Incident:Awkward rappel start with slip and fall in Rubio Canyon 2020/01/20
From ropewiki.com
| Incident:Awkward rappel start with slip and fall in Rubio Canyon 2020/01/20 | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2020/01/20 |
| Location | Rubio Canyon |
| Severity | No loss |
| Canyoneering-related | Yes |
| SAR involvement | No |
| Navigation problem | No |
| Environmental problem | No |
| Communication problem | No |
| Planning problem | No |
| Skills problem | No |
| Body movement problem | Yes |
| Rigging problem | No |
| Rappel problem | Yes |
| Insufficient gear | No |
| Gear failure | No |
Summary
A fairly new canyoneer was beginning one of the Leontine extension rappels and stood up while navigating the edge. The anchor was below the attachment point of the canyoneer's device to their harness, and the edge was slick with algae. This resulted in a slip and substantial (~5 feet) fall with fortunately no injuries. This underscored the importance of starting awkward and/or slippery rappels with good body position and minimizing risk of a fall by keeping close to the ground and to the edge. Better body movement could have made this experience much more comfortable, and could prevent a serious injury in other circumstances.
