My accident in Big Cottonwood - take aways?

Dear All, 

Not sure how to write this. I made many mistakes on Saturday 8/12. I showed a new belayer how to use a grigri and watched her belay 4 kids to make sure she understood. Only use black lever when lowering, only use a few fingers do not grip with entire hand, always guide the rope with the second hand. But when I cleaned the route and had them lower me (I of course weigh significantly more than a kid)  they must have kept the lowering lever completely open sending me flying down. I was wearing a helmet but hit multiple ledges and have minor fractures in several vertebrae and significant bruising/abrasions. Scary thing is that what saved me is that the grigri autolocked (she had burned her right brake hand and must have let go of both hands before I finally stopped??? ). Probably a 30 foot fall leaving me upside down 15 feet from the ground. Could have been fatal. Could have been paralysis.I am of course extremely lucky and grateful.

So, I do not have many good take aways. I would say:

always, always make sure a belayer knows what they are doing. Rappel when you can, at least you control your own fate and your partner can always give you a fireman's if needed. Grigri are a powerful tool but are also easy to misuse. In a setting with a new belayer, seek help if people are around. Better the embarrassment of not having a proper belayer as your partner than death. 

I am still in complete shock and certainly do not need posts telling me what an idiot I am. This goes without saying much.

But, I do want people to post their own advice for others as a way to improve understanding of the extra precautions we need to make to ensure our safety.

Wow! Yeah, super glad it didn't go worse.

You can back up a lower from your end (I'll get flamed for that I'm sure) various ways, including with a grigri, or rap, if you are super comfortable doing so.

If you can get someone to help, they can offer a backup belay, while someone is learning.

Four kids is scary. I know you know that, now. So, I will also add, you are probably a much safer climber now. 

Again, so glad it wasn't worse, and thank you for being brave enough to post. Learning from these things is at least something.

Best to you, and those who were there also! OLH

Edit to add: a local gym has cinches installed on every rope. They vary wildly in how fast people come down, even with a friction wrap on the anchors. I've been stuck not moving at all, twice, and a partner was dropped entirely. My guess is she was not at all prepared for the weight difference and took a reasonable shot at it by opening it up as expected, then tried to control it with her brake hand. I've seen quite a lot of wide open levers on the cinches. Not how they are supposed to be worked but they do it that way anyway, with the friction. Fine, until it isn't.

One takeaway: when training a new belayer, be sure to emphatically describe how dramatically different it will be to lower someone that weighs e.g. 120 lbs vs. 170 lbs., and how severe the consequences can be for opening the lever on the GriGri recklessly. Especially on routes without much rope drag. If "never take your hand off the brake" is the first rule of belaying, then "always lower in a conservative and controlled manner" should be in the top 5.

I think this also applies to experienced belayers who mostly climb with lighter partners. Habit and routine are no joke, I'd rather err on the side of politely reminding an experienced belayer that I'm heavier than their usual partner. If they're a good belayer they won't bat an eye, and it's worth the peace of mind. 

and thus why I dislike grigris; you have one less hand for holding the brake rope.  when I lower someone, using old ass ATC, I have two hands on the brake rope.

It takes guts to post this and glad you didn't die.  I hope most people take away that belaying is as important as climbing and people should spend a lot of time learning how to belay before they are allowed to hold someone else's life in their hands unsupervised.  

It's easy to expect any human of average intelligence to be able to competently belay a climber-- after all, we do it all the time, right?! 

The truth is, while one new person may have a knack for handling rope through a friction device, most people need a lot of practice before they can safely lower/belay someone as smoothly, easily, and confidently as an experienced rope gun. 

I'd say the take-away is to never expect someone new to belaying to give you a solid catch without supervision for the first few trips out. I've found that I cannot focus and climb when there's a novice belayer at the end of my rope. Obviously this can be weighed on a case-by-case basis but it's your life on the line. 

The other take-away I would suyggest is that a grigri is not the ideal device for beginners. I always teach people on an ATC first because of it's simplicity and because lowering on an ATC is actually less of a learning curve-- the tension is ever present, versus a grigri that has to be finessed a bit more. 

I'm glad you are alive and the kids didn't have to witness someone dying in front of them.

Backing up the new belayer with a 3rd person until they have shown that they can catch falls, and lower, people of various weights would be really important. So much variability, different ropes feed differently, etc.

I can see how she must have had to yank the lever completely open to lower a kid, and was unprepared for the heavier person. 

Dan Austin wrote:

I think this also applies to experienced belayers who mostly climb with lighter partners. Habit and routine are no joke, I'd rather err on the side of politely reminding an experienced belayer that I'm heavier than their usual partner. If they're a good belayer they won't bat an eye, and it's worth the peace of mind. 

