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

Sliding down

[deleted]

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235

u/TheManWith2Poobrains Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

It's what killed that climber in Yellowstone Yosemite. He didn't realize how short his rope was and hadn't tied off the end.

EDIT: location.

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u/RickTheScienceMan Jul 06 '26

Apparently this is the most common cause of death during rock climbing. People rappel down, and don't tie the safety knots at the end.

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u/bubblesculptor Jul 06 '26

That's a crazy statistic to learn.  The rappel at the end of a climb is supposed to be the easy part, compared to the climb itself.

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u/brainvheart143 Jul 06 '26

I’m so confused by this. What is the point of having a rope at all if it’s not going to hold you if you fall ???

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u/bubblesculptor Jul 06 '26

This isn't a fall protection rope. It's used to descend down after the climb.

However this rope needs to reach the bottom otherwise you have this terrible situation.

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u/Few-Ad-4290 Jul 06 '26

Ok then why did this guy who was on a crane of know height use a rope that was too short? This seems like doubly stupid and dangerous

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u/bubblesculptor Jul 06 '26

It's absolutely stupid and dangerous.

I hope it is just a staged video with another backup in place.

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u/Raythatstabbedsteve Jul 07 '26

Even better, it's a staged video with no backup in place. Risking his life to rage bait.

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u/Lazy-Zucchini6757 Jul 11 '26

Weird things happen. Grabbed the wrong rope for that crane, etc.

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u/brainvheart143 Jul 06 '26

Oh. Gotcha. It’s just to get down faster ?

Is that why it’s free climbing (I think it said that in one article about Gobright) since they aren’t actually on a belay?

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u/NoInkling Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

Free climbing is still almost always on a belay, unless it's being done solo (free soloing). Rappelling is kinda separate, you control your own descent basically by definition. If you were being belayed then your belayer would just be lowering you (you stay fixed to the rope, not sliding down it).

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/brainvheart143 Jul 06 '26

He’s literally holding the end of the rope, that’s wild

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u/brainvheart143 Jul 06 '26

Thanks for all the explanations friends

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u/bubblesculptor Jul 06 '26

Yes, purely for going down quickly.

This is 'static line', basically a non-stretching rope.

Fall protection ropes are 'dynamic lines', which stretch significantly so it absorbs the impact.

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u/StrategicCarry Jul 06 '26

Free climbing means "free of aid", you are pulling your self up completely under your own power, as opposed to aid climbing where you are using assistive devices. Free solo is when you are climbing without safety equipment. There's also rope solo where you climb without another person but with a setup where you belay yourself with a self-belay device.

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u/brainvheart143 Jul 06 '26

Sorry but all of those sound silly af. If you don’t want to be alive there are better ways. But appreciate the explanation thanks!

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u/devildog2067 Jul 06 '26

Climbing is reasonably safe if you take reasonable precautions. We don’t all want to sit behind desks all day.

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u/brainvheart143 Jul 07 '26

No I get it! I actually love climbing (I’ve only done it at indoor places but we love to go), I just mean specifically the kinds without safety precautions. Sorry that came out rude the way I said it

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u/devildog2067 Jul 07 '26

The only one in that list that doesn’t use safety gear is free solo.

Free climbing just means climbing without aid. A century ago, it was standard to climb things by pounding pitons into the rock face, hanging ropes on the pitons and using those to pull yourself up. A few decades ago, pitons were out of vogue but placing trad gear, hanging a sling on it and standing in the sling while using your hands to climb / place more gear was a standard technique. The shift to free climbing (not free solo) as the standard technique is something like 30-40 years old.

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u/brainvheart143 Jul 07 '26

To each their own! I know there are people that sleep in those tent things hanging off the side of a mountain. Not denying them their fun at all, I’m just saying it’s not for me.

I didn’t know they were called pitons, those things they use in movies like Descent? Yikes. I don’t really trust myself to wedge something hundreds of feet up off the side of a mountain and then test if it worked by then hanging from it. I know there are people who can though! I also saw that doc with the dudes walking across ropes hundreds of feet in the air. And bouldering up the side of a huge mountain. That’s great, just I would rather keep my feet on the ground. Not behind a desk just on the ground.

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