Information about Mike McGlynn's Accident

Many people have asked about the circumstances of this accident. I was Mike's belayer on that climb. This is my perspective. It is written in the spirit of the American Alpine Club accident reports whose “.. primary purpose .. is to aid in the prevention of accidents.”

Description:
Mike and I started climbing in the lower Black Corridor at about 9 am on Sunday, April 1, 2007. For our fourth route, Mike was leading Black Corridor Route 4 Left, 5.11a. He clipped the four bolts and continued straight up over a bulge. He called down to me that he could not see the anchors and asked if I could see them. I said I couldn't see any anchors. He said he was going to go up a bit more to see if he could find them. He was about 20 feet above the last bolt when he fell. Mike fell approximately 60 feet to the ground, sustaining a head injury and spinal fractures. He was wearing a helmet. He was unconscious at the scene. He did not recover from his injuries and died on April 12.

Analysis and Comment:
It is natural when something like this happens to speculate about why it happened, and, given that we all want to continue climbing, how it could never happen to us. But if you take anything from Mike's accident, it should be that this could happen to any of us. Mike's accident was the convergence of many individual things that all of us have done at some point. We've gotten lucky; this time, he didn't.

Mike was a careful, conservative, and thoughtful climber. He was not reckless. He was an experienced climber who knew Red Rocks well. What happened to him can happen to any of us.

There are two things I learned from this experience that I did not expect:

1. The significance of rope stretch. I learned to climb 8 years ago on older, thick ropes. I was taught to expect that in a bad fall the rope might stretch 5 feet. In this case, I have reason to believe the rope stretched as much as 15 feet. The important question that raises for me is: How many of us know how much the rope we use will stretch in a fall? Every rope is different. It’s not something I think to ask when I climb using someone else’s rope. Do you know how much your rope will stretch in a bad fall?

2. The speed at which the fall happened. I have had plenty of conversations about what to do if a climber takes a long fall, such as, run away from the climb to take up slack. But in a fall like this, with no warning, things happen so fast that there is absolutely no time to process the situation mentally. All I had was muscle memory. What I want to say to other belayers is that even if you think you know what you would do in a case like this, you are unlikely to have time to do it unless you have actually practiced or experienced it before. If you have not looked around beforehand and planned out the route you would run, you will not have time to do it as the climber is falling.

I have been advised by a number of friends not to post these comments because they were concerned they would open me up to criticism. Frankly, you cannot ask me any questions I have not already asked myself. And even though I have intellectually resolved that I did everything I could, I will always be the one who was at the other end of Mike’s rope. If this information makes even one climber or belayer a little more aware of their climbing or belaying, if it prevents even one climber or belayer from having this experience, anything else will be worth the trouble.

-- Krys Stave

Krys,

Thank you for your courage and honesty. It is indeed a sobering reminder of the dangers of our sport when someone as experienced and careful as Mike can fall victim to such a horrible accident.

You mentioned rope stretch as a factor. What kind of rope were you using? What was the diameter of the rope?

I'd like to add the following to my previous post:

I did not post the information to begin a discussion. I thought very hard about what I thought other climbers and belayers needed to know about this accident and that is what I wrote. Other details about the rope, the climb, the day, etcetera are not relevant. I used the American Alpine Club's question: "What knowledge and techniques will help prevent future accidents?" to determine what I included in my post. What is relevant about Mike's accident is what we can take from it to sharpen our own practice. What is relevant about rope stretch is how much _your_ rope will stretch.

As you might imagine, it is difficult for me to think or talk about the details of that day, and I have said what I think is important to pass on for the sake of preventing future accidents. If you have a question that you truly believe you need to have answered for some reason other than simply because you are curious, then please ask me privately. I do not plan to answer any questions on line.

Thank you for your understanding.

Krys, thank you for posting this. The whole experience must have been terrible and frightening for you. My condolences to you for your loss, and my hope for you is to be able to peacefully move forward after this tragic situation.

According to this website, Route 4 left shares the anchors with one called Crude Boys. I'll be interested in hearing a description about these anchors from the locals.

Hey Krys,

My heart goes out to you for what you have been through. I hope that you can find some peace and closure soon from this tragic situation. You should be applauded for being brave enough to share this with the rest of the community. Take care.

Ropes stretch 8-12%. Older ropes start to loose their elasticity over time. Newer ropes have more stretch in them.

