UPDATED: In 2010, a similar accident (injury, non-fatal), occurred at the Red River Gorge, when a climber fell onto the first bolt of a route equipped with fixed quickdraws. Carabiners on first bolts are susceptible to wear-sharpening because when the belayer stands back from the cliff, the rope bends through the quickdraw and rubs against the first carabiner. While the carabiner itself may never be weighted, it does come under tension when the climber lowers from any point above it. Over time, the seemingly benign action of a rope sliding through a carabiner will dangerously groove the carabiner, creating a sharp edge.
The danger, however, is not limited to first draws, as sadly evidenced by the recent fatal accident. In this case the bend of the rope due to the quickdraw being clipped to a bolt at the juncture of a roof caused carabiner wear sharpening, and the wear was only on one side of the carabiner: the side facing the rock, which made it difficult to detect. Any carabiner can over time be sharpened by the simple action of the rope running through it, but those with I-beam designs, and the small, superlight models get sharper faster. With the growing popularity of climbing, and the increased use of fixed draws, accidents such as these are likely to occur with greater frequency unless climbers become aware of the problem, and regularly inspect fixed draws and replace worn carabiners as necessary. Indeed, it is not a stretch to say that worn fixed draws pose a greater safety threat than old bolts.
ORIGINAL REPORT: On September 22, Mario Luginbühl and a friend went climbing at Magletsch, in the St.Gallen canton, Switzerland. Luginbühl was trying to work out a sequence and took a controlled fall. This proved fatal as the fixed quickdraw had been worn sharp through extensive use and cut the rope. Luginbühl fell 85 feet to his death.
The 37-year-old mountainguide and geologist was, according to friends, a careful and serious climber. He was the president of the Rätikon Climbing Club and author of the Rätikon climbing guide.
Apparently the quickdraw was fixed in a steep spot where you would rarely fall, and because of this it had only been worn in one direction, leaving a sharp edge instead of a rounded that would otherwise result.
Beware of this when climbing on routes with fixed quickdraws.
Black Diamond ran a piece on this recently that is worth checking out.
(from rock n' ice website)
para mais:
(esse link da BD é MUITO instrutivo, vale a pena ler)
(esse link da BD é MUITO instrutivo, vale a pena ler)
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