Autobelay Death in Texas

gtowey wrote: Do you drive without a seatbelt because it encourages complacency? Ride a motorcycle without a helmet?

Yes I use seatbelts and helmets. I adapt my behavior to manage/mitigate risk. I still understand that every time I get in a car, there's a chance I could die in a wreck. It's a choice I have thought through and I accept the risks involved. Some people, however, want to climb without accepting the risks involved, which is just absurd.

gtowey wrote: But you're kind of just proving my point. It's too easy to simply say "climbing is dangerous! That's what you get!" Climbing OUTSIDE is dangerous because there are so many things you can't control. But inside a gym? On a top rope autobelay system? That is literally insane to me that someone would die in that environment.

People die in safe environments just not as many. All you have to do is not pay attention or use your head. Did you heard about the guy in Yellowstone that was boiled, drown and dissolved in acid?

I just don't understand how people can forget to tie in the auto belay. That thing constantly pulls hard enough to lift 20 or 30 lbs off the ground. I can see how one can get a twist lock carabiners partially close on a belay loop.

And you can unclip yourself from a carabiner especially if you move sideways when there is a bolt at your waist level. It is a good idea to carry a draw with screwgate carabiners

((I didn't clip in today)). I have been climbing less than a year. I have only used top rope 3 times, don't know how to lead climb. I'm 99% autobelay. At the end of the day I was climbing an easy route, a 5.8. I went and sat down and then walked up to the wall to look at new route that was right beside the 5.8. It wasn't covered by the triangle tarp of the auto belay. I looked at it, a 5.10, and just started climbing I struggled a little in the middle but made it all the way to the top. I hung on the last hold and let my feet go and looked down. I freaking wasn't clipped in, I looked at the autobleay line 5 feet to my left. I was 30 feet in the air. Luckly there was 5.9 right beside it I down climbed. My heart sank I couldn't believe what I just did. In a kinda of panic mode I went to the front desk and told them. They just said, Oh well that sucks, you won't do that again. (I was a little shocked cause I felt like it was such a grave mistake) I grabbed my gear as quick as I could and got out of there. (This happened 12 hours ago and I can't sleep its 2am)

A climber, at my gym, just a few months ago fell from my same height, made the exact mistake, and broke both their legs and feet and have a long recovery road ahead of them. Co-workers mentioned this incident to me since they know I climb and I told them "I see how it could happen".

I'm new, I never had formal training, I never did safety checks before I climbed. I slowly lost my fear of the wall or falling over that last 10 months. I was being more and more careless everyday I walked into the gym. I was (dyno-ing) on that 5.8 for fun and falling into the auto belay if I missed. I was literally a ticking time bomb and just didn't see it!! I almost ruined my life today. You can see in the video how quickly I just walk up to the wall and start climbing (so stupid, now that I read these forums)

youtube.com/watch?v=lt9Rf9O…

I'm the exact idiot I feel may people talk about on forums I have read today.
I recorded myself climbing the 5.8, you can see the 5.9 and 5.10 right beside the one I'm climbing. I literally made the mistake 3 minutes after this video ended.

I'm reassessing my decision to even keep climbing (my personality type may not be suited for this) (I gave up motorcycles for similar reasons due to the danger involved)

I was 2 seconds from a broken legs and back, or worse yet could have died and left my wife and 1 year old. (all for a hobby)

Real climbers I see have a true respect for climbing. I was like a little kid in a playground.

I fear there are other "absent minded newbies" like me that can make this mistake.

##...It requires a level of attentiveness that is difficult to maintain all the time...##

Just the number of accidents mentioned in a page or two of this thread is more than a bit frightening, but I'm not sure this statement isn't even more frightening from the perspective of people just accepting that 'shit happens'. Let's put it this way: it's not the sort of statement you'd want to overhear in banter between pilots as you walked by the cockpit on boarding a plane.

Yeah it's difficult, but you're either prepared to be vigilant and alert at all times or you're definitely going to get hurt and probably sooner than later. As an old guy it's been really strange watching the demographic inflate to the point where climbing is now like driving in that accidents are just more or less completely accepted norm and something that happens to other people - until it doesn't. And really, this is where commercialism, integration into pop culture, and media presentations of climbing as just another fun thing to do don't help.

Gravity is completely unbiased, ruthlessly unforgiving and always on.

The discussion in this thread, which has been quite good, seems almost solely focused on one problem which is not clipping in. The original article would indicate the deceased didn't clip in properly ie, clipped the wrong spot on her harness, didn't get the biner fully closed/secured, or something along those lines.

Did the climber have enough instruction or experience to know if she was properly clipped in? A lot of times I see that gym rental harnesses are not your standard waist loop/belay loop/leg loop setup as they are one size fits all. Did she learn on one style of harness and then had another style that day?

Typically the biners for autobelays are the autolocking slide gates. We make an assumption that they are fool-proof and what is worse give that impression to new climbers. There is room for human error in the system beyond just not clipping in.

