Rogers rock rescue

Anybody hear or have info on the incident today at Rogers? Supposedly two people were in need of rescue I'm curious as to which route and what went wrong.

Really? Why wouldn't they ascend their lines? Story is boggling and sounds lacking. It's a slab and they had lines running. Why didn't they do something besides contacting a rescue party?

I know someone that found 2 ropes up there. Likely someone using a munter, and after the 2nd or 3rd rap the rope just coiled like crazy. Likely same scenario here. Would you accend a rope that's just "stuck" ? If my life were in jeopardy yeah, but if it just took a Ranger some hiking to get to me? I'm not that proud.

Why wouldn't they ascend their lines?

Well here's one possibility - they didn't know how to ascend a rope. Look at this story that describes what happened to these two trying to rappel off the face of El Cap.

friendsofyosar.org/rescues/…

Nothing like a night out

The Rangers supported their call for help.
FTA
“If they had tried to climb back up, maybe it would have worked; maybe they could have got the rope down,” Donegan said. “Or it could have led to a fatal fall. It certainly was the right decision to call for help.” - See more at: adirondackalmanack.com/2013…

"Actually, Bien and Gue had only one climbing rope. When we met at the canoe launch, Bien told me that he also had an 8mm cord that he planned to join to the rope for the rappels. The plan was to rappel down just the rope and then retrieve it by pulling on the cord. He intended to use a figure-eight knot to join the rope and cord. This is a big knot that presumably would prevent the cord from passing through the anchor bolts when the rope was weighted. Perhaps the size of the knot made it prone to snag."

Likely the culprit.

Climbing up a snagged rope is dangerous unless you know what it's snagged on. If it suddenly decides to let go, you're falling a long way.

A couple friends of mine got ropes stuck there earlier this summer. They were caught in a t-storm and had to leave them.

or u could just walk (read not climb) up the slab grab your rope and walk back down... can you even, technically speaking, fall on that slab? Isn't is technically a tumble? Happy no one got hurt...

The common descent follows a bolted route. They could've just went on belay on the free end of the 8mm cord and ascended the stuck end (clipping the bolts with their "lead" rope as they pass them). Then once they got to the other end of the rope, just ascend as you normally would.

It's a pretty low-angle slab, so even if the rope came unstuck and they took a lead fall on the 8mm cord, it wouldn't be THAT bad.

EDIT: And if the rope was stuck down low and they reach the stuck part (probably the knot) before the other end, then build a bail anchor and tether yourself to it, unstick the ropes, and rap off your bail anchor (cleaning the draws on the bolts on the way down). Lose a couple of nuts and biners, keep your dignity.

The rap isn't over an easy line (from what I recall). Just a guess - it was probably harder than they would/could (lead) climb safely.

Little Finger is one of those slab leads that draw non-slab climbers. My first time up it I was not solid on slab (compared to now). I can see why someone would look up a 5.7/5.8 slab route with 15-20 foot runouts between bolts, contemplate leading it on thin cord, and call for a rescue instead.

I don't think they did anything out of the ordinary in their situation. It was an easy rescue for the ranger crew and everyone got out fine. Seems like this was done right. Certainly don't see anything "undignified" here.

Kevin Heckeler wrote:Certainly don't see anything "undignified" here.

Yeah, but hold that thought because I'm sure it's coming...

Not to dig any deeper or anything but isn't the little finger rap next to the tree line? I love my armchair by the way...

Kevin Heckeler wrote:Just a guess - it was probably harder than they would/could (lead) climb safely.

I didn't suggest that they free climb it--ascend the stuck rope while being belayed on the free end of the rope. If both ends were originally at the rap station, then you should have enough rope to make it to the other end. Worst case and the stuck rope becomes unstuck, you're taking a lead fall to the last bolt that you clipped.

Kevin Heckeler wrote:Seems like this was done right. Certainly don't see anything "undignified" here.

The "dignity" comment might have come off more dickish than I intended. Shit can always go wrong and self-rescue isn't always possible (and might not have been in this case), but regardless of the circumstances, if I have to be rescued, I'm going to feel a little embarrassed.

Morgan Patterson wrote:Not to dig any deeper or anything but isn't the little finger rap next to the tree line? I love my armchair by the way...

No, it heads down to the right of the route, over slightly steeper terrain occupied by some 5.7 and harder climbs. The trees you're thinking of are waaay right.

dandannoodlesmamabear wrote: I didn't suggest that they free climb it--ascend the stuck rope while being belayed on the free end of the rope. If both ends were originally at the rap station, then you should have enough rope to make it to the other end. Worst case and the stuck rope becomes unstuck, you're taking a lead fall to the last bolt that you clipped. The "dignity" comment might have come off more dickish than I intended. Shit can always go wrong and self-rescue isn't always possible (and might not have been in this case), but regardless of the circumstances, if I have to be rescued, I'm going to feel a little embarrassed.

I agree that there were options, but when the self rescue option includes potential for injury to the uninjured, I can see why a climber might not embrace it. We're also not sure their experience, they may not have known how to utilize what they had.

I'd probably use embarrassed. I would certainly feel that way after any rescue.

"Re-ascending the rope" = leading 5.9+ friction on an 8mm static cord. I don't blame them for busting out the iPhone.

one of the reasons I have not embraced the skinny static line tag system is that it limits your self rescue options. When i do use a tag line it is one of my Half ropes. I feel comfortable leading close to my limit on a single half rope as long as there are no sharp edges arround..

A comment from author Phil Brown
October 19, 2013 at 10:20 pm
I got a few,details wrong. Cedric tells me in an email that the cord was 6mm (not 8mm) and that they were,joined with a bowline and figure 8 knot. A carabiner clipped to the figure eight keeps the rope from passing through the anchor. The technique, which he has used elsewhere, is a modified Reepschnur You can google it. One drawback is the tendency to snag if the rappel is not clean. And that’s what happened.

- See more at: adirondackalmanack.com/2013…