30’ Fall

[Stephen Moore]

Heck! Human humiliates himself!!! That takes thick assed skin and real motivation!

 

[deevo]

Yes. He tried to repel off the spar doubled rope without a cinch. Kinda like his climbing line was a flip line. It just rolled down the trunk.

that sucks for sure and he was lucky, he might want to invest in a friction saver. Hope you gave him a discount on the first aid. ( kidding Steve)

 

[Steve Connally]

I think what steve described was a complete doubled rope system used without a false crotch to descend off a a naked spar. With out a feature to support the rope, the rope did not support the climber.

Exactly. He had a friction device on it.

 

[Steve Connally]

WOW! Did he have a lanyard around the spar? Anything slow him down? Burn the pole? Good on you for grounding him!

Nothing. I'm not certain he touched the tree at all during the drop.

 

[theatertech87]

Exactly. He had a friction device on it.

Sounds like the now frowned upon old method of cutting a slot in the top of the tree for the rope to sit in, before rappelling. The reason it was abandoned is for this very reason, the rope could roll out and you'd fall

 

[Steve Connally]

I wish it was socially acceptable to humiliate one another for stupidity. @Steve Connally can you please explain wtf this guy was thinking? There must’ve been a stub right? Maybe I have anger issues but I think if I was there and this guy tried to ddrt on a clean spar and ended up on the ground I would’ve tried to fit my right boot in his dirt star

Well all I can assume is he wasn't thinking and had no idea what he was doing. Believe me, I worked him over for about 20 minutes,

 

[Steve Connally]

N

I wish it was socially acceptable to humiliate one another for stupidity. @Steve Connally can you please explain wtf this guy was thinking? There must’ve been a stub right? Maybe I have anger issues but I think if I was there and this guy tried to ddrt on a clean spar and ended up on the ground I would’ve tried to fit my right boot in his dirt star

No stub

 

[Steve Connally]

Does he know how to self belay properly? Does he understand how to setup a simple retriever system using an alpine butterfly? I’m only asking because it’s possible he doesn’t? And he still doesn’t unless you or someone teaches him. If he does know, then he was under stress and neglected to prepare, that is a serious offence and needs to be addressed. Had he been up a 100’ spar this conversation would be grim indeed!
Please take the time to educate him, and allow him to practice under guidance, I seriously doubt he will make the same mistake twice. Grounding should not be a punishment, it should be a time to reflect on what you have done and accept your mortality. Be a mentor and pass on your experience.

Not really sure how to reply to this but anyone who knows me, knows that happened.

 

[Steve Connally]

Does he have any interest in attending conferences or comps? If so, tell us his name so that we can make fun of him and give him a monkey tail. Something always has to be injured after a fall like that.

He has reached out for help. We will do everything we can to help him as much as he wants. He really is a good dude and doesn't deserve the ridicule. He does deserve strong guidance and emphasis on the severity of what happened.

 

[Flex Abednego]

Glad to hear you gave him a verbal lashing, hopefully coupled with the fall he either quits climbing or is a safer climber in the future

 

[TimBr]

The phrase "low and slow" pops into my mind. It sounds to me like he doesn't have enough time just practicing with his climbing systems on his own time to know how they function. I blame whoever pushed this guy at you for crane work.

What were they thinking? I'm an amateur with a decent amount of time in a saddle, and I would not consider attempting to go to work for someone like Steve without getting some specific crane work training first. This guy sounds like an newbie who is eager to please, but in way over his head. His boss is to blame for this, for not doing a proper evaluation of his abilities before sending him over to you. This is just my ignorant opinion, not knowing all of the facts surrounding the incident.

I'm glad he's ok.

Tim

 

[southsoundtree]

Does he know how to self belay properly? Does he understand how to setup a simple retriever system using an alpine butterfly? I’m only asking because it’s possible he doesn’t? And he still doesn’t unless you or someone teaches him. If he does know, then he was under stress and neglected to prepare, that is a serious offence and needs to be addressed. Had he been up a 100’ spar this conversation would be grim indeed!
Please take the time to educate him, and allow him to practice under guidance, I seriously doubt he will make the same mistake twice. Grounding should not be a punishment, it should be a time to reflect on what you have done and accept your mortality. Be a mentor and pass on your experience.

Stephen, not sure if you realize, Steve is a subcontractor, so it was not 'his' climber, like an employer would have.

 

[Stephen Moore]

Sounds like the now frowned upon old method of cutting a slot in the top of the tree for the rope to sit in, before rappelling. The reason it was abandoned is for this very reason, the rope could roll out and you'd fall

There are better, safer ways to do it. The top notch works fine though, you just need to be aware.

 

[SomethingWitty]

He has reached out for help. We will do everything we can to help him as much as he wants. He really is a good dude and doesn't deserve the ridicule. He does deserve strong guidance and emphasis on the severity of what happened.

Alright! That seems to happen far too rarely.
He does deserve just a little ridicule though. I mean, from what I heard of his plan, it was pretty bad and performed as such.

 

[jt.raysor]

Just running bowline it and muck hitch that bitch to the ground

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Steve Connally]

The phrase "low and slow" pops into my mind. It sounds to me like he doesn't have enough time just practicing with his climbing systems on his own time to know how they function. I blame whoever pushed this guy at you for crane work.

What were they thinking? I'm an amateur with a decent amount of time in a saddle, and I would not consider attempting to go to work for someone like Steve without getting some specific crane work training first. This guy sounds like an newbie who is eager to please, but in way over his head. His boss is to blame for this, for not doing a proper evaluation of his abilities before sending him over to you. This is just my ignorant opinion, not knowing all of the facts surrounding the incident.

I'm glad he's ok.

Tim

Well he is the company owner and the boss man. It wasn't the fact the crane was there. How to work a naked spar is essential information

 

[Steve Connally]

Back in the days before SRT of when I was still resisting the movement there were multiple ways to descend a spar on dDrt. I dabbled with it for a long time always trying to find the perfect system. There are a ton of ways. Look at the old video's from Taylor Hammel and a few others
Not to mention a few on the Schultz Effect. The information is out there. I personally se absolutely no need to cut extra in the tree for a groove for the rope to ride in. I know you old timers did that a lot but not this guy. Seems almost as bad as what he did. LOL Same potential outcome.

 

[southsoundtree]

Keep spurs and flip line on for security if ever in doubt. I munter hitch down pull ropes all the time, relying on my lanyard for life support.

 

[Steve Connally]

Keep spurs and flip line on for security if ever in doubt. I munter hitch down pull ropes all the time, relying on my lanyard for life support.

Exactly

 

[TimBr]

Well he is the company owner and the boss man. It wasn't the fact the crane was there. How to work a naked spar is essential information

Wow. This I was not expecting to be the case. Kind of shocking to me, really. If I'm not getting too personal, how old is this guy, just ballpark? Some folks are eager and aggressive about starting companies young. If he is older and still does not know this stuff, you might want to introduce him to the forums and the internet. It is a bit hard to understand how it is possible not to know this stuff for a person in his position, but maybe it is just an access to information issue.