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Crowders Fatality

Original Post
Chris Massey · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 5

This and Shortoff today. Not a good day for NC climbing.

wbtv.com/story/24936699/rep…

Chris Massey · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 5

Looks like a rope soloing incident.

gastongazette.com/spotlight…

michael s · · Denver, CO · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 80

Certainly terrible for the man, anyone who knew him, and the two that basically watched him die. :(

I wonder what his solo setup was.

Meme Guy · · Land of Runout Slab · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 325

Fuck that sucks man.

wonder what kind of device it was.

NC Rock Climber · · The Oven, AKA Phoenix · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 60

What a terrible accident. My sincere condolences to the friends and family, and the folks that witnessed this.

Meme Guy · · Land of Runout Slab · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 325

Didn't see about shortoff until now.

charlotteobserver.com/2014/…

Tom Caldwell · · Clemson, S.C. · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 3,623

Mark was a nice guy and always positive here. We lost a good member of our community. My condolences to his family, friends, and the unfortunately people who witnessed the event.

It looks like he was using a soloist.

TJ Brumme · · Marrakech · Joined Dec 2011 · Points: 1,648

This is horrible. My condolences to his family and friends.

quote from the Gaston Gazette:
"The harness eventually slipped up to the man’s neck, choking him, Robinson said. He ended up about 10 feet from the ground. Cardona heard him speaking."

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330

This is horrible to hear. I use a Soloist somewhat often. It requires the use of a chest harness, and many use a makeshift chest harness made from a sling. The Soloist will not stop an upside down fall without backup knots. I have wondered a few times about chest sling riding up somewhere it should not be.

I was unable to get a makeshift sling to feel comfortable. A while back I picked up a Yates check harness for aiding and I have been using that with my Soloist.

Meme Guy · · Land of Runout Slab · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 325
csproul wrote:This is horrible to hear. I use a Soloist somewhat often. It requires the use of a chest harness, and many use a makeshift chest harness made from a sling. The Soloist will not stop an upside down fall without backup knots. I have wondered a few times about chest sling riding up somewhere it should not be.
Roped soloing has always made me uncomfortable for this very reason. Falling upside down would cause a lot of devices to become useless.
bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065

Was it lead or TR solo?

A bandolier parisiene on a nylon sling for a chest harness would be safe IMO than a loose sling around the chest

It wont tighten more, and is less likely to get caught ... Especially if you attach the end to the belay loop preventing it from riding up

Sad news, condolences to friends and family

Chris Massey · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 5

I dont think I ever met Mark, but have seen his posts here on MP. I am sure he would want us all to learn from this. Unfortunately this article creates more questions than it answers. Wonder if he was on the front side of Middle Finger (Balcony)or back side (Pleasant Dreams). Either way the comment in the article of one bolt failing and then the other seems really suspect. If this was indeed the case then we really have something to talk about here. My guess is that it was something other than "bad bolts". If anyone that has any more information please share.

charlotteobserver.com/2014/…

Brian Payst · · Carrboro,NC · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 10

The CCC has been in touch with the park and we're working with them to try to learn the full details of what happened and what we can learn from it. As you can imagine, that might take a while to figure out and the weather isn't exactly cooperating today. Hopefully we will be able to gather some info and share that with the community and we will once we have something clear. We all express our deepest sympathies to Mark's family and friends, he was a member of the tribe of Carolina climbers and will be missed.

--- update --

Although a full accident report is still in the works, a climber review of the accident scene clearly determined that anchor failure was not involved. The anchors he was using are intact, the news article about bolts pulling was just wrong, as is often the case with reporting on climbing accidents.

Edward Medina · · Ridgway, CO · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 1,061

There has been some confusion surrounding the tragic incidents leading up to the death of local Piedmont climber Mark Byers. On a personal note, I'd like to start by saying that Mark was an occasional climbing partner of mine and a regular at my home crag of Crowder's Mountain State Park. Media and eyewitness testimony have created some confusion as to the cause of Mark's tragic fall.

