Posted on 03/29/2022 7:01:53 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The second climber to die in Joshua Tree National Park this year has been identified by a witness as an experienced climber named Tina Fiori.
Fiori died Saturday afternoon following an 80-foot-fall while rock climbing.
Tina Lynn Fiori was 51 years old and a resident of Riverside County.
Himmelstein said the group was "top roping," a method of climbing that involves stringing a rope through a permanent anchor system at the top of the climb. The rope acts as a safety mechanism that supports a climber's weight if they fall. A second person assists gathering slack at the bottom of the climb and serving as a counterweight.
Himmelstein explained that climbing equipment, such as a type of nylon rope known as webbing, is often left attached to the permanent anchors at the top of a climb.
"(Fiori) just ended up being the last person in the day to climb up there," he said. "She got to the top and told us that she had secured herself, so the person down at the bottom was no longer doing that safety work."
Himmelstein said Fiori ran her safety rope through nylon webbing that had been left by someone who had previously climbed the route.
"Whether it was six months old (or) two years old I can't tell you, but it was old enough that it was compromised," he said. "And that's what failed."
When Fiori leaned back to repel down the rocks, the weathered webbing gave way and the she fell to her death.
Himmelstein said the use of used webbing and other leftover equipment is "not uncommon" at any climbing location, but that it is done less frequently in Joshua Tree than in many other places.
(Excerpt) Read more at desertsun.com ...
Yes, in my younger days we would trek out to JT to camp overnight or for weekends. It was never very hard to find a great campsite. Nowadays you have to get a reservation and the place is always chock full.
Sigh..
I don’t quite understand why the person on belay stopped holding the line. Why wouldn’t he/she belay the climber during their rappel down?
Excuse my ignorance, but wouldn’t nylon be cord?
She died because she did not have a belay, she did not have a person doing the safety work.
Always a belay. Always. Bad riggings or old nylon are the reason always belay. There is no such thing as a secure tie-off.
Exactly. I'm sure that person has been asked that question.
Rappelling doesn’t require a belay and wouldn’t have helped. If your anchor breaks, your belay is a spectator. The nylon loop was used so they could pull the rope down when she got to the bottom.
Just a bad decision to trust it. And it might have been OK’d by a more experienced climber—we don’t know. Tragic.
The rope was likely anchored at the bottom and looped through the nylon loop at the top. Experienced climbers use belayers to take up slack and catch them if they fall while climbing up.
Rappelling down might use a belayer when very inexperienced climbers are learning and might get going too fast. A brake can be applied. But a snapped nylon loop is a single point of failure that a belayer wouldn’t help. Much like if their climbing rope snapped.
I did a fair amount of climbing in my 20’s.
The desert is actually good to old ladders as the dryness limits rot, but we always made sure we had many contact points in case one of them fell down the shaft.
I’m no climber but I know the sun eats nylon rope. Why not use poly instead?
Let me guess according to usual Freepers empathy for folks who get off the sofa and take chances
He deserved it
It’s made into flat straps, too.
You lucky. There more down there than just unmarked air shafts. Or decayed struts, or earthquakes. It’s the ashyxiation or downright poisoning from the gases that seep up from the earth and get caught in large pockets.
A bunch of us used to go mineral collecting in old mines around Tucson. One of the group was about 6’4” and 250 lb, so he always went first on ladders and such.
One mine we went into I saw a piece of string poking out of the side of a wall. Looked closer and saw it was a fuse most likely connected to a stick of dynamite. Backed away slowly then got the heck out of that mine.
I found a dropped blasting cap once (left it alone, you can bet) but never a charge. I haven’t been underground in 30 years or more now.
I think the rule is “always pack your own chute.”
There’s a Hillary joke with a punch line of “The world’s smartest woman just jumped out of a plane with my knapsack as a parachute.”
I've done rappelling myself. It is always with a belay and a good second anchor point. I took the Sierra Club Basic Mountaineer Training Course - 6 month deal. Like you, when in my 20s.
I don't disagree with you there is more going on here and the old anchor point that was used is very much a problem. But I have never heard where anyone would rappel without a belay.
Good conversation on this one for sure and I see someone else in the thread that appears to be of the same opinion as you so there ya go. Thanks.
Thanks. I was not aware of that.
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