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Bellbird Wall rescue 22-Aug-2016 At 11:17:41 AM Duang Daunk

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On 19/08/2016 Zarb wrote:
>I love a good university club trip report. Bad luck just seems to follow them around.

Agree with you bro, 'cept the part about bad luck, as that TR read to me like a numpty fiasco.

Some WTF's.

Only feeding one rope into an abseil device on double-rope abseils?

Concern about fixed abseil stations of double ring bolts on multipitch that might not reach the next abseil point, or the ground? Did they think they were still in the gym??

Given that concern and then throwing in a 5 m traverse to effectively shorten up their rope by 5m to still achieve objective doesn't add further uncertainty to the outcome?

2nd abseiler then being 'off-line' and facing a pendulum from the newly unclipped re-directional? Yet they discussed the course of action they pursued beforehand?? Shared ignorance isn't good discussion even with a firemans backup!

Not knowing about rope stretch when prussiking? Nor the fact that it can be your friend if needing to abseil diagonally to an offset landing below?

Needing a 5 m safety sling and not having one? That statement, yet being in multipitch territory with plenty of climbing rope to hand that is better than any sling?

After deciding to unclip the re-directional and then re-position the rope (but not all the way back to the natural fall-line), and after seeing it trying to dislodge a chunk of ground plus preventing that by applying pressure on the ropes... They only move it slightly further not expecting gravity to still be a bitch?

All of them realised the area was "full of loose rocks" yet the prussiker still dislodged one (due diligence?), and the victim hadn't taken the precaution of being out of any potential firing line?
(Prussiker also prolly hadn't allowed for the rope he was prussiking to dislodge something onto him!)

From the TR.
>"From the beginning we went down that second abseil, all the way throughout Wen Jun’s prussiking up process, we did realise the area is full of loose rocks. These rocks can look pretty solid, until you touch it and it will collapse. I can remember different sizes of rocks fell off from time to time, from tiny pebbles like m&m's to as big as my birthday cakes (which are usually big). We always gave warnings and manage to avoided most of it. And we weren’t too concerned about it especially since we’re all standing under a tiny ledge that sticks out and protects us from rock falls, and this comfort zone took away our awareness."

"took away our awareness" ??
The fellow who "had the most knowledge and experience of the area" made some very dodgy decisions which shows how well he sandbagged the others, first by redirecting a straight forward abseil and later dislodging the offending rock onto people below.
No bad luck in that.

>"In summary of the down side, the whole epic day was a combination of pure accident but also a little lack of awareness of the terrain. The rock fall was an accident, however we shouldn’t have hang around either knowing the area is open to rock fall risk."

No accident about inexperience and poor decision making.
No bad luck.
But everything is OK because they are a Uni Club and that counts for something don't it, like it's more important to fine someone for their stupid action and contribute to the drinking fund?

They could do with a good TR re-write (ala bl@ke's Ozy style), by bro's simey an ODH if they are serious about
>"There are a series of challenges and lessons we’ve learned through our attempt to do Bellbird’s multipitch, and we hope this can be useful to raise safety awareness for ours and others future trips."