Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Author

Exploding Rope


IdratherbeclimbingM9

5-Sep-2005
3:26:08 PM

Thanks dalai. Did not read the writing 'cos the words got in the way; doh!

wyt91t

5-Sep-2005
3:58:34 PM

iv'e heard of this happening before its really rare.
it's not the gate that does the damage but the pin on the gate.
the rope drags over it the pin grabs the rope and causes this.
check your crabs make sure the pin head that holds the gate has
nothing that can catch on it. if so tap the pin with a small pin hammer.
do not smash the shit out of it, just get rid of the sharp edges.

climbingjac

5-Sep-2005
5:14:51 PM

This is scary. This is VERY scary.

One tip is always carry a quickdraw with you so if you are hanging on the rope and see a horror such as your rope disintegrating before your eyes, at least you have the option to clip your harness directly into a bolt / piece of gear if you have to.


rodw

5-Sep-2005
6:49:24 PM

Mine was Mammut 10.5mm


alrob

5-Sep-2005
6:53:37 PM

On 5/09/2005 rodw wrote:
>as was said earlier, its the core that gives it the strength anyway.

exactly neil, its still good. just remember to clip ALL the core strands in when you next lead on it


nmonteith

5-Sep-2005
6:57:01 PM

I only climb on 3mm quad ropes these days ;-)


Nick Kaz

5-Sep-2005
7:07:04 PM

I had the same thing happen to a beal 10.5 as well, I put it down to the rope pinching between the rock and 'biner and peeling off the worn sheath. My rope took a fair thrashing before that and the fall was a bit bigger than yours so I dont think its a brand thing.


brat

5-Sep-2005
8:51:55 PM

Bloody hell, what do you guys weigh, to the nearest tonne if it's easier? :o)


Rich

5-Sep-2005
11:22:32 PM

On 5/09/2005 climbingjac wrote:
>This is scary. This is VERY scary.
>
>One tip is always carry a quickdraw with you so if you are hanging on
>the rope and see a horror such as your rope disintegrating before your
>eyes, at least you have the option to clip your harness directly into a
>bolt / piece of gear if you have to.
>
or tie prusik then clove hitch above the damaged section


brat

6-Sep-2005
3:47:19 AM

The core is the supporting part of the rope, the outer is the protective cover. It gives you a sick feeling when it happens but all is not lost!

Given the core is mostly intact, even though it may be entirely showing, the rope is still very capable of supporting you to get safe, ie if you're leading, set a temporary top anchor (as best you can), inspect the rope as much as possible to find any core damage, if minor or none, retie above the damage and continue. If damaged (highly unlikely) arrange another rope to collect gear.

deadpoint

6-Sep-2005
10:08:39 AM

You reckon that's bad, A mate of mine was leading Integral Crack at Booroomba, took a factor 2 fall from near the top. That rope went behind the top of a flake, the sheath was stripped/melted for 5 metres or so and 4 of the 6 inner cores were cut through. Pete was left dangling on two flimsy fluffy cores. Very scarey indeed. Pete has never been quite the same after that episode.


nmonteith

6-Sep-2005
10:56:02 AM

On 6/09/2005 deadpoint wrote:
>You reckon that's bad, A mate of mine was leading Integral Crack at Booroomba,
>took a factor 2 fall from near the top.

Isn't a 'factor 2 fall' a fall past your belayer - ie only possible on a multiptich with hanging belay and no
gear in?


brat

6-Sep-2005
11:16:33 AM

I thought so, except if you fall whilst fixed on a sling, tape or static rope, then you cop it regardless, thus the bulged disc in my neck! :o(


IdratherbeclimbingM9

6-Sep-2005
12:28:09 PM

On 6/09/2005 nmonteith wrote:
>On 6/09/2005 deadpoint wrote:
>>You reckon that's bad, A mate of mine was leading Integral Crack at Booroomba,
>>took a factor 2 fall from near the top.
>
>Isn't a 'factor 2 fall' a fall past your belayer - ie only possible on
>a multiptich with hanging belay and no
>gear in?
\
nmonteith is on the money.
Its hard to imagine this happening on Integral Crack ...
... Not saying a horrie fall did not happen, just the FF2 part, ... unless it was done as two pitches.

deadpoint

6-Sep-2005
4:36:26 PM

On 6/09/2005 M8iswhereitsat wrote:
>>Isn't a 'factor 2 fall' a fall past your belayer - ie only possible on
>>a multiptich with hanging belay and no
>>gear in
>nmonteith is on the money.
>Its hard to imagine this happening on Integral Crack ...
>... Not saying a horrie fall did not happen, just the FF2 part, ... unless
>it was done as two pitches.

