TECK TIP
Accidents will Happen
By Bob
Otten
With the growing popularity of our sport comes an increase in the amount
of traffic at our local crags. As such, the statistical probability of
incidents, including injuries, also follows. Those of us frequenting the
pages of NEice can attest to the increased number of ice climbing
accidents and their corresponding severity. As a local Catskill climber
of 25 years I see this trend most acutely. Helicopter rescues and other
high visibility extrications -seen increasingly in recent years- will
sooner or later impact our sport; and not, I'm afraid, for the better.
My call to arms is a warning shot across the bow to the Hudson Valley ice
climbing community. If we don't start self policing ourselves soon,
somebody else will. I say this with much reservation, but I feel the
time has come to examine where we are and where we are headed.
I'm not one for having local or state law enforcement telling me how or
what to do when it comes to my recreation. I view myself as responsible
to myself and others and the resources I impact. At the same time, if a
situation calls for a degree of regulation for the better of all
concerned, then rules are ok and should apply to everyone equally.
Should we take an active role in our own future and show that we are
responsible for our collective actions, we will have gone a long way
toward writing the rule book as we would have it. And yes, with this
sports spike in popularity in the last five years, the trend, weather you
want to accept it or not, is in the direction of further regulation. It's
quite simple; the economics of supply and demand, increased numbers of
people impacting a finite and dwindling resource.
I remember when it was unlikely to run into another party in this sport
fifteen years ago in the most heavily traveled places, even on a weekend!
Now you have to take a number and wait in line if you want to do one of
the more popular routes at the local hot spot. It used to be that the Ice
Climbers credo was "the leader must not fall". That was back in the days
when any self respecting ice climber wouldn't dare test gear that was
suspect at best -and more likely- not worth the biner clipped into it.
This has all changed with the advent of new technologies in protection
systems; ergo screamers chrome molly machined ice screws et.al. And yes,
the tools themselves are such that the climbing experience is more secure
and far less nerve racking. This would beg the questions "isn't the whole
thing safer than twenty years ago?" The answer is yes and no.
For one thing, when I got started in ice climbing, nobody else knew we
where endeavoring to climb frozen waterfalls. We understood the stakes
where high. Our groups were typically small and it was a given that we
had to be self sufficient, we had to get ourselves out of anything we got
into. That's not to say we wouldn't be reliant on others at some point.
But as far as say humping an injured climber out of Devil's Kitchen or
something as trivial as extricating a climber with a broken ankle from the
top of one of the many ravines in the Catskill Park we knew we were on our
own.
Some ice climbers today are specialists in their own right. Unfortunately
this carries with it some inherent problems. My observations have been
that there are some folks ice climbing today with a very limited
knowledge of systems and how they actually work. Many today come to the
sport with little or no previous climbing experience. This explains the
learning curve or lack thereof in many cases. Some new to the sport are
testing their skill at the sharp end with less than a season's experience
on just the medium of ice. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say
something brash. Anybody willing to take such a level of risk should know
what a leader fall looks like, as well as have a belayer that is competent
in catching one. My very strong suggestion is that learning this on ice
is a bad choice. Additionally, moderate terrain is potentially more
injurious than the steeper ground of grade V ice. The reason is quite
simple, one is more apt to make longer run outs on easier terrain, and
falling involves numerous contacts with the ground in this lower angled
arena. Experience, wherever you get it is the key, and it is far safer to
learn these things on rock where you aren't festooned with all kinds of
body cavity puncturing implements.
A few years ago I witnessed a guy coming completely unglued when his
crampon came off while climbing. The route was a very short one pitch
Grade - IV climb. At first all was going well; he showed adeptness in
placing a safe amount of gear until, about 30 feet up, his crampon wiggled
free, dangling uselessly from his ankle. Well, all hell broke loose. The
guy had nothing in reserve mentally or physically to be able to deal with
the situation. His partner suggested he climb down a half move and weight
his ice screw. The leader began shrieking he wouldn't even contemplate
this for fear of not trusting the gear! I was able to coach him into
doing just this convincing him that approximately 60% of his body weight
would be much less of an impact to the system than a leader fall. I was
quick to add that the system would also handle this possibility easily!
Once doing so I was able to get him to clip into the screw with a draw
thus making things more comfortable for his belayer. Once he holstered
his tools, shook out and had both hands free to fix his crampon, he was
able to carry on and finish the climb. Thus a valuable lesson was had,
one that could be applied the next time this happened perhaps on a longer
multi pitch climb when retreating to the ground would not be an option.
Frequently I see the misuse of belay gear. One of the more frequent
infractions involves using a gri-gri or other passive cam locking belay
device on wet and frozen ropes, a scenario that manufacturers have
disclaimers for. These types of belaying faux pas are in large part
attributable to the top roping set. I'm not here to pass judgment on
anyone for how it is they chose to climb, but it is essential to use the
systems properly. Again, here is where an apprenticeship with experienced
climbers versed in all aspects of the game is helpful. Another is in the
use and application of top rope anchors. Trees are not and should not be
the only anchors in your repertoire. Typically, anchor slings should be
extended to the lip of the climb and judicious use of redirection anchors
incorporated. If you don't feel comfortable topping out and climbing
above the lip thus un-weighting the anchors, don't. Topping out is an
often overlooked aspect of finishing an ice climb but should be left to
those anchor systems that permit it safely.
Something that I still practice all the time is down climbing steep ice.
This is a good lesson for those wanting to step into the vertical realm of
leading. Everything is great when you are swinging into hero ice on a
March afternoon, but when the eight feet of ice in front of you becomes a
fractured nightmare whatchagonna do? Again experience has much to teach
us. I'm a pro at backing off of climbs. The next time you're top roping
a steep pillar, try down climbing it. When you begin to have proficiency
at this, have your belayer give you a somewhat more slack rope and see
what it might feel like should you have to do it for real.
My ice climbing career has been a long and injury free one. One reason
for this is the fact that I had a long apprenticeship with a few very good
and competent climbers. This is a game with high stakes and serious
consequences. Please give it the respect it deserves. I don't mean to
suggest that the people that choose to climb in the Catskills are
incompetent or the most blatant violators of safety issues, its just that
the park is my home and its where I see the most concentration of people.
In my next article I would like to talk about what we can do as a group to
help state agencies with rescues and save the tax payers a lot of money
in the process. Climb hard and be safe.
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