someone hit the deck while getting belayed by an ATC from about the same height and walked away just like you. Seems to be pretty common these days.

pbrownw wrote:11th clip, 40ft? That is a crazy number of draws for that height. Glad you didn't get hurt.

In a gym the draws are about a close 5' apart. This was on a long steep overhanging wall so measured length of the wall would probably be closer closer to 60'. I did not measure height so it's a rough guess.

Tim Lutz wrote: Top hand gripping the rope did not allow the cam to engage. This is the correct answer. There is nothing wrong your Gri or anyone else's. User error.

this ^

J Q wrote:So if your partner had been unconscious this wouldn't have happened? Lol. This is gonna be fun.

Pretty much.

If top rope belaying why not use two hands? That's a good idea. Unless you're using a fat rope, in which case it helps to pull everything along with a top hand. It seems wise to have your hands in the right place in the first place if you're going to instinctively grab the wrong side of the rope otherwise. Course belaying someone on lead you need to feed rope with the top hand, but the rope still needs to be feeding through the brake hand, which should be in proper position.

As far as I can tell, the GriGri without the cam engaging should still hold a fall if you are using it like you would an ATC. The rope is still at an acute angle in the device in the same way it is around the biner when clipped through the ATC, enabling you to brake. You can't stop a fall holding the rope above an ATC either - it's just as useless as not belaying at all. My guess is the belayer had his hand somewhere in the vicinity of the braking position but could not have been holding the rope or he would have belayed you. Maybe he's embarrassed to admit it.

You can feel how this works when you lower someone on a GriGri - it's still your brake hand controlling the descent just like an ATC - the handle on the device just opens the cam. The cam is designed to be an assist, that's all...

J-K wrote: After seeing this video, how can this incident be chalked up to user error when they followed manufacturer suggestions?

Because the belayer had one hand ABOVE the Grigri. As others have pointed out, this is the classic Grigri user error.

Found on Petzl's site.

Another bad belayer reflex is to grip the climber side of the rope.

In this case, the belayer burns his hand with the rope and worse, prevents the GRIGRI's cam from rotating, which then cannot brake the rope. Here also, the climber falls to the ground.

petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Belay…

Dylan B wrote:As someone who has only rarely used a grigri, and only for occasional toprope belays, every time this comes up I find myself wondering the flowing If, for whatever reason, the cam on a grigri fails to engage, but the belayer is using proper technique and has a firm grip on the brake line, does the device have sufficient friction to catch a significant lead fall? I.e., is there enough of a bend in the rope through the device that it will function like an ATC in the event the cam is jammed open?

My experience has been that if the cam is not engaged at all, a Grigri provides MUCH less friction than an ATC.

Matthew Williams 1 wrote:As far as I can tell, the GriGri without the cam engaging should still hold a fall if you are using it like you would an ATC. The rope is still at an acute angle in the device in the same way it is around the biner when clipped through the ATC, enabling you to brake. You can't stop a fall holding the rope above an ATC either - it's just as useless as not belaying at all. My guess is the belayer had his hand somewhere in the vicinity of the braking position but could not have been holding the rope or he would have belayed you. Maybe he's embarrassed to admit it.

I don't think so.. If you have someone crank the lever wide open on a GriGri and then try to hold a fall just holding on the brake line I think you're going to have a really hard time.

Gunkiemike wrote: Because the belayer had one hand ABOVE the Grigri. As others have pointed out, this is the classic Grigri user error.

climbing friend,

yes myah, if the belayer holds proper hand firm and ready on the brake strand, and not above, the cam will engage unless it is the apocalypse and fiery boulders they are rain down all around you. Even then, the grigri would be working close as a tube style device if your climbing friend has the wherewithal to hold fast on the brake strand and, per manufacturer recommendations, not hold the top strand indefinitely for no reason, and not rest your hand on the device indefinitely for no reason.

I know that no handing thee brake strand, holding the top strand indefinitely and for no reason, and resting your weak, limp, and tired hands on the device indefinitely for no reason is the accepted way to belay in Rifle, CO, and many other sport climbing area and gyms, but this is not OK. Hmmmmmnnnnnyah!

I did a quick look around the gym last time I was in there. Almost every belayer I saw with a Grigri did two of things I consider bad Grigri belaying.

1) they almost all held the cam down...not just when yarding out slack, but pretty much held it down as the default position. Keep you hand off the cam unless you are actively and quickly paying out rope. As soon as you're done, get your hand off the cam.

2) Grabbing the climber side of the rope when catching a fall...don't do it...or at the very least train yourself to not pull on that side of the rope.

I have serious doubts that a Grigri with a functioning cam will provide enough friction to safely arrest a fall. This has been discussed before and would be difficult to test, but try threading the device backwards (a close approximation of the bend in the rope without activating the cam) and see how little friction it has.

People with ATC's and other devices weren't any better. I saw several of them taking their brake hand completely off of the rope to pull in or give out slack.

J-K wrote: If you watch the video you'll see thats what they suggest and demonstrate over and over. Super Fluke, that diagram seems to show the belayer WITHOUT a hand on the brake strand. Petzl doesnt seem to have a problem with belayers with a hand on both sides of the device.

Having your hands on both sides of the rope is not the issue, your consistently giving and taking slack. You need one hand on each side of the device to do so. Its what you do with your hands when it comes time catch or take. I think my partner gripped the rope with his top hand like described in the above diagram, preventing the grigri to engage.

Nathanael wrote: I don't think so.. If you have someone crank the lever wide open on a GriGri and then try to hold a fall just holding on the brake line I think you're going to have a really hard time.

You might be right - I have to admit I never tried it, but the feel on lowering is that my brake hand is doing the work. Then again that's nothing compared to an actual fall, to say nothing of a lead fall, so I could be talking out of my arse. I'm gonna research that one...

A light grip or even a slight outward push on the climber's side along with a firm grip on the brake side is perfectly fine. Lightly cradling/pushing the climber's side helps keep me oriented towards the wall so I can then use my legs to keep from smashing into it (I tend to get lifted as most of my partners are heavier).

It's the death grip/outright pull on climber's side plus weaksauce or nonexistent grip on brake side which causes problems.

Dylan B wrote: If, for whatever reason, the cam on a grigri fails to engage, but the belayer is using proper technique and has a firm grip on the brake line, does the device have sufficient friction to catch a significant lead fall?

How significant? In OP's case, the answer is yes. A factor 2, probably not. But that's not all that relevant. If you are conditioned to the cam engaging, your ability to catch w/o it is significantly compromised.

The recall was on the handle of the device and definitely does not have anything to do with this accident. From the sounds of it your partner death gripped the climbers side of the rope, preventing the cam from engaging. Had you at any point reached a "free fall" speed the cam would have likely engaged regardless of his hand on the climber's rope. As many others have said it sounds like a user error, glad you didn't get hurt and thanks for the reminder to everyone to not grip the climber's side during a fall.

Dylan B wrote:If, for whatever reason, the cam on a grigri fails to engage, but the belayer is using proper technique and has a firm grip on the brake line, does the device have sufficient friction to catch a significant lead fall?

If the cam fails to engage you about as much friction as if you just wraped the rope around a biner once. You'd be better of with a hip belay than a gri-gri who's cam doesn't engage.

My [limited] understanding of the gri-gri is that applying braking force to the brake strand should engage the cam even if the force of a fall or hang fails to engage the cam. I'm not 100% of this, however, so take with a grain of salt.

This is the first gri-gri incident I have heard of that involved the belayer death-gripping the climber strand AND still holding the brake strand. Interesting...

why isn't there a thread like this every time somebody gets into a car accident?