Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Accidents & Injuries

Report Accidents and Injuries

Topic Date User

Accident at araps on news Sunday 9/3 10-Mar-2015 At 8:56:00 AM Sabu

Message

I hope its not too soon for these details. If anyone has an issue with anything I've written please PM me.

My understanding was that the party were descending from the Oasis on Dunes and ended up abseiling off a bollard high up in Major Mitchell Gully. The climber fell when the rope reportedly slipped off the bollard.

We were all in the pines when it occurred and after hearing the shouts it took some time to figure out where the accident had occurred (there were parties up on the bluffs and on top of dunes so this was where we were looking initially). Once we figured out it was in the gully everyone moved pretty quickly to get up there and he was soon well tended to by a couple of guides, an off duty paramedic, st johns and a paeds registrar (all of whom did a fantastic job).

After being assessed, he was lowered to a better position by the guides where he could be placed on a stretcher, treated by ambos and eventually carried out with the assistance of everyone who had walked up.

I am glad to hear he is doing well and wish him a speedy recovery and so to his friends who were understandably very shaken by this. Everyone involved did a fantastic job, I don't really have a benchmark for comparison but it certainly appeared to be a very smooth operation in difficult terrain.

Some things I personally took away:
1) Have a pair of binoculars at camp/in your pack. This would've saved us some time in figuring out where to aim for as with multiple parties in view it was difficult to ascertain what had happened from camp.
2) Extra hands are always needed. Initially having extra people in the gully would've just resulted in people being in the way, particularly in this scenario as the gully is steep and narrow, however, once he needed to be carried out every extra pair of hands was appreciated.
3) Even if you're not an expert there are things you can help with such as ferrying gear up to and from the site (the ambos had a lot of kit and it was a steep climb for them), looking after climbing partners/ friends as they are likely to be in shock and relaying information to assist with communication between those arriving and those on site.
4) It goes without saying, be careful with your anchors and if in doubt back it up. This one could have been a lot worse.