Rappelling Accident ends in Fatality

[outdoor_lover]

At Coon's Bluff on the Salt River...The News last night said there was a Gear Failure, which may or may not be true, but could also mean a lot of things...Sad....

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-southe ... coon-bluff

[big_load]

[ebkennedy]

Close friends with her, and those she was climbing with at the time. Nothing's clear yet about what went wrong, and it may be a while until more details emerge. Tragic 24hrs for us.

[outdoor_lover]

@ebkennedy
Very Sorry...My thoughts go out to you, and the rest of her Friends and Family.....

[Cheerycow]

My condolences. Very sad.

[ddgrunning]

So sad. My condolences as well. Life is fragile. Very curious about what the investigation reveals as to cause. News reports thus far only say (somewhat ambiguously) that: "Preliminary information shows she fell because her rigging failed." http://www.abc15.com/news/region-southe ... coon-bluff

I've rappelled there a number of times. Stories like this always make me think twice, even though I always use two ropes (including top belay), with at least two or more, separate, anchoring points on each.

[neilends]

@ebkennedy I'm so sorry for your loss.

[healthdoc]

The word is that she fell to the bottom and her rope was in tact and at the bottom with her but the carabiner was still at the top on the ground. Thought is that she miss tied a carabiner block and possibly ended up with a double round turn and went over without test loading the system. Rigging error, not equipment failure.

[nonot]

Analysis is that the clove hitch was improperly tied. I've seen some sloppy biner blocks from time to time, probably an unfortunate reminder that you shouldn't be sloppy with your rigging.

Also, if you are rigging practice rappels, tie a backup.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/poo ... ll-7468789