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May/June, 2005
DARWIN AWARD
and the case of negative feedback loops!
By Jon Tierney, Acadia Mountain Guides Climbing School
Some, maybe most, days at Otter Cliff leave me wondering why more climbers don’t get killed. Back at the shop the guides walk in at the end of the day often shaking their head saying "You won’t believe what I saw today". Well we nominate the following for this month’s Darwin Award.
Two guys in their mid-twenties arrive to set up a climb called Black Crack. They build a reasonable anchor and hang a loop of rope over the edge intending to belay from the bottom of the cliff. Then, rather than clipping two carabiners into the anchor loop to attach the climbing rope they simply feed their climbing rope directly through the anchor loop and rappel down - ready to climb.
As they climb, the moving rope gently saws away at the anchor loop. Backyard experiments 25 years ago have shown me that about 30 - 40 feet of lowering a climber with moving nylon over stationary nylon will saw through the non-moving piece quite handily. So, anticipating a complete system failure and an impending death fall when the climber gets lowered down after finishing the climb, I inconspicuously clip a sling into their system to back up the loop when it fails as it surely will.
Extraordinary luck is with the climber. First, he doesn’t fall on the climb and then he decides to down climb rather than be lowered by his partner (this happens about 1% of the time) thereby never placing weight on the sawing rope which would cause it to burn through in an instant. Well damn, and I thought I was going to save a life today!
And to add to it, when they go to leave they not only pick up their own gear but are lucky enough to score my slings and carabiners, adding them to their collection. I say nothing knowing that some people simply survive in spite of themselves. Perhaps today is their day to buy a lottery ticket.
Solution: run your rope through metal carabiners and clip the carabiners into the anchor loop. Never let moving nylon run over stationary nylon.
Email nick [at] noumbrella [dot] com with your questions, comments and concerns.
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