As a lighter belayer, I have no problem with being reminded how much I am lighter than the person I am lead belaying.  What should I be upset about??

In this case, "training" appears to be the issue.  That said, there are many accidents caused by miscommunication or presumed understanding when there was none.  So speak up and pay attention!

Glad the OP did not suffer more dire consequences.  Hope you make a full and speedy recovery.  Thanks for sharing.

The amount of accidents in Big Cottonwood at a few areas in astounding. Seems like there should be a full time climbing instructor there or people should learn in a more controlled area. 

Thanks for sharing this. You (and I mean all of us) need to step back from the immediate error and look at the context. You are the only person in the group with experience. What were your expectations for the day? Was it closer to "let's go climbing! It'll be fun!" Or was it more like "Okay everybody, I want to teach to something where you will literally have another persons life in your hands. Unlike every other thing in your life, you CANNOT screw this up!"

Climbing is fun, but only after you confront the danger and seriousness of this magnificent and useless pastime. It's deeply unfair to give a person responsibility for your life, without them being absolutely confident and able to accept It. It's easy to forget that climbing is REAL.

Oh, and specifically regarding this accident, you should have rapped instead of being lowered.

How do folks feel about belay gloves as a safety feature? I've read a lot of accident reports about belayers burning their hands trying to arrest a fall when something goes wrong, ultimately not being able to or letting go because of the pain. I haven't had to test it out, but I think of my belay gloves as a safety catch against that; I'm more likely to be able to hold on tight and apply pressure throughout the process.

jg

1.  I am glad that you did not die, and I am sorry to hear about your injuries.  I hope you recover completely and swiftly.

2.  Kudos for posting here.  It takes guts to go public with an incident such as this.

3. I have taught quite a few beginners how to belay and I always start them on an ATC.  It is simple to use and understand and as such there is less for to screw up on.  I would not introduce a new belayer to a Grigri until they have completely mastered and understand how to use an ATC (or similar device).  It is not so much the belaying that is the issue, it is using the lever to lower, which takes an additional level of understanding and sensitivity that I feel is too much to expect of a first time belayer.  Additionally, I always do a few practice falls and lowers at a low height where the belayer can practice without much danger to myself.   The other points made above regarding weight of climber vs belayer and using safety knots are all good points as well.  Good luck and heal fast!

Eli Iacob wrote:

Dear All, 

Not sure how to write this. I made many mistakes on Saturday 8/12. I showed a new belayer how to use a grigri and watched her belay 4 kids to make sure she understood. Only use black lever when lowering, only use a few fingers do not grip with entire hand, always guide the rope with the second hand. But when I cleaned the route and had them lower me (I of course weigh significantly more than a kid)  they must have kept the lowering lever completely open sending me flying down. I was wearing a helmet but hit multiple ledges and have minor fractures in several vertebrae and significant bruising/abrasions. Scary thing is that what saved me is that the grigri autolocked (she had burned her right brake hand and must have let go of both hands before I finally stopped??? ). Probably a 30 foot fall leaving me upside down 15 feet from the ground. Could have been fatal. Could have been paralysis.I am of course extremely lucky and grateful.

So, I do not have many good take aways. I would say:

always, always make sure a belayer knows what they are doing. Rappel when you can, at least you control your own fate and your partner can always give you a fireman's if needed. Grigri are a powerful tool but are also easy to misuse. In a setting with a new belayer, seek help if people are around. Better the embarrassment of not having a proper belayer as your partner than death. 

I am still in complete shock and certainly do not need posts telling me what an idiot I am. This goes without saying much.

But, I do want people to post their own advice for others as a way to improve understanding of the extra precautions we need to make to ensure our safety.

Sorry about your accident, that sucks.  I've been in a similar situation (luckily without injury) when an unexperienced climber offered me a TR belay stating that he knew what he was doing only to drop me from the anchors when I went to lower off (let go of brake strand, tried to slow me with hand above the ATC, and let go of that when his hand got burned).  

All I want to say is that your second take away point of always rappel when you can is not actually safer.  In fact, the current safety guidance is to always lower as it removes variables that could lead to a fall.  The real take away from your accident is to always make sure that the belayer knows what they are doing and leave it at that.  If they know what they are doing then lowering is actually safer than rapping.  As has been said, if you have any doubt about your belayer, make sure that they have a backup until you are confident that they know what they are doing. 

Carl Smith wrote:

The amount of accidents in Big Cottonwood at a few areas in astounding. Seems like there should be a full time climbing instructor there or people should learn in a more controlled area. 