JulianG and Jared...to explain a bit more about what happened to me (see my note above)...I was upstairs at BRC (Boulder) where the walls are not too tall. In fact, the area is used mostly by kids and kid events. They do have a few cracks, though, that are fun to play on. The autobelays up there do not have the triangular tarps (too small of an area???); instead, they are simply clipped to an eyebolt near the floor. This is often what you see in the main gym when someone is leading a route and they want the autobelay out of the way--they will clip the autobelay webbing to an eyebolt or a heavy weight off to the side. Whatever...the point is that the triangualar tarp is quite useful (although not completely foolproof) in reminding you to clip in.
Mike...back to the original topic of not clipping in properly...In Tucson, at a place called the BLOC, they have a few autobelays in the back (it is mostly a bouldering gym). There are actually two locking carabiners clipped to the triangular tarp for each station. You unclip the slack one that is on a small runner, clip that in to your harness, then you unclip the other one that has tension on it from the autobelay above and you clip that one to your harness as well. I thought they were being ridiculously redundant, or they were worried folks would let go of the webbing and the autobelay would instantly zip-roll itself up to the top, but it may very well prevent a lot of improper clip-ins as well.

William Thirywrote: I like the auto-belay - they have allowed me miles of climbing when my partners are unavailable - but over the years I have twice forgotten to clip in. The first time I noticed when I was 20 feet up and was able to downclimb. The second time I didn't notice and fell 20 feet and luckily landed just right where I did nothing more than bruise the bottom of my feet. In each case it was simply a matter of being so focused on the climbing that I charged up the route forgetting to clip in. I'm very sad that this woman died from the simple mistake.

Over the last 15 years I've done it twice. Once when i was buying a new harness and unclipped to talk to employee -never clipped back in. Once this Friday because the auto belay was in repair and without the orange gate in front of my face i guess I thought I was clipped in. No excuse- can't get too comfortable when climbing. Both times I finished route started to kick off wall, then realized I was not clipped in. Was able to downclimb both times. First time however, i was climbing "at grade". Replayed route in my head like 50 times thinking how many times i could have easily fallen. 

Jared Lungrenwrote: ((I didn't clip in today)). I have been climbing less than a year. I have only used top rope 3 times, don't know how to lead climb. I'm 99% autobelay. At the end of the day I was climbing an easy route, a 5.8. I went and sat down and then walked up to the wall to look at new route that was right beside the 5.8. It wasn't covered by the triangle tarp of the auto belay. I looked at it, a 5.10, and just started climbing I struggled a little in the middle but made it all the way to the top. I hung on the last hold and let my feet go and looked down. I freaking wasn't clipped in, I looked at the autobleay line 5 feet to my left. I was 30 feet in the air. Luckly there was 5.9 right beside it I down climbed. My heart sank I couldn't believe what I just did. In a kinda of panic mode I went to the front desk and told them. They just said, Oh well that sucks, you won't do that again. (I was a little shocked cause I felt like it was such a grave mistake) I grabbed my gear as quick as I could and got out of there. (This happened 12 hours ago and I can't sleep its 2am) A climber, at my gym, just a few months ago fell from my same height, made the exact mistake, and broke both their legs and feet and have a long recovery road ahead of them. Co-workers mentioned this incident to me since they know I climb and I told them "I see how it could happen". I'm new, I never had formal training, I never did safety checks before I climbed. I slowly lost my fear of the wall or falling over that last 10 months. I was being more and more careless everyday I walked into the gym. I was (dyno-ing) on that 5.8 for fun and falling into the auto belay if I missed. I was literally a ticking time bomb and just didn't see it!! I almost ruined my life today. You can see in the video how quickly I just walk up to the wall and start climbing (so stupid, now that I read these forums) youtube.com/watch?v=lt9Rf9O… I'm the exact idiot I feel may people talk about on forums I have read today. I recorded myself climbing the 5.8, you can see the 5.9 and 5.10 right beside the one I'm climbing. I literally made the mistake 3 minutes after this video ended. I'm reassessing my decision to even keep climbing (my personality type may not be suited for this) (I gave up motorcycles for similar reasons due to the danger involved) I was 2 seconds from a broken legs and back, or worse yet could have died and left my wife and 1 year old. (all for a hobby) Real climbers I see have a true respect for climbing. I was like a little kid in a playground. I fear there are other "absent minded newbies" like me that can make this mistake.

Over the last 15 years I've done it twice. Once when i was buying a new harness and unclipped to talk to employee -never clipped back in. Once this Friday because the auto belay was in repair and without the orange gate in front of my face i guess I thought I was clipped in. No excuse- can't get too comfortable when climbing. Both times I finished route started to kick off wall, then realized I was not clipped in. Was able to downclimb both times. First time however, i was climbing "at grade". Replayed route in my head like 50 times thinking how many times i could have easily fallen.

I am relatively new to climbing and these stories make me very sad. My gym has two separate clips, one attached to the autobelay with tension and one as a backup. Every single time I clip in I pull both ropes on my harness loop for tension. I tap the twist lock a few times on both carabiners before I begin climbing to make sure they aren’t caught. I check it on the wall as I approach a dangerous height. If one isn’t willing to take these measures every single time one gets on the wall then I think it would be wise to properly reflect on the implications of partaking in a sport like rock climbing. Becoming complacent simply isn’t an option no matter in what context I’m climbing.