Check your gear

[*Chris*]

Hey folks... a quick note,

Everyone knows they should check their gear over regularly. Just wanted to pass along a reminder to do so. Sometimes you find things that you don't expect... say for instance... a cut 2/3rds through your rope's core. True storey! Noticed it the other night while checking my gear. Not sure if it was from the last rap or some rockfall but either way, I'm glad I caught it.

For those interested...

Rope was Edelrid Skypilot 10.3 (cheapie)
Rap was over bolted line at Pooh Corner @ Welsford (name???)

So message is - make sure you check soft gear regularly! It's important. Cool.

[Fred]

what were the bolts? regular hangers? rap rings? chain? metholius hangers? What line did you rap off?

Did the second take a fall on the route you climbed prior?

[*Chris*]

Hey Fred,

Not aware of the route name but I believe the feature is named "Honeycomb wall". The bolts I spoke of are making up a sport line and look fairly newer. We did not actually climb the route, rather we rapped off a tree after walking around the loop trail to the top. I can say with certainty that the damage was not caused prior to the rap. The rap is about 45m and we used 2 single lines tied together.

Some folks went to rap of the same place last weekend and did not see anything which would have caused the damage. I'm not sure how to post a pic otherwise I would. For now... the conclusion is that it was most likely rockfall striking the portion of the rope resting on the ground.

I sent the rope to MEC and they are sending it to Edelrid to rule out manufacture defect.

I really just wanted to remind folks to regularly check soft gear. Thanks.

[Fred]

It takes a pretty big rockfall to slice a rope. You would have heard it I think. If I had to make a guess I would say the rope got sliced from an edge on rappel etiher by up and down movemet or from side to side rappelling. It does not take much to slice through a rope that is tensioned from the weight of a climber.

[The Mitt]

I've seen 2 ropes get sliced from rocks now. One at Columbus and the other at Main Face both times they were fist sized ropes from only about 50-100 feet. They did not severe the rope but gave some pretty nasty core shots with core damage.

Mitt

[szymiec]

Thats why i buy the Edelweiss SHARP ropes. NOt sure how they are in rock fall but they are supposedly the best sharp edge resistent ropes out there.

Guess who i heard this from the first time Mittens? The poor punching bag we always cut down on our Moose River trips. hah.

[The Mitt]

Well if its on the Jeff Lowe video then it must be the bomb

Mitt

[szymiec]

Funny thing, i think it is in that video.

You must admit though, it is one heck of a good video. I learned to do the Abaclov V thread from it and im still here!

Experience is no substitute for education OH my god, Im gonna DIE!, Im gonna die, Mike, SAVE ME!!

Become an alpinist in 2.5 hours!!!

C