Krys's concern about rope stretch is extremely relevant. Most leaders are constantly working up risk factors such as what the liklihood of a fall is and what the consequences might be. If one positive thing could come out of this horrible incident, it's that maybe more of us will factor in this "extra" element while leading. I'm certainly going to think about it more.

Krys, thank-you for the post. It will make all of us think about this situation and could actually save somebody who reads this material.

Jason

Krys, thanks.

I don't see second guessing here, Mike was in a runout situation and fell.

The question I would like to ask in this forum is whether or not planning for rope stretch really all that feasible?

I anchor my belayer or I'm anchored as belayer. With this, the belayer can't manage a runout situation & might possibly be in a debris fall line (with good route planning, the former can usually be managed effectively). Though, I think anchoring the belayer is better because it prevents the belayer from being hammered into the terrain during a lead fall, allows for a place to tie off a fallen climber, and is usually the norm in multi-pitch climbing I do irregardless.

Given a runout situation, I feel the speed at which a climber falls is too great to do any good. I find it very difficult to plan/react to the runout length and rope stretch in order to gauge how to keep a lead climber off the ground. In this situation, I believe the circumstances of the fall are on the lead climber. Trying to foresee rope stretch given the force & speed of a lead fall is just something I can't see competent belayers being able to successfully plan out.

Krys, don't beat yourself up. I almost had a similar situation where a guy blew the clip and the rope stretched way more than I thought it would. I managed to get just enough in (one armful) which is about as good as can be expected on "unexpected" falls.

It's a bummer that this happened in such an "innocuous" area like that Black Corridor. It's a good reminder to me that even clipping bolts can be more dangerous than one would expect. There's really nowhere to "run" from my recollection of the BC (I've only climbed there once...)

Thanks for having the balls to post Krys....that took some serious courage.

Knowing the corridor...I am sure that there was no where to "run" as you say. Tight quarters in there.

Plese don't beat yourself up too bad about all this...we all know the risks when we tie in, as I am sure Mike did. You do bring up a good point that newer skinny ropes, do strech a lot more than people think...it's amazing really.

Just sucks when it hits home, like this one. My heart goes out to you, and other close friends and relatives dealing with this tragic loss. Mike seemed like a great guy, in the one short encounter I had with him.

Krys,

Thank you for your post. Although I did not know Mike personally, I have friends who did. Mikes life touched many, and we are saddened by his loss.

Your posting of the details surrounding this tragic occurrence took courage, but will undoubtedly render increased safety and awareness for all of us who choose to climb. Most of us who have climbed for many years have been in a similar circumstance as Mike (i.e., off route and runout), and the belayer really cannot do anything but hope and pray the leader does not fall. Falls happen so quickly, as you noted. Rope stretch is a necessary component for strength, but can be a double-edged sword unfortunately.

My condolences to you an all who knew and loved Mike. He will be missed.

-Mark

According to this table from Mountain Tools, Beal ropes have a significantly higher dynamic elongation than Blue Water or Mammut. I'd think twice before buying a Beal rope based on this accident report.

Jason D. Martin wrote:Ropes stretch 8-12%. Older ropes start to loose their elasticity over time. Newer ropes have more stretch in them.

I don't think it is as simple as that. I believe that some ropes are woven under tension and actually contract over time, becoming shorter. This 'shortness' comes out in a loaded situation with little force, and is not stretch of the fibers.

Consider that a possibility as well. I am not saying that it had anything to do with this accident, but it may have a lot to do with others in the past or future and should be considered.

Ron Olsen wrote:According to this table from Mountain Tools, Beal ropes have a significantly higher dynamic elongation than Blue Water or Mammut. I'd think twice before buying a Beal rope based on this accident report.

There's a bit more to it than that, methinks. You also have to look at the impact force too. Some ropes do better at keeping impact force lower, which, in certain climbing situations is a good thing, rather than a detriment. Say you had one piece of sketchy pro between you and the ground, for instance, you might want lower impact force than lower elongation. Also might make for a softer catch?

Beal makes great ropes, as do most all of the folks that do enough testing to meet the standards. Usually comes more down to "hand" and ability to handle wear and tear for me, with some impact force and elongation numbers that sorta make some type of intuitive sense.

Plus, the relative differences in elongation aren't that significant for single ropes to make a big difference in at least my climbing behavior.

Thanks for the report, Krys. Must be damn hard to deal with. All the best to you.

