Fatal accident in Zion on 'Touchstone'

George Bell wrote:I can't figure out why they would want to do a combined haul of two pitches, with the whole team well above the pig. What if the pig gets stuck? Now somebody has to go back down and free it.

With this three-pack method, once the leader finishes, the third climber starts jugging the haul line using the weight of the pig tensioning the line to fly up on the jumars; the second cleans on the lead-line and could mind the pig -- so the second can be in the below position for the actual haul on the current pitch.

The pitch below would need to be free of hangs.

(your inquiry maybe just something to point out with respect to problems in hauling; but nobody has explained this three pack method although Pete offered some more potential issues that could be encountered with this.)

Mark Nelson wrote: I completely agree, but the preliminary is a focus on how the climber put an ascender on the rope; which doesn't make sense at the point of weight transfer if the ascenders are in good working condition which they would have to be in order to begin to transfer weight and be able to un-weight the anchor.

If the climber was standing on the ledge, the need to transfer weight wouldn't be there; but I don't even know how you'd begin to step onto the jumar-line if the ascenders weren't cammed.

'Zion death investigation focuses on pulley device'
Denver Post 3/16/09
I guess the author means 'ascender' instead of 'pulley'
-Or do they mean a WallHauler/ProTraxion at the upper anchor?

From the NPS - tragically avoidable accident. Personally, I can't ever imagine rigging a jug line this way.....

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On October 17, 2008, James Welton fell to his death while climbing the Touchstone route in Zion National Park. The National Park Service subsequently conducted an investigation into the cause of the accident in cooperation with the Washington County Sherriff’s office. Their findings have been released. The three-person climbing party had climbed three pitches (approximately 180 feet) without significant event. When the member leading the fourth pitch had reached the pitch’s top anchor, he tied the end of a rope into it. The climbing party’s gear, weighing 104 pounds, was attached to the bottom end of this rope, which was to be used as a haul line. The climbing partner then ran the haul line, which was also Welton’s ascending line, through a Petzl Pro-traxion device, a pulley which incorporates a cam allowing for rope capture as rope is hauled in. The climbing partner pulled 15 feet of slack through the Pro-traxion prior to Welton starting his ascent. The group planned to haul the gear to the top of the fourth pitch after Welton, the second climber, had completed his ascent. The third party member planned to ascend a second rope, the leader’s lead climbing rope. Welton’s fall occurred when the Pro-traxion failed soon after he started to ascend the haul line. The Pro-traxion operates with a cam and pulley mounted to a fixed plate. A sliding plate allows a rope to be inserted into the device. When the sliding plate is properly closed, a button locks the device together. NPS investigators were able to reproduce the failure of the Pro-traxion during informal tests when the device was closed improperly. They noted that the device could appear to be properly closed (but not truly closed) if the device was weighted prior to the side plate sliding into place. When improperly closed, the device can deform when weighted, causing rope to move rapidly past the cam in the unintended direction. When the Pro-traxion failed, the 15 feet of slack ran rapidly through the device, causing Welton to fall this distance while still attached to the rope by his mechanical ascenders. The force generated by the fall transferred to Welton’s ascenders, which severed the rope, resulting in Welton’s tragic fatal fall. [Submitted by Ray O’Neil, Plateau District Ranger]

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Thanks for the update. I've been following this closely because I'm making a zion run soon.

Apparently rigging through a mini-trax is common on solo aid when you rap down the haul line to get back to the previous anchor to clean the route. However, people do this with a prussik back up on the weighed side.

Personally, I'd have the prussik back up and then tie a bite on the free end and clip the anchors. I have no experience with this set up, though.

At least we're learning from this incident.

Evan

Here's the article on the release of the report from Boulder's The Daily Camera.

Obviously it's not nearly as thorough as the NPS report. The reason I noticed it is because of the bi-line: "Pulley may be to blame for 300-foot fall in Zion National Park." The NPS report indicates that the pulley failed because it wasn't properly closed and the DC article appears to imply that the pulley might have simply failed.

I think it's an important distinction because if the device was properly closed, this accident may have been avoided. Of course any number of changes in the sequence of events could have potentially changed the outcome; the improper rigging of the pro-traxion just appears to be the last, most preventable mistake (if that was indeed the case, as the NPS has said).

