Dear Patrick Hill,

Thanks for taking the time to write up this near-miss - it's a high-quality report and well worth publishing. However, I'm hoping you can resubmit the form with one slight change. Please could you enter the incident date as 13/2/21 rather than 20/4/21.

The incident and near-miss system has been deliberately set up so that we are unable to edit reports in any way. Please resubmit so that we can share your valuable experience with the wider climbing community. I have copy pasted your full report below, which will hopefully make the resubmitting process less painful!

With thanks from the BMC Incident and Near-Miss team

Date of Incident

20/04/2021

Country

England

Area

Kinder Downfall (Derbyshire)
Route

Kinder Downfall
Incident

On 13th February my partner and I climbed the Downfall Route up on Kinder. After climbing the first pitch and arriving at the belay ledge I saw the team above - the leader already climbing the final section whilst being belayed by his partner on the same ledge as my belay. I was shocked that his belay consisted on a single ice-screw and warthog, both placed in poor quality ice. The climber had clipped with a carbineer directly through (not even in) to the sling use to equalise the 2 gear placements. Therefore, if the warthog had ripped (it was flexing) the large carabineer would have slipped directly through the sling resulting in a ground fall. When told that his belay was not built correctly and that he was not attached, the climber refused to admit any wrongdoing.

Lessons

Making people aware of incorrect belays/belaying in a polite/non judgemental way is important for both the participant safety and your own wellbeing if an accident did happen, that could have been prevented by a polite reminded.

Activity

Winter climbing

When

Ascending

Injury

No injury

Rescue Services Involved?

​

Causes

Belaying failure or error, Incorrect belay building

Anonymous?

No

Reported By

Observer

Wearing Helmets?

Yes



Kind regards,

Incidents Reporting Team