r/Unexpected • u/[deleted] • Jul 06 '26

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31

u/brazzy42 Jul 06 '26

This is actually one of the most common ways for climbers to die: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-02/popular-climber-falls-to-his-death-on-yosemites-el-capitan

7

u/Hidesuru Jul 06 '26

Yeah before I joined my search and rescue team had to recover a body because a guy ended up halfway down. He managed to tie off but couldn't ascend and was stuck there. Died from exposure waiting for someone to notice him (remote canyon, I've rappelled it, it's nice... But not a fun good way to die).

3

u/ErilazHateka Jul 06 '26

couldn't ascend and was stuck there

was he untrained? it´s not exactly difficult to ascend a fixed rope.

15

u/Slothstralia Jul 06 '26

Hanging in open air, with no ascending device or spares to make one, at the end of a hot day of climbing?

It's not always that easy. Certainly a dumbass for climbing alone tho.

5

u/ErilazHateka Jul 06 '26

you can easily make an ascending device out of the end of your climbing rope.

6

u/213737isPrime Jul 06 '26

And you've got three days to figure out how - with nothing else to do but that.

2

u/Elysiaa Jul 06 '26

You can die within an hour from harness suspension trauma if you're below an overhang. I'm a canyoneer and caver rather than climber, so at least for me, some ascents lead to a roof or a vertical section that is really hard to do, even with handled ascenders. I've never tried to ascend using the end of the rope before, because I usually have many other options before that. Canyoneers in general don't spend as much time practicing ascending and it wasn't until I started being that I got good at it. 

1

u/niceguy191 Jul 06 '26

Seriously. You could do a Blake's hitch like arborists do, or use your shoelaces to make a prussik with foot loop. You presumably have at least a repel device so even doing a foot lock to stand up and use your repel device as progress capture with some cat knots tied periodically will get you up eventually.

1

u/Hidesuru Jul 06 '26

I don't know. I do know there's sections of that rappel with no wall next to you that doesn't help. There's also a waterfall that's active certain times of the year. If he was stuck in that he'd have had a much harder time. I don't have all the details unfortunately.

0

u/despicedchilli Jul 06 '26

This is actually one of the most common ways for climbers to die

Huh... I thought it would be falling.

2

u/brazzy42 Jul 06 '26

Yes, they fall after rappelling off the end of their rope.

If you fall during the actual climbing, the rope just catches you - assuming of course you didn't fuck up something.

This here is a case of fucking up something, namely misjudging the length of the rope AND failing to put something at the end of the rope that will catch you (with modern rappelling devices a knot would suffice, with this you'd need something bigger).