snowey
Apr 6, 2009, 11:28 PM
Views: 29067
Registered: Jul 7, 2006
Posts: 143
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vivalargo wrote: Most obvious, the belayer failed to tie into the anchor before trying to lower (directly off his waist - a basically unheard of prcedure) a person who outweighted him by 60 plus pounds. JL Although you are right in that we usually tie into the anchor immediately upon reaching the belay, I think their behavior is not out of the norm at Joshua Tree. When topping out on a climb at Josh with a perfectly flat top out (as was the case here) I am not convinced that everybody immediately ties into an anchor. This is especially true if there is a walkoff from the climb. When I am at Josh and I reach the belay at the top of a climb I usually just move away from the edge, say that I am safe and untie from the rope to start preparing for a walkoff. I can see how this "standard" Josh procedure might have contributed to this accident. It IS a break in procedure, however, to not tie into the anchor before lowering someone. RIP Woody.
(This post was edited by snowey on Apr 6, 2009, 11:31 PM)
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