In an attempt to shed some light on the event, Bradley Woolf, Robert Hutchins, and I met with park staff today to examine the scene. The park had collected some of Mark's belongings including his harness (cut by rescuers) his Soloist (still secured to belay loop), his chest sling (cut by rescuers), and the section of rope that was trailing from his harness. Rescuers cut his rope to extract him. Tellingly, there was an overhand knot proximal to the cut end of the rope. This suggests that Mark's Soloist did not engage during his fall and that the backup knot is what prevented him from falling all the way to the ground.

We accompanied park staff to the foot of the climb and found no signs of broken gear at the base. Looking up we could clearly see an intact anchor at the belay ledge for Balcony Route (about 50 feet up) and a rope tied from here extending up the cliff to an unseen high piece of gear. From the unseen gear the rope descended to a point about 15 feet above the base (some distance below his belay anchor) We could see where the rope had been cut by rescuers. At the cliff top there was no sign of damage to the existing bolt anchors, and there was no sign that Mark had in fact even reached the cliff top as per prior reports.

Bradley and I rappelled down from the intact anchor to inspect Mark's high piece. Approximately 40 feet down from the lip we found an intact #7 stopper clipped into the rope with a sling. This is the piece that held Mark's fall. We rapelled down to the anchor we had earlier seen from the ground. It consisted of two .5 camalots and a pink tricam equalized with a cordelette. There was a red tricam that was hanging from the anchor, but not a part of it. We agreed that this was a directional or an early piece of gear placed as Mark led out from his belay anchor. This placement likely failed due to a lateral pull from the rope as Mark fell, but had little bearing on the distance Mark fell. It is also possible that the sound of this piece of gear pulling out is what witnesses reported as 'anchor failure'.

Above the red tricam we found a sling girth hitched around a rock feature. This sling was still clipped into the rope. From here the rope is clipped into the previously described high gear. Above the highest piece the route steepens and pulls through a bulge. We found fresh chalk here, but no sign of broken rock. After our site visit, our survey group felt very confident that the accident was not a product of gear failure but rather an inverted fall which caused the Soloist to fail to engage. Rescuers report no gear hanging from the rope at the tie in point which suggests there was no gear or placement failure high up on the cliff.

It is highly likely that while pulling the bulge move Mark fell into an inverted body orientation which could cause the Soloist to fail to engage. It is also possible that falling with the rope behind his leg could have inverted Mark with the same resultant failure of the Soloist to engage. Rescuers report that Mark's airway was compromised by a sling he was wearing and that this was likely the proximal cause of death. Pictures that Mark took during a prior ascent show a red sling configured such that the tie in point was in the center of his chest (secured with locking carabiner). This effectively creates an X across the front of his chest which could ride up in the event of a fall and impact the victim's airway.

Because Mark was climbing the route in two pitches it is likely that he climbed the first pitch and set an anchor. From here he descended the route and cleaned his gear. While on the ground he likely met the couple who were exploring the base of the cliff. Reports suggest that he engaged them in conversation. If this is the case it would likely explain the confusion related to the eyewitness reports stating that Mark had finished his climb and was coming back down. From their perspective he had finished the route as he was standing at the base.

From here Mark would have ascended back to his first pitch anchor and begun preparations to begin up the second pitch. As Mark progressed from the first pitch anchor to the top he would have been out of sight of anyone at the base and in fact from the base it could appear that Mark was simply topping out when in fact he still had quite some distance to cover before reaching the top. The likelihood that Mark had placed a second gear anchor above the first is very low as the bolts atop the cliff are directly in line with belay ledge of Balcony Route. We found no sign that Mark had built a gear anchor at the top, or clipped into the fixed bolt anchor. We found no sign at all that Mark had summited including chalk marks, abandoned slings or carabiners, or signs of freshly broken rock.

