ZipLine fatality with Petzl lanyard, Stowe VT

Terrible story:

https://vtdigger.org/2022/05/22/state-finds-vail-resorts-failure-to-replace-equipment-contributed-to-stowe-zipline-employees-death/

Christ, what a way to go. Tragic given the avoidability.

I wonder what the failure mode was on the lanyard.

Those lanyards tend to be beefy and redundant with backups - 4 years of use doesn’t seem like it should break these things. Scary and tragic. 

There's a single connecter "I" type and a backup "Y" type. It doesn't say which type was used, but the recommendation was to replace the lanyard every year as it was an "intensive" use. I wonder if it showed visible fraying and if the employees had also complained, or even noticed. Flying downhill at 80mph with 9mm of degraded cordage doesn't sound like a good time. Imagine having your lawyers draft a letter of refusal because you didn't want to spend 35$/pop to replace a thread of gear someone was telling you was dangerous for your 15 employees. 

I've never done one of these things but I would guess clients have more redundancy in their systems?

petzl logic wrote:

There's a single connecter "I" type and a backup "Y" type. It doesn't say which type was used, but the recommendation was to replace the lanyard every year as it was an "intensive" use. I wonder if it showed visible fraying and if the employees had also complained, or even noticed. Flying downhill at 80mph with 9mm of degraded cordage doesn't sound like a good time. Imagine having your lawyers draft a letter of refusal because you didn't want to spend 35$/pop to replace a thread of gear someone was telling you was dangerous for your 15 employees. 

I've never done one of these things but I would guess clients have more redundancy in their systems?

I would want both. The Y being primary and the I as a backup. That said, I do enough dumb things and do not need to add ZipLining to that list.

I saw a dude almost kill himself trying to zip line once at Maple cyn, he literally ate dirt and rocks, almost killed himself. Stolen rope too.

Wow, those findings are very damning.  Actively arguing against manufacturer's recommendations to replace soft goods and getting an employee killed over the price of lanyards.  Didn't train employees to inspect nylon/soft gear.  These people operate 50% of the ski resorts in N. America and they can't run a zip line...

abandon moderation wrote:

Kind of hard to believe they're walking away with just a $27k fine. Sounds like there's documentation that the resort operators knew they needed to be replaced annually, and someone at Vail just refused to pay for it.

I wonder if replacing them would have cost more or less than $27k.

The likely lawsuit will cost them millions.  Hopefully.

For those curious: https://webpubcontent.gray.tv/wcax/docs/VOSHA%20Case%20No.%201570437%20Right%20Side_Redacted.pdf

$13,653 is the max VOSHA penalty per violation: 1 for using unsafe equipment, 1 for not training employees on using it.

There was also a 3rd fine for the stopper know below the GriGri/Grillon weakening the lanyard, but I would think they fought that one back.

The zip line company is going by Petzl's 2003 inspection list. The most recent 2015 inspection list is different and doesn't have the "6 months of intensive use, 12 months of normal use" qualifier.

It's ironic that 3 weeks after the (Sept. 23, 2021) death of the Stowe employee, Jamie Barrow, Vail's "Director of Operations Training and Risk Management" received an ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) Service Award. This is the same person who objected to annual replacement of the lanyard that failed.

https://adventureparkinsider.com/barrow-receives-astm-service-award/

Jamie Barrow, director of operation training and risk management for summer operations across the Vail Resorts empire, was publicly recognized with the ASTM Service Award at the meeting of the ASTM Committee F24 on Amusement Rides and Devices, Oct. 15. The award cited Barrow for his role in working with the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) in the effort to harmonize the ANSI/ACCT challenge course and canopy/zip line tours standards and the ASTM F2959 aerial adventure course standards. 

petzl logic wrote:

......Imagine having your lawyers draft a letter of refusal because you didn't want to spend 35$/pop to replace a thread of gear someone was telling you was dangerous for your 15 employees. 

