by Gadgetgeek » Fri 29 Mar, 2019 9:50 pm
@CBee, Thanks for the input, there is no way to put this without sounding a bit like an *&%$#!, but I mean this in the best possible way. I teach abseiling. Okay, granted I've only got an artificial qual becuase QLD is kinda dumb, but I've done natural face in training and its not for a lack of trying, but we don't end up with enough clients wanting to do natural faces for it to be something for me to add to my book. Someday though. But I appreciate that you broke out my response the way you did, because it really illustrates how dumb the accidents that do happen can be. We are pretty much on the same page.
I don't keep track of all incidents, but I do try to read through the reports I can get ahold of, so while you will never find me two falls from an edge without a tether, it's shockingly common, and its the guide who take the tumble. I always run a short prussic below, from the belay loop, and my device is on the first loop of my PAS. (I know some don't like dyneema anchors, but I'll never even factor 1 it, let alone a 2, never in those situations, and if I did, I'd switch to a nylon chain reactor) I've seen incidents caused by the prussic biner interfering in the leg loop, and I've got one harness that will open the leg buckle with pressure from behind, so all centerline for me. Commented on a youtube Vid about different ways to abseil, and was a little critical. The guy claimed he had 32 years experience, and didn't use a prussic unless the run was over 50m. So yeah, best practice be damned I guess.
I agree with what you on anchors and assessing. Never enough, and never too strong. supposedly there is a place in the alberta rockies where the top-rope anchor is four concrete K-rails that were dropped in by heli because the shale moves too much to bolt permanently but they wanted a solid topper. So the k-rails are cabled together, and when the lead gets to the top they just thread some tape through some swagged eyelets to make the top anchor. That way each winter as the freeze breaks a new layer of shale, it cannot affect the top. I'm pretty confident that a few tonne of concrete won't move.
From a statistics point of view, I've noticed that rope=climber, and no rope=bushwalker. Often even though the area the rescue took place was obviously a scramble, they were bushwalkers. Someone decides, and thus the statistic. It is a bit of an aside to be honest, but I think it just shows how misleading certain stats can be. And why we need to look closer at actual datapoints to be sure of the story. What would be more important would be to know the per-user/day rate of rescues, and the per/user rate of injuries that were self/party rescue or just pickups by ambulance from the carpark. And how many of the glasshouse incidents were crossfit clubs, nothing against crossfit, but I've heard a couple rumors and there seems to be an invincibility complex that happens.