Climbing kit

[Andrew C]

A climbing instructor friend of mine pointed me to this article. Tragic outcome, but surely the kid would have at least looked at the sling?

 

The Italian newspaper La Stampa reports that three people will go to trial facing manslaughter charges for the death of Tito Traversa.

 

In July of 2013, 12-year-old Italian climbing phenom Tito Traversa died from injuries sustained from a ground fall while climbing in Orpierre, France. An investigation into the cause revealed that he had been climbing on improperly assembled quickdraws—specifically the improper use of a rubber keeper designed to hold the carabiner in place. Tito was under the supervision of a climbing club when the accident occurred.

 

 

Now; I did a little climbing many years ago with this friend, and had instruction when doing stuff on trusses, but I'm by no means an expert, but this death trap should have been so blindingly obvious to a "climbing phenom"....

 

http://www.dpmclimbing.com/sites/default/files/uploads/images/quick.jpg

 

Let's be careful out there!

[Seano]

Trusting no one is not an option - it's an integral and essential part of the game that the climber (lead climber especially) trusts the belayer with his/her life. Anyone who can't accept that should not be climbing, and especially should not be belaying.

 

Tito's tragic death should indeed never have happened, hence the criminal charges I suppose. The degree of negligence/incompetence involved is quite baffling.

 

But it's frankly outrageous to point an accusing finger at the kid himself. He was a phenomenally talented young climber but he was also an excited 12 year old who implicitly trusted (and should have been able to trust) the adults he was climbing with.

 

You should not necessarily equate prowess in sport climbing with technical expertise, even in adults, anyway - two complementary but completely different skill sets. There are *lots* of people climbing in the higher sport grades, particularly these days with the proliferation of indoor walls, who are not necessarily gear freaks nor even particularly knowledgeable. They may have never placed a nut in their lives, those who've climbed exclusively indoors may never even have clipped a bolt; lead walls have had in-situ quickdraws since the late '90s/early 2000s.

 

Incidentally, there have been accidents and near-misses involving some very experienced and capable climbers caused by something similar with sling-draws. When used with a 'keeper' like this (traditionally 'castration rings' bought from a veterinary supplier are the rubber band of choice) it's possible for a correctly assembled sling-draw to 'invert' whilst being jiggled about in a rucksack. There was an awareness raising campaign a few years ago advising that keepers should not be used with sling-draws and, while not strictly relevant, the tragically needless death of young Tito served to further highlight that.