So anyone know what happened in Red Rock today?

A climber was airlifted after falling at Red Rock Canyon today, supposedly he/she/they fell 40+ feet. Anyone know the details? Hope their ok, and have a speedy recovery!

Climber at Red Rock Canyon falls 40 feet, airlifted to hospital

Sounds like either an unprotected fall or maybe failed gear placement(s):  

"If people are climbing and a rope or your gear breaks you'll hear a warning sign like something snapping or breaking. Or something failed. And in this case no one heard anything except him tumbling down."

I don't know any details, but I do know that the accident occured at the Panty Wall. 

Best wishes for his full recovery and minimum time with “cabin fever.”

I was there. It happened on one of the middle 5.8's on panty wall.  To us, it seemed like these climbers were pretty new to outdoor climbing. The climber was rappelling. We heard no gear break. His parnter said before she looked away,  she noticed that not both ends of the rope were on the ground. I highlyyy suspect he rappelled off one end of the rope. It's  a reminder that if you think something's wrong, even if you don't feel your experienced enough, its ALWAYS better to speak up just in case! i think the low angle slab towards the bottom made the accident much less severe. The injured climber was very responsive after being unconscious for only 30-40 seconds.  It seemed to me like everything was going to be fine minus (maybe a lot of) broken bones.

Hope he or she recovers quickly.   Panty wall sees its share of incidents because it attracts so many new and visiting climbers.   I know this weekend red rocks has been a circus with it being a three day weekend for some.  

wish the climber and the partner a speedy recovery.

it's 2019 and people are not tying knots to the end of their ropes before rappeling?!?

Gerson R wrote: wish the climber and the partner a speedy recovery.

it's 2019 and people are not tying knots to the end of their ropes before rappeling?!?

It's 2019 and people are cleaning single pitch routes on rappel?? 

Best wishes to the injured climber.

E IV wrote:

I wasn't there so I'm simply asking for clarification - if the climber rapped off one end of his rope and he fell 40' (as reported in the news), that means the end that wasn't on the ground was at least 40' off the ground too, which seems unlikely on a 50' climb (as the routes at Panty wall are). Of course, the reports that he fell 40' could be inaccurate too. Are you able to confirm how far he fell or how far off the ground the "short" end of his rap line was? Thanks. 

Well at the scene,  we estimated 30 - 35 ft maybe 40. And he fell beyond the base of the climb bc the belay is on a ledge. He fell from between the second and third bolt according to the guy that saw the entire fall. And again,  he WAS rappelling and no one saw broken gear and his partner had a strong reaction when we asked about both ends of the rope being on the ground (kind of a complex  little moment). And the whole rope was on the ground. I suspect but cannot be certain this was the cause.  Oh and as the person below said,  my climbing partner just reminded me the climb is 70ft

But  important disclaimer: it was a pretty hectic moment and no one was paying attention to what the climber was doing the moments before he fell. According to the info we did collect, this is my best assessment.

It looks like the 5.8's in the middle of the wall are 60-70 feet long.

It would be interesting to know how he rappeled of the end(s) of the rope on such a short climb. If it was a rappeling accident. 

It’s been just a little more than 24 hours. Maybe he’s out of the hospital or maybe not. Maybe he’ll remember the details leading up to his fall or maybe not - brain  injuries can keep short term memory from getting into long term memory.

Anyway, it is not hard to imagine a number of ways someone new might  clean an anchor, get on rappel after missing some step, and rap off an end mid-way down.

For new folks, the bigger takeaway I think is to surround yourselves with experienced folks as much as practical and as much as you can tolerate. Bathe your brain in protection systems and techniques from reputable climb references,  and - yes - even follow online investigations of accident threads like this.  

And try to keep in mind that hardly anyone is immune in the broader sense.

Emily Williams wrote:

Well at the scene,  we estimated 30 - 35 ft maybe 40. And he fell beyond the base of the climb bc the belay is on a ledge. He fell from between the second and third bolt according to the guy that saw the entire fall. And again,  he WAS rappelling and no one saw broken gear and his partner had a strong reaction when we asked about both ends of the rope being on the ground (kind of a complex  little moment). And the whole rope was on the ground. I suspect but cannot be certain this was the cause.  Oh and as the person below said,  my climbing partner just reminded me the climb is 70ft

But  important disclaimer: it was a pretty hectic moment and no one was paying attention to what the climber was doing the moments before he fell. According to the info we did collect, this is my best assessment.

I know knots are a best practice but you would think your belayer/partner would be watching to see if the ends of the rope both reached the bottom.

Keithb00ne Boone wrote:

I know knots are a best practice but you would think your belayer/partner would be watching to see if the ends of the rope both reached the bottom.

You can't always see the ends of the rope from the top.  Always (even on a short abseil) a knot tying both ends of the rope together is the way to go in my opinion.  Why not?  Takes only seconds...

Tying both ends together after a single pitch lead sounds like a pain.  Have to pull up the entire rope length to do it.

And I am lazy

.... and to avoid ends being uneven, use a middle mark.  Your last check of the middle mark is after rap device is fully threaded.

The middle can move after initially being set in the anchor and until the rope is threaded in your device.

(Assuming you are not lowering)

E IV wrote:

This simply isn't true - knotted ends aren't always the best practice, especially in RR, where there are a lot of features for them to get seriously stuck in.

Although I can envision this possibly happening, I tend to have an overactive imagination.

Have always (and will continue) to tie knots in the ends.  If it ever bites me in the butt and gets me stuck, rather that than being splatty fucked.

E IV wrote:

This simply isn't true - knotted ends aren't always the best practice, especially in RR, where there are a lot of features for them to get seriously stuck in. I would say "best practice" is to 1) know how long the rappel is compared to your rope, b) if someone is already on the ground, have them tell you if both ends are on the ground, c) pay attention to the ends of your rope as you rappel and then d) if you're still just not sure, THEN knots *might* make sense.

Please explain.

Knots prevent the climber for rapping of the ends.  If the rope gets snagged when thrown the person rapping can unsnag it.  Assuming each half of the rope was thrown independently.

When its time to pull the rope you untie the knots to prevent it from getting snagged.

What are you talking about?  ALwAyS have a closed system.

Eric Chabot wrote:

It's 2019 and people are cleaning single pitch routes on rappel?? 

got some sh*t thrown my way for cleaning a 2 bolt 35ft route being lowered off the rap ring

Bill Lawry wrote: Tying both ends together after a single pitch lead sounds like a pain.  Have to pull up the entire rope length to do it.

And I am lazy

You wouldnt pull up the other end, it's tied off to your rope bag. Just tie a knot on the side you were tied into, then drop it to the ground.

generally speaking,  not speaking about this specific awful event I know nothing about

this is what "new" climbers need to be doing in single pitch environments
American Alpine Club Cleaning an Anchor in Single Pitch Climbing
the stats are clear. the debate is over.

all of the climbers coming from the gym to TR and single pitch sport climbing in the coming years are not all going to all be to get a full proper freedom of the hills education before they go outside. lets get them all to join the access fund and there will be plenty of funds to replace the anchors that will last 20 years instead of 40.

the complexity of when you shouldn't tie knots in the end of your rope (if ever), being taken off belay to rappel, multi stage rappels, etc. don't really have a helpful place in the single pitch sport climbing gym to crag environment.

I hope the climber is ok.

Ma Ja wrote:

You wouldnt pull up the other end, it's tied off to your rope bag. Just tie a knot on the side you were tied into, then drop it to the ground.

Agreed - if I wanted knots. But I usually do not.

My post was just in response to a suggestion to always knot the ends together.