I just moved to SLC a few months ago and am quite surprised at how many inexperienced climbers I find climbing outside here and how many accidents there have been just this summer. It's funny how that back east, we usually complained about how there are so many climbers who wanted to stay in the gym. The accessibility of crags here is awesome and I'm glad people don't want to be stuck pulling plastic all the time, but I hope all these accidents are making people re-evaluate themselves in terms of their preparedness.

Hindsight... Sooo enlightening...  Nothing to add, others covered any point I'd make.

Josh Gates wrote:

How do folks feel about belay gloves as a safety feature? I've read a lot of accident reports about belayers burning their hands trying to arrest a fall when something goes wrong, ultimately not being able to or letting go because of the pain. I haven't had to test it out, but I think of my belay gloves as a safety catch against that; I'm more likely to be able to hold on tight and apply pressure throughout the process.

jg

In general belay gloves are a great idea and would prevent many accidents.  People point out that they're unnecessary when the belayer is doing things correctly, which is true, but beside the point.

However, I'm not sure gloves would have helped this accident, and gloves may make some Grigri accidents worse.

Problems with Grigris aren't really caused by the belayer not holding onto to the brake strand of the rope, they're caused by the belayer holding down cam (either the lever in the case of lowering accidents, or directly when belaying a lead climber).  Gloves can make the situation worse--apparently a common cause of Grigri accidents is when the belayer grabs the climber strand in such a way as to not fully stop the falling climber but taking enough force to prevent the cam from engaging.  Without a glove, maybe they'll let go, but with a glove, they can keep screwing up until the climber hits the ground.  I think a glove on the brake hand is always helpful, and a glove on both hands is not harmful except in the limited, strange way I just described.

Where you at Dogwood, the Slips or Reservoir Ridge?

Eli Iacob wrote:

So, I do not have many good take aways. I would say:  .... Rappel when you can, at least you control your own fate and your partner can always give you a fireman's if needed. ....

I am not convinced sport lowering is a safer method than rappeling.  I think leaving your life entirely dependent on another is an inherent risk.  Yes - we have belayers for a reason but the goal of climbing is to not rely on them.

The past few years I have heard of more accidents as a result of this method. And it is becoming a much more popular method of lowering.  I am just not convinced it is safer - I think before any more organizations endorse this method there should actually be some quantitative analysis around which is actually safer.

I know I have also seen other videos where this same method has been endorsed: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aDilZALfW9c

In my opinion it is unwarranted and could actually be the cause of additional accidents:

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112830510/moores-accident-416

It is not that hard to back up lowering down with prusik.

pfwein wrote:

Problems with Grigris aren't really caused by the belayer not holding onto to the brake strand of the rope, they're caused by the belayer holding down cam (either the lever in the case of lowering accidents, or directly when belaying a lead climber).  

No, no, no!!!  You are absolutely wrong.

Problems with GriGris ARE ABSOLUTELY caused by the belayer not holding onto the brake strand.

The vast majority of GriGri accidents that I am aware of are caused by the belayer letting go of the brake strand, and squeezing the device to hold the cam down while they feed out slack.  However, the problem is not that they are overriding the cam (you have to override it to feed out slack quickly afterall).  The problem is that they are letting go of the brake strand when they override the cam.  The climber falls, then their reaction is to squeeze the cam down harder.

If you use the grigri correctly, your brake hand will always have at least 3 fingers around the brake strand at ALL times.  You may override the cam with just your thumb, and if the climber falls, you will instinctively squeeze the rope, and your thumb slip off of the cam, or it will be pulled up by the cam.  

Try it yourself.  I have caught several falls when overriding the cam.  I have also tried every experiment I can think of in a controlled environment to try to defeat the GriGri.  As long as you have control of the brake strand, your climber will be safe.

pfwein wrote:

Gloves can make the situation worse--apparently a common cause of Grigri accidents is when the belayer grabs the climber strand in such a way as to not fully stop the falling climber but taking enough force to prevent the cam from engaging.  Without a glove, maybe they'll let go, but with a glove, they can keep screwing up until the climber hits the ground.  I think a glove on the brake hand is always helpful, and a glove on both hands is not harmful except in the limited, strange way I just described.

No.  Wrong again.  Grabbing the climbers strand on a GriGri, gloved or bare handed, is no more of a problem on a GriGri than it is on an ATC or any other device.  This is a MYTH.

As long as you have control of the brake strand you can pull on the climbers strand with all your might, and the GriGri will still lock up.  If you don't believe me then try it yourself, as I have on multiple occasions.  

Gloves are a fine idea even on your left hand.