ROCK CLIMBING 21 January 2006 - Fatality. Abseil descent of climb - Organ Pipes, Tasmania.
Lucas Trihey
Organ Pipes, Tasmania.
A 54-year old male rock climber with over 30 years experience died
while abseiling off "Battlements" a 118m, multi-pitch route in the
Columns area of the Organ Pipes on Mt Wellington.
The climber and his partner were abseiling off the climb due to the
late hour and impending darkness. The climber placed a large nut anchor
in a vertical crack. He clipped the abseil rope to this anchor and then
backed it up with a sling placed around a large rock on the ledge. The
sling was approx 1.2m below the nut. The sling was 25mm tubular-type,
knotted and rated at 18kN (1800kg) and was a snug fit around the rock
with an approximate sling angle of 150 degrees. It is not known whether
the rope was threaded through the sling or attached by a carabiner.
At around 1920 the climber started the abseil. He was carrying the
climbing rack. Both climbers were wearing helmets. On weighting the nut
it pulled out of the crack. The climber (with abseil rope attached)
then dropped about 1.2 metres onto the sling anchor which immediately
failed by ripping completely through at a point other than the knot.
The climber then dropped about 5m and landed on his back on a small
ledge with his feet hanging off the ledge. He did not move and appeared
unconscious. He did not respond to calls from his partner. His partner
called for help and nearby climbers started to move towards the pair to
assist. The injured climber was heard to groan and started to move his
limbs slightly. He still did not respond to calls from his partner, and
so was probably unconscious. He then fell about 10m further to a
larger ledge, striking the cliff during the fall. There was no response
or movement from him after this fall.
One of the other climbers abseiled down to the climber's partner (who
was left without a rope or any gear). He and the climber's partner
then descended to the injured climber who had no discernable pulse or
breathing.
They tried to clear his airways and performed EAR (expired air
resuscitation). Police search and rescue services were called and
uniformed police also attended at the base of the cliff. A helicopter
arrived and a search and rescue police officer was lowered to the cliff
ledge. At 2150 the injured climber and search and rescue officer were
winched off the cliff to awaiting emergency personnel on the top of Mt
Wellington. Police later advised that the injured climber was confirmed
to have died.
The coroner's office reported to the climber's partner that the cause
of death was "multiple injuries", including head injuries, spinal
injuries and compromised airways blocked by blood. A written
coroner's report is still to be completed.
Possible cause of the sling failure?
A wide sling angle transmits a magnified load to each of the arms of
the anchor sling. At an angle of 150 degrees the load is magnified by a
factor of more than 1.9 for each arm of the anchor sling. A load of
100kg would therefore place a total load on the sling of about 380kg
(100x1.9x2). International mountain guiding recommendations are that
sling angles be kept to 60 degrees wherever possible and should never
exceed 120 degrees. If the sling is also shock loaded (as in this
report) the load on the sling is greatly magnified even more. In
addition, any knot will weaken a sling or rope (the sling was knotted
in this case).
Prevention?
The climber's partner has suggested the following:
1."If possible, test abseil anchors before committing one's entire
safety to them, e.g. put body weight onto the anchors while still in a
safe stance if an anchor pulls out."
2. "If using more than one anchor, make sure they are equalised."
Editor's comments
(1) Unpredictable things (including movement of slings on anchors) can
take place when components of an anchor system are shock loaded.
(2) (2) Wherever possible construct an abseil system so no shock
loading will occur if any component/s fails.
LEVEL 4 REPORT