RAPPEL FAILURE—California, Sierra Nevada Palisades. A group of three teenagers climbed from a glacier camp via the U Notch and chimney to the summit of North Palisade by noon after a 0730 start. They began a class 3 traverse north on the east side toward the north summit (Starlight Peak) and Thunderbolt Saddle. Above Clyde Couloir they decided to rappel to reach the couloir and easier climbing.

Tim Edwards (17) was above the others and set up the rappel anchor alone. He used a one-inch webbing sling tied with a ring bend (water knot) around a “boulder.” There were three inches of rock above the sling. He rappelled past the others and into the couloir. Dave Blankenship (17) followed safely and Dale Snyder (16) got onto the rope. Dale was 15 to 20 feet below the anchor and noticed that the rope was in a crack above him. He flipped the rope to clear it onto the face to the right of the crack. Having succeeded, he started down and immediately fell, becoming wrapped in the rope. The new perlon 1 mm rope was tom nearly through in two places during the 1500-foot fall. The sling was neither on the rope nor found; it either had been torn off, or had untied.

Two men who were camped on the glacier saw the fall and reached the victim within 15 minutes. Dale was half buried in the snow; he still had his helmet on. The two men uncovered him, but could not help; he was already dead.

Tim and Dave separately climbed down the class 4 Clyde Couloir route very rapidly, without any rope.

Analysis: The most likely cause of the accident was that Dale flipped the sling off the boulder while he was flipping the rope out of the crack. From 15 to 20 feet below it is rather easy to do this. Two other possibilities are that the ring bend on the sling pulled through, or that the boulder moved. The fact that the two heavier climbers had rappelled first and safely makes these possibilities unlikely.

The anchor presumably was usable, but only with caution. All members of the party should have been warned that caution was required not to move the boulder, or to slip the sling. After Tim got down he saw Dale flipping the rope, but apparently had forgotten the anchor s small margin of safety. He stated that he first thought the boulder had slipped when Dale fell.

In light of the above comments, one might consider how much the youth and relative inexperience of the climbers can be blamed for the accident. This can be a controversial subject. Furthermore, the climbers had two to three year’s experience and had made some difficult climbs.

However, there is considerable reason to believe that the best learning process for those in the first years of climbing is to climb with veterans. This is part of the general rule: learn by the experience of other people—not on your own. Hopefully, after several years, a person will have ingrained safety habits which he can pass on to others.

Perhaps the action of the party after the accident is the most telling point in favor of my argument. The hasty dash down the mountain endangered the climbers and, by rockfall, the people below. (Source: Carl A. Heller, China Lake Mountain Rescue Group.)