--Marc

Evan1984 wrote:Thanks for the update. I've been following this closely because I'm making a zion run soon. Apparently rigging through a mini-trax is common on solo aid when you rap down the haul line to get back to the previous anchor to clean the route. However, people do this with a prussik back up on the weighed side. Personally, I'd have the prussik back up and then tie a bite on the free end and clip the anchors. I have no experience with this set up, though. At least we're learning from this incident. Evan

Evan,

You don't even have to use a prussik. There is a much easier and safer way to do it.

Simply tie the haul line off to the anchor below the hauling device so that you are rapping off the rope not the teeth of the cam. When you get back to the top, you do a mini haul to release the rope and engage the cam.

If I get time this weekend, I'll try to do a short photo essay on it since I'm on call and won't be able to go far. Too many people make wall climbing and especially solo wallin more dangerous than it needs to be. My wife is more concerned about me climbing with other people than doing a wall by myself!

point to make -- discussing the wall solo-aid along with three man tactics is confusing when addressing various rig methods.

You don't have to do a mini-haul. Tie off the weighted end with a muled munter, then you can just pop the munter off to haul. The Tyson/Loomis rescue book has a decent description of the munter pop:

books.google.com/books?id=J…

Seems like another point to keep in mind from the report above is the 15ft of slack that was between the haul device and what must have been a backup directly to the anchor. The 15ft fall, once the haul system failed, onto a line that was already weighted with a bag and a climber is going to generate a significant shock load. Coupled with a pair of ascenders catching the fall, is a bad situation. Perhaps if the backup to the haul system was closer to the haul point, the forces generated would have been reduced.

Are they saying the pro traxion was closed with a weighted bag on the end, but that the climbers additional weight blew open the device? ...would this have been prevented if a biner had been placed at the bottom of the pro traxion?

I'll have to look at a pro traxion again - can you thread a rope through, take in 15' of slack AND weight it with a bag - all with it being improperly closed?

Agreed on tying directly into the anchor and not relying on the device for a jug. Obviously I guess this would need to be done before the bag weights the rope.

Also much has been said on this site about jugging with or without a prussic above your ascenders. Would a prussic have helped in this case? If the rope snapped at the ascenders there would have only been a tiny bit of rope for the prussic to grab in a split second.

Paul Hunnicutt wrote: Would a prussic have helped in this case? If the rope snapped at the ascenders there would have only been a tiny bit of rope for the prussic to grab in a split second.

We're discussing that issue. If the ascenders were out of the picture and the climber just used friction-hitched cord; or, take a cord and add the third hand hitch above the top ascender. You still have a 15' fall with a enough weight on the line to make it basically a static hit; would the cord be adequate if it did grab the main/jug line?

I think you still get a failure somewhere. The cords melt off, meld to & fail the remaining sheath to a core shot, fail the cord entirely, you snap the mainline at some other point, or factor 2 static hit on the anchor with sufficient deceleration and could blow that rigging/protection.

My thought was that the preliminary finding on the primary cause of this incident was either incomplete or incorrect and further investigation was warranted to complete due process. I think other riggers felt the same also.

Then, the argument of using larger diameter; it's a good argument. In this case though, I think you would still overtax the system somewhere if the pulley fails. Pete said the account was that the pulley was backed up; 15' of potential instantaneous slack, obviously it wasn't backed up well enough. Almost the entire account was countered by the final report.

Often it not a case of being competent or incompetent but rather being unfamiliar with a certain piece of equipment.

For example in the big wall instructional dvd, clean walls the protrax is incorrectly set up.

Mark Nelson wrote:point to make -- discussing the wall solo-aid along with three man tactics is confusing when addressing various rig methods.

I was simply pointing out the fact that rigging through the traxion is a common practice in certain scenarios. I thought that by clearly stating that it is a solo-aid practice, used for rapping, not jugging, and in conjunction with a backup, it was making the point that this was an inappropriate thing to do in the given situation.

That said, as stated, I do not have experience with that technique. I made no claims to it superiority.

Evan

Tragic, tragic loss of life....