Bolt Failure Kills climber in Blue Mnts.

[ynp1]

This really sucks. Check it out.

http://www.onsight.com.au/news-blog/index.php

[caribe]

___.

[caribe]

Wow, I am speechless. The person who put the bolts in did not know shit or did not care. This is shocking. The opinion on the blog regarding ignorance about local ethic is spot on.

What is to stop such an event from happening here? Perhaps someone comes to the Red and puts a route up; perhaps they don't know what they are doing. I guess to increase your safety, you should know about kinds of bolts. To increase our safety a bit we all need to get more technical.

[Crankmas]

thats horrible- quite pertinent point made about outsiders disregarding local advice- I assume that was sandstone and those horizontals are not unlike the iron we encounter in the Red- my sympathy to the family and Aussie community

[Wes]

This just sounds like the equipper didn't have the right sized bit for the bolts they were using. Total and complete user error. I know that people will jump on the soft rock / need glue ins wagon, but studs are fine when used correctly. And, if you use the right bit, even non-tightened expansion bolts are pretty solid for a downward fall, and are not all that easy to get out.

And, from my experience replacing bolts - trying to guess which ones are actually real world stronger (IE, the ones that take the most force to break) is that you have no idea 99% of the time until you actually try to break it.

Wow, I am speechless. The person who put the bolts in did not know shit or did not care. This is shocking. The opinion on the blog regarding ignorance about local ethic is spot on.

What is to stop such an event from happening here? Perhaps someone comes to the Red and puts a route up; perhaps they don't know what they are doing. I guess to increase your safety, you should know about kinds of bolts. To increase our safety a bit we all need to get more technical.

[Saxman]

It's nice that the bolts could be pulled out by hand.

[p0bray01]

Wow...... thats horrible....I can see if the victims family found out who drilled the bolts they may possibly contact a lawyer and try to sue that person for manslaughter...

[michaelarmand]

Wow...... thats horrible....I can see if the victims family found out who drilled the bolts they may possibly contact a lawyer and try to sue that person for manslaughter...

But it was the rope getting cut that caused the death, not the bolts. Still, the route setters should be made aware that they screwed up bigtime...

[Saxman]

Wow...... thats horrible....I can see if the victims family found out who drilled the bolts they may possibly contact a lawyer and try to sue that person for manslaughter...

They probably will and the idiots who bolted it deserve to be punished BUT it opens a really big legal can of worms. What happens when a properly installed bolt is not maintained and fails? One could argue putting in a bolt and leaving it without consideration of future maintenance is negligence. Lets hope we self police well enough so that day doesn't come.

[DriskellHR]

every lump of gear we buy says "climbing is dangerous use at your own risk".......no case to make. besides we accept the possible outcome of what we do, it's the nature of the beast.

still sad though R.I.P.

[charlie]

Very sad. Accidents suck.

Introducing litigation into climbing would make us all pay though. Remember this is abandoned equipment you're trusting your life to.

[pigsteak]

good reminder charlie. when I drop in a bolt, I put it there for my safety alone. everyone else is using it at their own risk, with NO warranties to my abilities.

please place your own safety devices to ensure your own well being.

[kneebar]

Sad story for sure.

But the title is wrong, the bolt didn't fail the person that put it in did. The end result of his or her failure along with similar screw-ups will eventually lead to government regulation. Something I would really hate to see.

And from a legal point it needs to be said "its abandoned gear treat it as such". IMO the majority of climbers that clip bolts on a sport route honestly don't think of it that way. If the guy pulled a fixed nut out of the wall it would have been his fault and we would likely have never heard of it.

[Saxman]

When someone can break into your property or house and sue you and win, then anything is possible.

[Josephine]

um - is it just me or is Blue Mountains in AUSTRALIA. and if so, wouldn't the legal issues pertaining to climbing - and just to life in general - be different than the legal issues here in the USA?

i don't know what their laws are and i don't really care. that's a horrible thing to have happen.