Six years before the accident, a single ride cost $109.

https://www.vtcng.com/stowetoday/spotlight/speeds-hit-60-mph-on-2-mile-zipline-ride-down-mount-mansfield/article_021727a2-3628-11e5-bf7c-977e0c754974.html

edit - $140 in 2021.  Exactly 4x the retail price of a new lanyard.

https://worldwidehoneymoon.com/best-things-to-do-in-stowe-vt-weekend-in-stowe-vt/

According to the report, Lewis was zipping at up to 82 mph down line six of the Perry Merrill leg of the zipline, the last leg, on his way to meet a group of guests, when the lanyard failed. Lewis was thrown from the ZipTour ride and hit the decking of the cable bollard at the bottom of the line. He was found under a platform, his helmet off and his harness ripped. Despite CPR, he died of his injuries.  

“Mr. Lewis would not have been killed if the primary attachment lanyard had been replaced due to aging and (wear) of the lanyard,” the report concludes. 

He hit the end of the ride so hard he ripped his harness. 

I didn't read the report but it seems that it's easier to just conclude that an aging lanyard was to blame. How hard do you need to hit something to rip a harness? And if the harness broke before the lanyard would they have blamed that.

It’s unclear to me how that particular lanyard, Petzl Jane, which is made from rope, could deteriorate from zip lining in just a few years.

And how could the harness “rip” apart at the same time?

rocknice2 wrote:

He hit the end of the ride so hard he ripped his harness. 

Not sure where you're getting this - seems to me like it failed while he was in travel?

abandon moderation wrote:

I am no expert here but... put a rope in the sun and elements for 4 years, and have people loading/zipping/unloading it possibly 8 hours a day 7 days a week?

My climbing ropes get replaced long before 4 years and probably experience much milder treatment.

I don't know what ripped on his harness but I guess if he was going 80mph or so when it failed and fell, I can imagine the stop involved a lot of strong forces.

Additionally, if they refused to replace the lanyard they probably refused to replace the harness.  

Big Red wrote:

Not sure where you're getting this - seems to me like it failed while he was in travel?

Lewis was thrown from the ZipTour ride and hit the decking of the cable bollard at the bottom of the line

The forces while he was traveling couldn't break anything. We're talking 2kn max even at 82mph. 

Jay Anderson wrote:

Wow, those findings are very damning.  Actively arguing against manufacturer's recommendations to replace soft goods and getting an employee killed over the price of lanyards.  Didn't train employees to inspect nylon/soft gear.  These people operate 50% of the ski resorts in N. America and they can't run a zip line...

Yeah, makes you wonder about lift maintenance at the ski areas.

Taken from the Jane-I Technical notice:

When to retire your equipment: 

WARNING: an exceptional event can lead you to retire a product after only one use, depending on the type and intensity of usage and the environment of usage (harsh environments, marine environments, sharp edges, extreme temperatures, chemicals...).  

A product must be retired when: - It is over 10 years old and made of plastic or textiles. 

- It has been subjected to a major fall or load. 

- It fails to pass inspection. You have any doubt as to its reliability. 

- You do not know its full usage history. 

- When it becomes obsolete due to changes in legislation, standards, technique or incompatibility with other equipment... Destroy these products to prevent further use.

Petzl JANE-I

Technical notice

It seems that it's Terra Nova's requirement to replace them every year.

The one time I went ziplining long ago (at much lower speeds), I seem to recall some sort of auto-braking zone as you neared the landing, intended to prevent a sudden stop.

Most people I have talked to about zip lining mentioned a braking system. I have done it once, we were given a leather glove to grab the cable with to slow down. But basically we just slammed into a pad it the end of the line (also nowhere near 80mph). 

rocknice2 wrote:

The forces while he was traveling couldn't break anything. We're talking 2kn max even at 82mph. 

82mph is how fast one would be traveling after falling roughly 65m. I’m not sure how dynamic the zip line system is, but I can see a sudden stop at 80mph breaking some stuff.