Anyone have any idea how this happened? I am having trouble wrapping my mind around this. The first pitch of Belly Roll is well short of 100 feet-- more like 70 feet. Was this a short rope? Was the party rapping off the top of the cliff with just one rope? I would think rapping from the top with one rope wouldn't get you to within ten feet of the bottom.

Most likely reason IMO : As one could clearly see that there was a plastic end on rope end and not the other, perhaps a chopped rope? The ends were right next to each other hanging, perhaps, 12 feet off ground.

I don't believe that a 70 would have come that close to the ground from the ridge. There's also no rap anchor directly above the base of Roddy at the ridge. The rope was in line with the tree on the ledge, though I didn't look to see if it was coming from there.

Other possibility is that it was a 50 meter rope, though I haven't seen or used on in years.

-Jason

The rope I found last fall turned out to be a 50m. They're still out there, and in use.

I have a couple in my shed. They're old but you wouldn't know it at a glance, and that's not counting the fat eleven, which knowledgeable climbers would recognize as a probable 50.

>>Anyone have any idea how this happened? <<

At one point in the rescue, the woman who was injured opined that the rope had (probably) been chopped.

There has been follow up with the individual who was leading her group. He was going to investigate.

Here's Ryan's latest blog post, it's more about climber safety and relevant to what these clinics are all about.

http://bigfootmountainguides.com/2012/05/23/why-climbers-need-stronger-technical-skills/

I have an idea. Perhaps people can take pictures of their anchors or of suspect anchors they see at the Gunks, post them on gunks.com and let the community critique them and learn.

Jannette

You might want to take a look and see how well that worked out on rc.com before suggesting the same here.
Just sayin'.

I'll point out that a couple years ago, inexperienced friends of mine were toproping off a dangerous and unacceptable anchor without any experienced folk in support.

Some Gunks.commers were more than happy to take pics of the anchor and post it up here to criticize and make fun. However, these patrons of civic duty neglected to point out how bad the situation was to the actual climbers. Instead, they chose to talk shit in this forum rather than intervene in a potentially dangerous situation.

I think the free clinics idea is awesome and I have tons of respect for those participating, organizing and donating their expertise. But the last thing we need is "helpful" forum monkeys sneaking around PK and the UF signing up unwitting contestants for "So You Think You Can Build Anchors?" Let's remember that the smell of bullshit too often permeates these threads.

This one? That was a good read.