Incident:Awkward rappel start with slip and fall in Rubio Canyon 2020/01/20

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
Swift water problem
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.

Credits

Incident:Awkward rappel start with slip and fall in Rubio Canyon 2020/01/20

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