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Incident
Most Shorn Cliff routes are single pitch 15 - 30m routes and descent is by abseil. I abseiled off the end of a rope and hit the deck. Minor bruising, friction burns and cuts. Incident was due to human error. I put a single 50m rope without a middle marker through the abseil maillon at the top and threw one end down to check it reached the ground. When it did I threw the other end down, did all my abseil checks and set off. I pinged off the end of the ab rope with some force a couple of metres off the ground.
Lessons
My error was a) not checking the second end reached the ground b) not putting knots in both ends or c) using a single and not the double ropes to abseil. Any of these simple abseil precautions would have meant no ground fall. In addition, putting a middle marker in the rope would have prevented the accident if the middle marker was aligned with the maillon.
Activity
Trad rock climbing
When
Descending
Injury
Minor injury
Causes
Abseil or rappel failure or error
Anonymous?
No
Reported By
Participant
Wearing Helmets?
Yes
Rescue Services Involved?
Author
Rosi Y
3 September 2020 at 09:45:33
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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.