Maple Canyon accident

I,the close friend, and Melissa's husband are currently trying to deal with this-
As stated in the news reports, it was an accident that took a loved ones life -Melissa did not suffer and for that we are thankful

So sorry to hear. Condolences.

Very, very sad. Condolences to Melissa's family and friends. RIP, Melissa.

Very sorry to hear. Any details as to what went wrong? Sounds like a rappelling or lowering accident.

Condolences Jackii. RIP Melissa.

Thanks to all in the climbing community for your support in this difficult time

When you are cleaning anchors check, double check, triple check, even quadruple check your knot after you tie back into the rope and perhaps ask your belayer to remind you to do so!.

Very sorry for your loss.

Hopefully local equippers will take this to heart and use mussy hooks on new installs and upgrades in the area. Adds a level of safety which can prevent such tragedies..

A wonderful family who had done much for the climbing community back East... our condolences are with the Raueis... Melissa's husband started The Rock Club in NY.

Simon W wrote:Very sorry for your loss. Hopefully local equippers will take this to heart and use mussy hooks on new installs and upgrades in the area. Adds a level of safety which can prevent such tragedies..

Unfortunately, most fixed anchors anywhere are not equipped with drop ins, which means someone almost always has to untie, thread and retie if lowering is the appropriate option -the almost always recognizes situations when the leader would run the rope through the anchors but have the top rope weight bearing on draws (so anchor cleaner does not have to untie at all, simply pick up leaders draws), when there are rap rings at the top and you can thread a bite through the rings, tie figure eight on a bite and clip this into harness with (hopefully) two opposed locking biners before untying the original knot-and recognizing there is always the lower versus rappel conundrum

Bottom line, be careful out there

A horrible thing to witness - my deepest sympathies.

Very sorry for the loss... Does anyone have a report on what actually happened?

RIP. Can't imagine bearing witness.

For all concerned details will be shared publicly if and when appropriate

Its definitely important for community learning

Are there any more details on what exactly happened?

jackii wrote:When you are cleaning anchors check, double check, triple check, even quadruple check your knot after you tie back into the rope and perhaps ask your belayer to remind you to do so!.

First -before giving details of this tragic accident, understand this is not to open controversy of whether to rap or lower, etc -this particular scenario indicated using standard practices associated with threading chains where equipped chains only allow for threading after untying and then retying knot afterwards

These are facts:
Climber had 15 +years of experience in climbing and cleanings anchors
Area was very noisy with large family reunion
Climber apparently got distracted
Fall was approximately 33 feet
Climber was wearing hard shell helmet
Area of impact was rocky
Climber assumed died instantly on impact -not breathing -no vital signs -cpr attempted until er services arrived and official death announcement made approximately 30 minutes after accident
Death due to massive head and full body internal trauma
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)
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) -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 and climber went into free fall, impacting between belayer (me) and spouse
Whether climber self checked and all looked good we will never know

Bottom line, distraction led to a fatal mistake
Climbing outside is dangerous and you can never be off your guard
Be diligent when cleaning anchors, do it the same way every time and go through a personal check list double, quadruple.....times and make sure you have done everything correctly Especially with retying your knot

This follow up post will hopefully be a wake up call emphasizing diligence and safety every time you climber, whether outside or in the gym

A wake up call, for sure. Thank you for sharing the details, jackii.