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Chockstone Forum - Climbing Videos

Post links and comments about your favourite climbing flicks

Author
Hanging Rock rope swing accident

ajfclark
2-Feb-2015
4:09:54 PM
Here's a link to some footage of an accident at Hanging Rock.
This is by far the most chilling event i've ever captured on film. We set out to set up an insane stunt in a remote location where little did we know, the mishap that occurred after two successful jumps, brought us all closer in spirit than we would've ever imagined. Here's the behind the scenes footage of our weekend.
There's no blood, but it's a bit in your face still. Sorry for the facebook link:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152508392666556
Wollemi
2-Feb-2015
4:30:10 PM
5.05 for the relevant slo-mo.
Best of wishes to the injured.

Some of the comments are shrill, and irrelevant.

I would like to do this still impressive feat sometime...
I recall a time walking out to the end of Hanging Rock - when the Casuarina was well and truly alive.
rightarmbad
3-Feb-2015
12:40:06 AM
Did they simply not realise that the rope would get longer each jump?
widewetandslippery
3-Feb-2015
6:23:17 AM
looks like a bunch of rope access wankers by the harnesses etc.

sbm
3-Feb-2015
11:00:17 AM
On 3/02/2015 rightarmbad wrote:
>Did they simply not realise that the rope would get longer each jump?

Wow. I didn't t think about that but now youve said it it's obvious.

Seems like people, who are actually good climbers, want to go out and do rope swings and jumps but as a one-off without building up to it, but I reckon it's a different skill set. Id feel safer with a high liner rigging it. They think of stuff like that.






ajfclark
3-Feb-2015
12:00:47 PM
You've never noticed that it takes a while for a dynamic to recover after it's been loaded?

sbm
3-Feb-2015
4:05:39 PM
Of course I have (actually one time we tied the end of a fixed rope off to an anchor, and after shrinking overnight it was bowstring tight)

I just didn't immediately think of it, because I don't have experience with rope swings or high lines, unlike climbing anchors which I've thought about a lot. And I reckon if you asked most climbers what the cause of that accident was, they wouldn't immediately think of that either.
Olbert
3-Feb-2015
7:23:35 PM
On 3/02/2015 rightarmbad wrote:
>Did they simply not realise that the rope would get longer each jump?

I think the cause of this wasn't necessarily the rope length. I'd hazard a guess that lots of people do that jump with as much slack or more - I certainly did it with that much slack. The problem, I think, is that he sidled off the edge rather than jump - everyone else successfully clears that edge with just their momentum.

It's sad to see someone fcuk that jump up. Not only for the guy that got hurt but the more accidents, the more the rangers/police are likely to crack down on that sort of thing. I don't think that's good for anyone!
kieranl
3-Feb-2015
9:23:24 PM
Incredibly lucky that he wasn't killed.Even unconscious on the rope and things could have gone very bad.

There's been some criticism of their lack of rescue plan but I wonder how many people do that swing or the jump with a rescue plan ready to go. Does anyone know what's normal there?

Given the method of injury the rescue technique is particularly odd. The method of injury screams potential spinal injury - as it turned out luckily the only part of his spine affected was his coccyx. But you certainly couldn't tell. He shouldn't have been contributing to his rescue by jumaring. Ideally he shouldn't have been moved without a stretcher but leaving him hanging immobile on the rope isn't really an option. But with the number of people and amount of gear there I would have thought a haul would have been the option.
Dave_S
3-Feb-2015
11:06:51 PM
Explanation in the comments says: "Rather than stepping out and jumping straight in front of him like the other jumpers he jumps to the side to avoid slack and free full-time."

So it looks and sounds like they were depending on jumping out away from the rock and spending time in free-fall, and the rope was too long to allow them to swing on a taut rope from the very top.
Olbert
4-Feb-2015
9:07:32 AM
On further investigation, it was a combination of his launch sidle (jump) and his launch point that contributed to the accident. It had zero to do with the slack in the rope or the increased length of the rope after multiple jumps.

First look at a successful jump, thanks to Dan for the video and one super brave and sexy jumper! Source.



I have highlighted the rope to show how much slack, as well as pointing out the common jump point and accident jump point. You can see that the accident jump point is at the joint of the sheer wall and the slabby rubbish.



Here is a shot of him at the moment of sidling. You can see the sheer wall beneath him but he is right at the join between the walls. Unfortunately for him he sidles sideways into the slabby wall.



Here is a shot of him hitting the slabby rubbish. What I haven't pointed out is the dead tree which is waiting to put holes in jumpers who sidle straight forward instead of sideways.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
4-Feb-2015
10:46:50 AM
Carrying on from where Olbert left off, more sequence detail from the same source...



































Paul
4-Feb-2015
11:59:35 AM
It looks like the people involved have taken a lot of precautions and time planing, maybe they weren't aware of some of the finer details for rigging a swing at this location. Testing the swing first with a non human weight , i.e. a haul bag full of stuff is a great way to predict what obstacles are in the way. Wearing helmets is always a good idea, lucky his head didn't hit the ledge. I hope Shannon has a speedy recovery from his injuries.

There are 13 messages in this topic.

 

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