In summary, site evidence and the knot in the rope suggest that Mark took a regular leader fall while climbing through the steepest part of the route. This fall was unarrested by the Soloist probably caused by body orientation. Once the fall was stopped by the backup knot, Mark's chest rig rode up on his torso to the point where it impacted his airway. Perhaps due to his injuries Mark was unable to right himself and take weight off of the chest sling.

Sirius · · Oakland, CA · Joined Nov 2003 · Points: 660

Medina post, except some paragraphs thrown in for readability (doing this for my own sake, hope that's ok):

There has been some confusion surrounding the tragic incidents leading up to the death of local Piedmont climber Mark Byers. On a personal note, I'd like to start by saying that Mark was an occasional climbing partner of mine and a regular at my home crag of Crowder's Mountain State Park. Media and eyewitness testimony have created some confusion as to the cause of Mark's tragic fall.

In an attempt to shed some light on the event, Bradley Woolf, Robert Hutchins, and I met with park staff today to examine the scene. The park had collected some of Mark's belongings including his harness (cut by rescuers) his Soloist (still secured to belay loop), his chest sling (cut by rescuers), and the section of rope that was trailing from his harness. Rescuers cut his rope to extract him.

Tellingly, there was an overhand knot proximal to the cut end of the rope. This suggests that Mark's Soloist did not engage during his fall and that the backup knot is what prevented him from falling all the way to the ground. We accompanied park staff to the foot of the climb and found no signs of broken gear at the base. Looking up we could clearly see an intact anchor at the belay ledge for Balcony Route (about 50 feet up) and a rope tied from here extending up the cliff to an unseen high piece of gear. From the unseen gear the rope descended to a point about 15 feet above the base (some distance below his belay anchor) We could see where the rope had been cut by rescuers. At the cliff top there was no sign of damage to the existing bolt anchors, and there was no sign that Mark had in fact even reached the cliff top as per prior reports.

Bradley and I rappelled down from the intact anchor to inspect Mark's high piece. Approximately 40 feet down from the lip we found an intact #7 stopper clipped into the rope with a sling. This is the piece that held Mark's fall.

We rapelled down to the anchor we had earlier seen from the ground. It consisted of two .5 camalots and a pink tricam equalized with a cordelette. There was a red tricam that was hanging from the anchor, but not a part of it. We agreed that this was a directional or an early piece of gear placed as Mark led out from his belay anchor. This placement likely failed due to a lateral pull from the rope as Mark fell, but had little bearing on the distance Mark fell. It is also possible that the sound of this piece of gear pulling out is what witnesses reported as 'anchor failure'.

Above the red tricam we found a sling girth hitched around a rock feature. This sling was still clipped into the rope. From here the rope is clipped into the previously described high gear. Above the highest piece the route steepens and pulls through a bulge. We found fresh chalk here, but no sign of broken rock.

After our site visit, our survey group felt very confident that the accident was not a product of gear failure but rather an inverted fall which caused the Soloist to fail to engage. Rescuers report no gear hanging from the rope at the tie in point which suggests there was no gear or placement failure high up on the cliff.

It is highly likely that while pulling the bulge move Mark fell into an inverted body orientation which could cause the Soloist to fail to engage. It is also possible that falling with the rope behind his leg could have inverted Mark with the same resultant failure of the Soloist to engage. Rescuers report that Mark's airway was compromised by a sling he was wearing and that this was likely the proximal cause of death.

Pictures that Mark took during a prior ascent show a red sling configured such that the tie in point was in the center of his chest (secured with locking carabiner). This effectively creates an X across the front of his chest which could ride up in the event of a fall and impact the victim's airway.

Because Mark was climbing the route in two pitches it is likely that he climbed the first pitch and set an anchor. From here he descended the route and cleaned his gear. While on the ground he likely met the couple who were exploring the base of the cliff. Reports suggest that he engaged them in conversation.

If this is the case it would likely explain the confusion related to the eyewitness reports stating that Mark had finished his climb and was coming back down. From their perspective he had finished the route as he was standing at the base. From here Mark would have ascended back to his first pitch anchor and begun preparations to begin up the second pitch.

