Fatal accident at Tahquitz today

Gregg Vigliotti wrote:

“The dude” died, tragically, so have some damn respect, for him and his partner. 

Russ' point was completely legitimate. Not disrespectful at all.

FrankPS wrote:

Russ' point was completely legitimate. Not disrespectful at all.

Perhaps the underlying point was, but the language and tone used was shitty. His kids have no father. Let that sink in for a sec…

Russ Walling wrote:

Nice gesture but the dude made better than 5 million dollars over the last few years, had a full NFL pension, plus maybe a firemans pension. Adding a gofundme to every mishap these days seems like a bit much.

Many people express their empathy and love with money. 

Gregg Vigliotti wrote:

“The dude” died, tragically, so have some damn respect, for him and his partner. Living people have used gofundme for much less, looking for a lot more. Am I donating, no, but I’m not upset that there’s a gofundme page for him. Take the time to also look into how pensions work.  
He went to climb, as we all do, and did not come home, nor did his partner.  It is awful, made worse by 6 pages of nonsense speculation that has danced around the same two scenarios. Understanding an accident to learn from it is one thing, talking about the exact two scenarios over and over again is plain ridiculous.  Those who have “intimate knowledge” and have been speculating here, should just go climb up there to find out for themselves and report back. Otherwise, let people grieve, or support them emotionally by being respectful and honoring two climbers that died doing what we all love. 

This.

The thread clearly has a different direction than the other more recent fatal accident threads on here. It is hard to articulate why, but its def different, a lot of ego and posturing on this one it seems. A lot of passive aggressive comments about the climbing parties ability, experience and the insistence of some to conclude they made mistakes, etc. Not to mention, imagine being triggered by someone suggesting a donation to a deceased father's family, wow. Not one person in the linked thread below expressed the need to know what happened, not one person pointed to the fact that there was probably human error involved in this fatal accident, every posts seemed thoughtful and in the interests of those directly and indirectly impacted by the fatality. https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/123060402/black-wall-death. Clearly a difference in these two threads. 

Lee Chandler wrote:

This.

 Not one person in the linked thread below expressed the need to know what happened, 

Lee Chandler wrote:

This.

The thread clearly has a different direction than the other more recent fatal accident threads on here. It is hard to articulate why, but its def different, a lot of ego and posturing on this one it seems. A lot of passive aggressive comments about the climbing parties ability, experience and the insistence of some to conclude they made mistakes, etc. Not to mention, imagine being triggered by someone suggesting a donation to a deceased father's family, wow. Not one person in the linked thread below expressed the need to know what happened, not one person pointed to the fact that there was probably human error involved in this fatal accident, every posts seemed thoughtful and in the interests of those directly and indirectly impacted by the fatality. https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/123060402/black-wall-death. Clearly a difference in these two threads. 

There's a "Memorial" section for the purpose of those just wanting to share memories or condolences. Threads in this group tend to discuss/speculate mechanisms for the accident

This thread needs some baby pics:

If things are getting intense or you’re about to do some sketchy shit think of the little people first, even if they’re furry and obnoxious or not even yours.

Namaste.

^^^^ Now that is a worthwhile perspective. :)

Russ Walling wrote:

Nice gesture but the dude made better than 5 million dollars over the last few years, had a full NFL pension, plus maybe active fireman's benefits. Adding a gofundme to every mishap these days seems like a bit much.

I agree with your thoughts but to a point.  I have many issues with gofundme.

At the end of the day people choose whether to donate money or not.  Because of this choice, I'm okay with people creating gofundmes.

Russ Walling wrote:

Nice gesture but the dude made better than 5 million dollars over the last few years, had a full NFL pension, plus maybe active fireman's benefits. Adding a gofundme to every mishap these days seems like a bit much.

Gavin's wife is also part of the climbing community and on these message boards looking for answers. I implore you to think more carefully about your words and messages so close to a tragic loss. She not only lost her husband and father of her daughters, but also a close friend and climbing partner in Chelsea. Many of us are looking for answers and closure right now. 

I know Gavin's family well, and they are incredibly generous and humble people. They didn't ask for the gofundme, it was started by Gavin's college friends looking to help however they could after losing someone close to them. Do know however you feel about gofundme in general, or in this particular case, the funds will be put to good use here either for Gavin's daughters or a charitable organization in honor of Gavin's life.

Adam Burch wrote:

Trying to imagine how heartbroken those little girls must be with their daddy taken away.  Breaks my heart a little too.

definitely.  when i was in 3rd grade my uncle passed away leaving a wife and 3 small children.  that was 40 years ago and it still something we all think about all the time.  it weighs heavily over time.  for most of the people in this thread the accident will be almost forgotten in a year, but for those who are close to them it is something they will face for a lifetime.

Taquutz lures young climbers with " easy " climbing grades. 

Many find out that Angels Fright is a test piece for it's grade, and sketch through it after leading 5.7 and 5.9's at Big Rock.

Route finding and navigating loose rock, managing rope drag... all pitfalls for a new climber.

It's close to urban areas but far enough away that some will risk climbing with thunderheads over them, rather than drive up there for nothing.

The governing ethic at Taquitz for most remains, " the leader must not fall ". Many bring sport climbing mindsets to this rock, at mortal peril.

No matter how it happened, they didn't come home, so someone messed up.

Human error is an act of God. 

Condolences 

A. B. wrote:

... for a new climber.

Paulina Bryant wrote:

Chelsea was not a novice climber, she’d been climbing a decade and had taught many others to climb and rappel safely. We had a whole debate about tying knots once - whether the chance of the rope getting stuck outweighed rapping off the end… she was team knots. I know even the most experienced climbers make mistakes, so anything is possible but I just wanted to say, she was deliberate and careful and always had safety in mind. We’d been friends since college and both come to climbing separately, but I got to climb with her quite a few times in the last few years. She was so graceful and so strong, I can only dream of climbing like her. We had plans to go to smith rock and trout creek this fall… I just loved her so deeply. Anyway, call your loved ones and please be safe out there.

Climb on, Chelsea.

I’m as prone to assume and project things onto the fallen as anyone.  Glad for those who are redirecting.

Mostly, best wishes for those close to Chelsea and Gavin. 

RMRU has completed their investigation of the accident.   See the report below.

https://rmru.org/2022/10/05/2022-28/

Eric Holden wrote:

RMRU has completed their investigation of the accident.   See the report below.

https://rmru.org/2022/10/05/2022-28/

Awesome report. Yes, I recall that webbing, It’s been there for a long time.

Condolences to anyone that knew them. 

That is a mistake that is unfortunately made far too often. Don't trust tat that you don't know the history of and haven't fully inspected. At the very least, protect the first person on rappel with a backup until they can weight test anchors of unknown quality. Sounds like the rockfall account was accurate, but apparently not part of the original failure, perhaps just knocked loose.

I think a good lesson is that a wet sling can hide one of the indicators of age: brittleness.

Thank you,  RMRU.

Eric Holden wrote:

RMRU has completed their investigation of the accident.   See the report below.

https://rmru.org/2022/10/05/2022-28/

As someone who uses my fair share of tat anchors, this is a stark reminder of the serious risks of trusting old manky gear. Thank you to the team who put it together and condolences to the climbers’ family and friends. 

Excellent RMRU write up.  That pic of Gavin’s family a page back makes this especially tough to take.  I see my own girls in that pic.  I just can’t imagine.  It’s the ones left behind that suffer most.   The best that can come out of this is the additional awareness and thoughtfulness  that this tragedy spurs in others when encountering similar situations.  We play a dangerous game, and laughter and sunshine can turn to hail and tragedy in an instant.