The rope jammed behind the flake. ie Pete was 6m above the flake, ended up 6m below flake, 12m total fall - fall factor two. There was no force whatsoever on the belayers end of the rope.

armyiain

6-Sep-2005
4:53:51 PM

To get a fall factor of 2 you have to fall PAST the belayer - and if you can do that on Integral, well, OUCH! I didn't notice a big hole one could fall into out there last time! This website has a pretty good explaination

http://www.southeastclimbing.com/faq/faq_fall_factor.htm#whatis

"The maximum fall factor generated in climbing situations is 2. A quick look at the math is just a little misleading. A climber can't fall farther than the length of the rope, right? So the length of the fall can't be more than the length of the rope, right? 1/1 = maximum fall factor of 1, right? Not, quite.

Actually, it IS possible for a climber to fall farther than the length of the rope. In a worst case situation, the climber can fall TWICE the length of the rope out. The diagram gives the classic example. Two climbers are hundreds of feet up a cliff face. The lead climber leaves the belay and climbs 10 feet above his anchored belayer. When he falls, he falls not only the 10 feet he climbed above his belayer, but continues to fall another 10 feet until the rope comes taught. Though he climbed only 10 feet, he falls 20 feet.

Fall factor = length of fall / length of rope (edit - length of rope paid out from belayer to leader)

Fall factor = 20 feet of fall / 10 feet of rope

Fall factor = 2

dalai

6-Sep-2005
5:03:18 PM

It is a factor two as the rope caught behind the flake effectively becoming the belay (no load on the belayer). So fell 12 metres on 6 metres of rope.


Super Saiyan

6-Sep-2005
5:03:25 PM

or you could play with the big "Fall Factor 5" guys aka Via Ferrata ladders

Climbers/Tourons climb a ladder clipping 1m cows tails or a sling with carabiner onto a cable next to them as "protection". Cable is secured to cliff every 5m. Climber falls off=

length of fall 5m
_____________

length of rope 1m

= Fall factor 5

Translation- you be dead.

pensionerpower

6-Sep-2005
5:17:12 PM

"The maximum fall factor generated in climbing situations is 2."

That's a common misconception. In fact you can generate a fall factor arbitrarily greater than 2. Just proceed as follows.

1. Rig a vertical cable to use as protection. Attach that cable to a wall at regular increments: say each 3 meters. So the cable is attached to the wall at ground level (A), 3 meters up (B), another 3 meters up (C), and so on.

2. Now use a 1 meter line to clip yourself to the cable. Climb up to attachment B. Move past it (unclipping then reclipping your line), and continue to attachment C. Climb past C so you can reach down to unclip your line & move up past it.

3. Now fall off - and die!

You will fall the 1 meter that you have climbed past C, then 3 meters down to B, then another meter down past B - for a total of 5 meters, ON ONE METER OF LINE. This is a factor FIVE fall.

I'm not entirely positive, but I think that harnesses & peices will simply blow apart with the forces generated by a factor five fall. If they don't just change the attachment interval from 3m to 5m, to get a factor SEVEN fall, & so on.

This is why you need special equipment (zypers etc.) on via ferrata, or the harbour bridge climb.

Folks, I am just an indoor junkie - I dislike outside (too many flies; no carpets!), but I do know my fall factors!

Rod

6-Sep-2005
5:19:53 PM

that's why via verrata adapted security systems come with a braking rope attached. your harness, 1 or 2 adapted slings (depending whether or not you have the 2 carabiners attached or not) and the short section of rope act as a dynamic system in a fall, you don't die...just break bones.

the adapted gear isn't that cheap so count it as another hobby.

There are 62 messages in this topic.