Climber decked at momentum?

I heard that a young woman decked from 40 ft yesterday (4/14) at the new momentum. Any news on the climber? Is she gonna be ok? Heard she was awake and talking to medics. Just curious if anyone wants to give the details? I am, of course, just speculating, but was it possibly a tie-in error?

Best wishes to the injured climber!

Whoa best wishes to the injured climber. Hope we find out more info.

Wasn't yesterday the first day they were open?! The fun begins...
RIP Rockreation

I don't know the full details, but it was a belayer error. It sounds like the belayer was using an ATC, somewhat caught a fall from high after falling 20ft or so, but the rope was burning her hand(??), so she let go and dropped the climber. This isn't first-hand info, but I climb with a friend of the girl who fell. Hopefully, we'll hear more, but this belayer needs to be taught some serious lessons, and best wishes to the girl who fell.

ATCs... why do gyms allow them but insist you tie in with an 8 instead of a double bowline?

I wonder if there will be a time when all gyms are equipped with stunt man style airbags at the base. Or if it'll just be easier to fill the whole base with playland balls.

David Sahalie wrote:ATCs... why do gyms allow them but insist you tie in with an 8 instead of a double bowline?

Ummm because I'd rather have a noob belay me with an ATC than a gri-gri??

David Sahalie wrote:ATCs... why do gyms allow them but insist you tie in with an 8 instead of a double bowline?

Huh?

Lets remember that if an ATC was indeed involved in this accident, it wasn't the devices fault.

And the bowline vs figure 8 topic has been beat to death man.

If an ATC falls in the woods, and nobody with a gri gri is around to hear it, is the atc still responsible for user error.

Feel free to swap atc and gri gri. The answer is the same.

I've watched 'em deck with both ATC (once) and Gri-Gri (twice) in the past 3 years. 3 different sets of people. Each time belayer error, luckily they walked away with only bruised backsides.

Gri gri is belay aid, but for some ghey reason, my gym won't let me hip belay to keep my trad ethics more purer.

My local gym won't let you use a grigri until you've shown proficiency with an ATC. The reasoning is that if you are competent with an ATC, you understand proper belay technique, whereas with a grigri, you can usually get away with bad habits (like letting go completely after the device has caught the rope) that won't fly with an ATC. An ATC requires you understand more about belaying.

Matt Wilson wrote:My local gym won't let you use a grigri until you've shown proficiency with an ATC. The reasoning is that if you are competent with an ATC, you understand proper belay technique, whereas with a grigri, you can usually get away with bad habits (like letting go completely after the device has caught the rope) that won't fly with an ATC. An ATC requires you understand more about belaying.

When I ran a gym, I had this absurd rule. If you were going to belay with an ATC, you had to take your test with the ATC. If you were going to belay with a gri-gri, you had to show me how to use it.

I also taught n00bs exclusively on the ATC and made them log a lot of hours on the ATC before the gri-gri was ever introduced.

Crazy ideas I know.

It was a small gym and I had nearly complete oversight of everyone there at any given time. I also had very few climbers who had learned elsewhere so I could teach them from scratch, rather than argue about why their old habits sucked.

new skinny rope & atc, worse than people think even if holding the brake hand on the rope the entire time.

new skinny rope & gri, not any safer than people think.

gloves? (fuck you, noob)
helmet? (totally fuck off, nooberama)

yet, another deck and a trip to the er.

Scott McMahon wrote: Ummm because I'd rather have a noob belay me with an ATC than a gri-gri??

Second that! I've been using one since I replaced a stitch plate, and have never dropped anyone, nor have I been dropped. THe real issue in my opinion is someone failed to educate the belayer about NEVER LETTING GO WITH YOUR BRAKE HAND!!! Get her outdoors and away from the beautiful people for Chrissakes!

I was standing less than 10 feet from where the climber decked and saw the whole thing. She hit pretty hard and crumpled on impact.

She was probably 25 feet up, not 40. I *thought* the belayer was using a gri-gri but I'm not 100% sure. It didn't look like the belay device arrested any of the fall and the climber was definitely alert and in pain.

It was not a tie in error it was belayer error. The belayer still had the rope in her hands when she hit, but was in shock or disbelief of what had happened. Best wishes to the climber and hopes she makes a speedy recovery, at least she hit brand new padding that helped absorb a lot of the impact.

i also saw the climber fall and hit the ground - it looked to be about 30 feet - it's unfortunate that this accident happened on the first night - hopefully, the climber is okay - i know the employees of mm have been super diligent about making sure proper belay techniques are used - unfortunately, accidents still happen -

I was the victim of a belayer error. My (experienced) belayer was using an ATC and dropped me from the top of the climbing wall at PRG. She did not have any burns on her hands and actually climbed the very next day. I, unfortunately, did not climb the very next day. I was in the hospital being treated for a broken back. The broken bones healed rather quickly, alas, my "head" did not.

a few lessons learned;
1) Be careful about who you trust to belay you
2) Make sure your partner is attentive. Gyms (and crags) can be very distracting
3) It's not just "newbs" that can make mistakes. Experienced, seasoned climbers can become complacent. Make sure you are not one of "those" climbers
4) Clear communication is critically important (although in my case, we had very clear communication and she still dropped me)

I hope the climber recovers swiftly and the belayer understands their error(s)

I learned to belay as part of a college PE class. Next I worked multiple summers belaying other peoples children on climbing walls and challenge courses. Also did a course with NOLS. The main thing all these organizations drilled into my head was this: double check your systems before anyone leaves the ground and if your climber is not moving you should have the rope in the down or "brake position." I've seen people time and again at gyms and outside not do these basic steps and I would say it is our duty as fellow climbers to politely inform them of the issue. I would bet money that when the climber fell the other night the belayers brake hand was holding the rope up and parallel to the other side. I know I've seen people do that before and not said anything because I figured that was just their style. Next time I will say something. I certainly would appreciate it if before my climber got off the ground someone reminded me to lock my belay biner or any other easily overlooked yet vital part of the safety system. No offense taken at all. Let's look out for each other.

The low down from an acquaintance of mine who works there: Climber was 6 or 7 bolts up, which is ~25 feet (bolts every 3 feet), when she fell. It was belayer error that caused the accident. Don't know what belay device was being used. After about 20 minutes, the injured climber was taken out on a back board. Major bummer that something like that would happen on the first day of operation.

I was there too. While she was still tied in and being treated we counted the clips she'd made. She was 9 off the ground, I saw the rope running through them myself and to her harness. It was higher than 25ft, but from a steep overhanging wall. Looked like her belayer had an ATC, I heard the rope burned hand story too but second hand. Total bummer on the first night. It was cool to see the respect all the other climbers had to keep a distance and let the paramedics work and go about their business without crowding and making a big scene.