Terrifying Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoWzzCASxPo

All the comments on YouTube are in French.  Anyone know what happened there?

This was already posted on MP - Cordillera Blanca

they committed the cardinal sin of being roped together with no protection.... No gear = no rope in my book...   Euros been flossing each other off the mountains this way for centuries... 

Wow they must've gotten FUCKED UP.

Lucky they didnt take anyone else along for the ride. Crazy footage

On the last thread where I saw this I think it was reported that the two victims survived. 

@ Nick...climbing uprotected with ropes is not restricted to Europe, and has caused accidents including to other parties in NA as well. 

The euros invented it though.. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

The euros invented it though.. 

Really?  Please explain.  The Brit royalty and French guides "invented" modern mountaineering ... Is that what you mean?

Not trying to be argumentative...just curious. 

Bruno Schull wrote:

Really?  Please explain.  The Brit royalty and French guides "invented" modern mountaineering ... Is that what you mean?

Not trying to be argumentative...just curious. 

I can't speak for Nick, but long lines of folks climbing glaciers and snow slooes in the Alps roped together but without any intermediate protection go back to the earliest days of our 'sport', and not only the Brits. Sometimes they all fell!!!! Maybe Nick is specifically referring to an early accident on Scafell in the English Lake District when an entire rope team fell off a rock climb, with fatal results for all of them.

And Wympers team on the Matterhorn. Etc etc. and I don't call trudging along tied together in a suicide pact modern mountaineering.. certainly light and fast simo climbing with protection is modern. Free soloing easy terrain is modern. Tied together unprotected is old school stupidity. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

And Wympers team on the Matterhorn. Etc etc. and I don't call trudging along tied together in a suicide pact modern mountaineering.. certainly light and fast simo climbing with protection is modern. Tied together unprotected is old school stupidity. 

Here are comments from the instagram thread:

Q1: What broke? Or what happened?
A11: The anchor broke (old sling) and no backup ice screw.
A12: Soft goods breaking due to old age is the single dumbest and most preventable mistake. If there are any doubts about a sling buy a new one or add your own!!
A13: They rappelled from an old sling, which broke. In addition, they had no ice screw as a backup anchor. 

Q2: Why did they fell?
A21: the anchor broke and no backup.
Q21: And what was the anchor made of? V thread ?
A22: yes it was a V thread, also called "abalakov". Its a common method to create a fix point in the ice

It does not appear they were simulclimbing when the accident happened

My bad. Just looking at the video it looks like a team falling. Didn't realize it was a rappelling accident. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

And Wympers team on the Matterhorn. Etc etc. and I don't call trudging along tied together in a suicide pact modern mountaineering.. certainly light and fast simo climbing with protection is modern. Free soloing easy terrain is modern. Tied together unprotected is old school stupidity. 

It apparenty has happened off of El Cap too.

There are plenty of situations in alpine climbing where moving together roped is the smart thing to do. Even more so alpine guiding. Properably employed, it may reduce risk all around. Other times it may elevate risk where the risk is negligible,  but simultaneously reduce risk where the risk is elevated. Tactics vary depending on the why and where. Again, properly used, it can be as safe, or even safer, and more efficient than modern "simul climbing". 

People find all kinds of ways to die in the mountains. Even thoroughly competent people have brain farts. Sometimes it's just bad luck. 

I am not saying there is anything wrong with the way Mick does things. I understand the perspective. It has it's place too. 

Wild.  Definitely a fast way down.  That first dude was cruisin’!   I always take off my crampons when I do that.

Eric did we not lose a guide  short roping last year.... outside of having to make a paycheck I don't see a good reason to rope up on steep terrain if there is no protection in the system. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

Eric did we not lose a guide  short roping last year.... outside of having to make a paycheck I don't see a good reason to rope up on steep terrain if there is no protection in the system. 

I am not aware of that incident. It has happened before. Plenty. 

As I said, I understand your perspective. It was the only perspective I knew 50 years ago, and until about 40 years ago. There are times and places for both. And combinations there of. 

I personally rarely have, and almost never would "simul climb" with a long length of rope between me and my partner and several pieces of gear between us. (The major exception is to stretch a pitch a bit.) I do recognize it can be an important tactic for speedy ascents of big routes. 

I never heard that one, but I have heard of guides not tying in at all, just grabbing ahold of the rope. Unsubstantiated claims they were. 

Effective short roping is rather nuanced. Done properly it can be seamlessly interwoven with short pitching, which may or may not involve gear placements. These methods may apply differently between guiding and non guiding scenarios. On snow/ice slopes things change. For non guiding parties travelling on moderate snow/ice slopes the simul climbing with running protection becomes a more appropriate tactic, although usually I would just prefer to solo almost always, until pitching it out becomes the comfortable choice. My opinion. And situationally dependent. 

On my first trip to the Alps I solo'd the Trois Monts Route to Mont Blanc. On the way back I watched a guy soloing up the ice fall on Mont Blanc du Tacul. His planned route was not going to go as I could see an impassable gap. He quickly reached that point and started to descend. Then he fell. I watched in horror as he started tumbling and tumbling. He finally came to a stop down glacier. I expediently continued my descent. About a minute later I could see some movement. After some yelling in broken French and English the guy said he was okay. He stood up and starting walking / staggering back up the glacier towards the Refuge des Cosmiques. 

As a recreational climber I will never rope up without protection. just plain fucking stupid. the times I have had to give a rope to a less experienced partner without real protection I made myself a stance and belayed them. slower but safer for me.  I get why guides have to do it. I have to do stupid dangerous stuff at my job as well . thats life . 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

As a recreational climber I will never rope up without protection. just plain fucking stupid. the times I have had to give a rope to a less experienced partner without real protection I made myself a stance and belayed them. slower but safer for me.  I get why guides have to do it. I have to do stupid dangerous stuff at my job as well . thats life . 

I know of an accident on Shasta? Happened about a year ago… My friends sister had just got a guide gig - she had 3 others tied to her when someone slipped. Really sad and devastating for everyone.
RIP