Ron,

According to the table, the Beal Joker and the Mammut Serenity (when used as single ropes) both have exactly the same dynamic elongation (29%) AND they have the same impact force (9.5kn).
In general, most of the Beal ropes do have more dynamic elongation than those other brands, but the kicker is that they also have less impact force (the two being inversely related).

I think the statistics may very well show that more climbers are hurt or killed due to protection failing than due to rope stretch.
Increased impact force means more force on the top piece.
I agree with others that rope stretch should be considered when looking at the variables that influence the danger in a given situation. But to choose a rope based on elongation alone seems a bit myopic.
Please don't take this as a personal attack, that is not how it is meant. I just think a more balanced approach to the subject is important so that people don't get the idea that less elongation=more safety.
I echo others condolences and feelings of sadness at this tragedy.
Mark

Krys;
Thanks for the very professional post; it was very informative and well thought out. I cannot begin to imagine how one copes with a horrible tragedy such as this. I hope you can find peace.
DAS

Mike Lane wrote:According to this website, Route 4 left shares the anchors with one called Crude Boys. I'll be interested in hearing a description about these anchors from the locals.

Since the BC has at least one new route on the left (slab near entrance) it is hard to ascertain precisely which route "#4" corresponds to. As Lane states, the route directly after Crude Boys shares anchors with Crude Boys. This route is often rated as .11a. Crude Boys itself cruxes out early on a longer slabby move off a slanting thin edge with bad feet. The next route--the one sharing anchors with Crude Boy--had one bolt added before the higher bulge a few years back (it was unsafe before this and seldom climbed) and commonly, was climbed straight up past low crux (slopey dish area), and then a traverse left (about ten feet) just below the bulge to Crude Boys. The climber would then clip the first bolt past the bulge on Crude Boys and continue to the Crude Boys anchor To the best of my knowledge at the time I write this, an independent topout to this route, above the bulge (i.e., more bolts if needed, anchors) has not been established. I have thought in the past that a proper top-out for this route would be a good idea because (1) the current link-up with Crude Boys does not follow the "natural" line of the route and (2) the lack of separate anchors entails that it is difficult or not possible for both routes to be climbed/worked on independently. I do not know nor pretend to know precisely which route Mike was on in the BC.

my alias wrote:Ron, According to the table, the Beal Joker and the Mammut Serenity (when used as single ropes) both have exactly the same dynamic elongation (29%) AND they have the same impact force (9.5kn).

Mark,

Look at the table again. The Beal Joker single has a dynamic elongation of 37%, not 29%. It's on the third line of the Beal Joker entry in the table, not the first.

my alias wrote:Increased impact force means more force on the top piece.

True, but this is of little significance when sport climbing with bomber bolts.

The UIAA norms are at the bottom of this table. A single rope can have as much as 40% dynamic elongation and still meet UIAA requirements.

My point is that given this accident report, it may be wise to choose a rope that is on the lower end of this acceptable range rather than at the higher end, especially for sport climbing.

Personally, I'm sticking with Mammut ropes. They have a higher impact force than Beal, but a lower dynamic elongation. Both meet UIAA specs, but I like the trade off that Mammut makes better than the one Beal makes.

Ron, I don't mean to butt in at all. I know everyone is well intentioned here, we all care.

I just don't see how anyone can effectively "plan" for a runout fall. I mean look at the runouts on ice using doubles. It's accepted that the climber can't fall, and if they do, the consequences are generally quite serious.

Brian in SLC wrote:Say you had one piece of sketchy pro between you and the ground, for instance, you might want lower impact force than lower elongation.

Brian,

I deal with this by using Yates Screamers on sketchy pro.

Mark Nelson wrote:Ron, I don't mean to butt in at all. I know everyone is well intentioned here, we all care. I just don't see how anyone can effectively "plan" for a runout fall.

Mark,

All I'm saying is that I like the trade off that Mammut make vis-a-vis impact force vs. dynamic elongation better than the one that Beal makes. As a consequence, I buy Mammut ropes and not Beal ropes.

It has nothing to do with "planning" for a runout fall.

I've also seen people following a pitch, a full rope length away from their partner, take a short fall, and rope stretch caused them to hit the starting ledge.

If you prefer a rope with higher dynamic elongation and lower impact force, then by all means opt for the Beal ropes.

But after reading this accident report, that isn't the choice I would make, especially since there are other alternatives (Yates Screamers) to deal with impact force on sketchy pro.