NutAgain!



Trad climber South Pasadena, CA

Nov 10, 2015 - 04:12pm PT I'm sorry for the family and friends of this person. Words will always pale in comparison to the presence or absence of a life.



I have no information about this tragedy or whether this is what happened, but awareness of the following scenario might save someone else from a tragedy.



On steep descents where the person leading effectively has a toprope, it's easy to get "in the zone" moving quickly into more and more sketchy down-climbing while placing little or no pro. The follower, who may be equal to or even slower/weaker/less experienced than the leader, is then in the position of down-soloing where the leader had the mental comfort of a top-rope. With pressure to get off quickly (tired/cold/thirsty/weather/etc), it's very easy to see how something like this could happen. Very treacherous possibility on the halfdome descent when cables down, especially with icy conditions.

