top of page

Loading...

<
>

Date of Incident

15/08/2019

Country

Scotland

Route

Activity

Sport rock climbing

When

Descending

Injury

No injury

Incident

Chose to climb a route listed as 12m in the guide book using a 30m rope. We didn't take into account the amount of rope used up by the knots and the anchor clearing process at the top of the route. The route was climbed successfully but during the lower off it became clear that there wasn't enough rope left to fully lower to the ground. Was about 4m short. There was a knot in the end of the rope so no injury occured but the participant had to clip off to a bolt and re-tie the knot to allow a full lower off.

Lessons

When a route is described as a certain height you need to allow some margin to take into consideration knots etc. So a 12m route actually needs a 40m rope not a 30m rope. We have since purchased a 60m rope to avoid this problem in future.

Causes

Belaying failure or error

Anonymous?

Yes

Reported By

Partner

Wearing Helmets?

Yes

Rescue Services Involved?

Author

11 February 2020 at 16:19:37

For more advice and guidance on good practices visit BMC skills

All reports are self-submitted and have not been edited by the BMC in any way, so please keep an open mind regarding the lessons and causes of each incident or near-miss. 

If you have a concern regarding this report please contact us at incidentreports@thebmc.co.uk

bottom of page