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Good safety thread 12-Sep-2013 At 5:21:15 PM singersmith

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>Mikl / singer; What size / type of tape, and how new was it?
>

Didn't feel like typing out all the boring details but I suppose for safety issues it is a good service.

Was new supertape, the kind everybody uses for their chalk bag belt (9/16", I think- the thick stuff) in case they ever need to leave it for an anchor. We were a lot more concerned about the tree we were rapping off than the webbing; I don't remember why we were such knuckleheads about leaving a biner or two since we were coming back anyway.

The rap went over a rolling edge and down into a chimney. At the bottom there was actually a fair bit of drag so we were going to do the trick where one guy keeps his rap device on the pull side and stays 8-10 meters off the ground and rides it down. The other guy pulls down on the other side and stretches to rope out as much as possible then releases it such that the rope recoils back up and produces slack at the anchor. Since we were in a chimney we were both able to get to the same point around 8m off the base. We pulled through maybe a couple of meters when the thing blew and we both decked. The worst bit was that a log and rocks came down with it.

Strangely, when we got to the ground a bit dinged up and feeling sorry for ourselves everybody down there was pissed off with us and giving us the "WTF!?! Why didn't you guys yell ROCK!?" Turns out that a VW bus size block had come off the top while we were up there, but at least 50m away from us and around the corner and they all assumed we had trundled it.

Never went back to that spot.