As Mark progressed from the first pitch anchor to the top he would have been out of sight of anyone at the base and in fact from the base it could appear that Mark was simply topping out when in fact he still had quite some distance to cover before reaching the top. The likelihood that Mark had placed a second gear anchor above the first is very low as the bolts atop the cliff are directly in line with belay ledge of Balcony Route.

We found no sign that Mark had built a gear anchor at the top, or clipped into the fixed bolt anchor. We found no sign at all that Mark had summited including chalk marks, abandoned slings or carabiners, or signs of freshly broken rock.

In summary, site evidence and the knot in the rope suggest that Mark took a regular leader fall while climbing through the steepest part of the route. This fall was unarrested by the Soloist probably caused by body orientation. Once the fall was stopped by the backup knot, Mark's chest rig rode up on his torso to the point where it impacted his airway. Perhaps due to his injuries Mark was unable to right himself and take weight off of the chest sling.


Awful to imagine. RIP brother.

Kevin Shon · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2009 · Points: 65

Thank you Edward for the light shed... Are there any plans to submit this to the AAC?

Chris Massey · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 5

Thanks Edward for your post, and to you and the others for doing such a thorough investigation. This is exactly what we needed to know. Certainly a tragic incident, but I am sure that Mark would have wanted us all to learn from it. After reading more about him it seems that he was a really good guy with a true passion and love for climbing.

Were the rangers and park officials supportive and cooperative with the investigation? Your post makes it sound like they were. As a climbing community demonstrating professionalism like this certainly goes a long way toward maintaining good relationships and access. Everyone be safe out there.

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330

Eddy,
I'm so sorry to hear of this. It hits home for me as a NC climber and as a regular user of the Soloist.

One question: Were you able to determine if the Soloist was threaded properly. It is possible to thread it backwards. This is especially easy on mulitpitch when you re-climb the pitch. The anchor end always threads in the bottom, but when you lead, the line is coming from below you and when you TR/clean, it is coming from above you. Sometimes, when climbing pitches, I'll remove the Soloist at the intermediate anchors and possibly reconfigure anchor to transition from a downward pull to an upward pull, and then I'll have to re-install the Soloist. Just yesterday, I rethread the Soloist backward at the anchor but I caught it on inspection before climbing the second pitch.

If threaded correctly, the backup knot would have been jammed at the free end coming out of the top of the Soloist. If it were backwards, it would be on the bottom of the device.

Edward Medina · · Ridgway, CO · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 1,061

It's certainly a possibility. There would be no way to know at this point since rescuers cut the line and pulled it through the soloist to extricate the victim.
I should also edit this report to reflect some recent information provided by a bystander who was the first to arrive at the scene. He states that the victim was mumbling incoherently and describes an agonal breathing pattern inconsistent with airway obstruction but consistent with cardiogenic shock or spinal cord injury. The bystander states that he was able to put a hand on Mark and right him while awaiting arrival of first responders. There is no definitive medical report or at least not one made available to the public so the above is simply an informed opinion. This additional data is somewhat gruesome in nature and I hesitantly provide it only because it contradicts the earlier theory of airway obstruction via chest sling.

Chris Massey · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 5

I dont know who "some people" are as referenced in this article, but I have emailed the reporter to ask. I think the statement was too general and overreaching for a news report. I am very pleased with the statement made by the NC State Parks PIO regarding climbing in NC State Parks. It demonstrates their support and the relationship that the climbing community and the park system have.

gastongazette.com/spotlight…

michael s · · Denver, CO · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 80

This is so fucking sad. Reading that article made me realize I remember posts by him recently asking about possible partners and being super humble about his ability but that he was knowledgeable, just a bit older.

The guy loved to climb but had a hard time finding partners. Went out solo to do what he loves and ended up dying.

I have been doing more solo climbing recently, mostly aid, and after a bit of research decided to go with a silent partner since it seemed the most reliable. It is interesting that people dog on occasion it for being "too heavy" or "too expensive".

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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