Glad he’s ok
I came up 8 ft short this summer on the second rap in Dunham. 80 ft rap mostly sloped. Doublestranded. I saw it coming (first down) stopped right above it looked for some handholds, and made a little hop and move and slide controlled. Told my rookie partner what was in store and when she got there just pinned her on wall for controlled slide to my awaiting free arms.
She was talking too much about yoga or something as I threaded it and in hind sight I should have single stranded duh.
This sh@t happens.
I’ve been thru a lot of canyons where only one or two people are leading/rigging and the other people are having a tea party talking about the voice or Riki lake and I am so dismayed that these moments are when we all need to be on same page. Save the banter for the strolls. When rigging the team/ group needs to be attentive.
Trip Report
ratagonia
Lower the end of the rope until it just reaches. Set up your contingency anchor. Having a bag or extra rope down at the bottom does not work.
Tom
Canyonero
That’s not DS for anyone but LAPAR. I thought we were talking about DS
ratagonia
DS as in double strand? We moved to talking about Real Class C, so we are not talking double strand any more.
And why would we be talking double strand… is not that the root cause of the accident in the first place? Double strand being perhaps appropriate for the simplest of rappels, not for others. As demonstrated here.
Tom
Canyonero
Uh….why not? That’s pretty standard double strand/throw and go technique
I don’t think ends have to be tied together to make sure they’re both down.
ratagonia
It is a pretty standard technique, around here, in Utah, in non-flowing-water canyons. But is not an appropriate technique in many canyon environments.
Tom
Canyonero
You mean you take the bag with you in a class C. That makes sense.
One thing I’ve learned carrying bags with me is that you’d better rig a little more friction because you’ve lost the fireman effect of a hanging rope.
ratagonia
Well, no. Real Class C-scary = taking the bag is a bad idea. But then you would not be going double-strand in Real Class C…
Tom
Canyonero
What are you thinking of then?
hank moon
Hind sight, eh? Suggested rewrite: My focus was on nearby yoga tights, and… Seriously though, the problem was not caused by her talking. Good thing it wasn’t a more serious situation. What would you have done if coming off the end of the rope wasn’t an option?
Common group dynamics problem. The best solution is that everyone in the group has something useful to do, which is usually practical given a bit of pre-planning and creativity; failing that, have the chatty sub-group stop far enough behind the riggers…etc. Getting a group to hang out at a bottleneck and do nothing while not talking about it will be the least successful approach. Main point: groups need to be managed, pretty much all the time, even the well-oiled team that (mostly) self-manages from much shared experience. It’s a skill in itself.
wisconnyjohnny
dude!!!! love when there’s a strong managerial type person in group that speaks up.
and i remember once in birch hollow at the biggest drop going on my stomach at all view points to make sure the double strand was down. amy n chase remember.