New Jersey woman dies in climbing accident at the Gunks

[Admin Al]

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Haworth_woman_killed_in_upstate_NY_rock_climbing_fall.html

it would be very interesting to get the full details. apparently "It appears that her group had girth-hitched multiple pieces of webbing around the tree at the top of the climb, and somehow the anchor came down with the rope she was on–whether from bad knots, an unclipped carabiner, or something else–details on the cause are still unclear." Hopefully it will be in AINAM.

http://www.climberism.com/climber-dies-at-the-gunks/

[DLottmann]

1st off, RIP, a tragic loss and heartfelt condolences...

Now to attack the media. "Her equipment failed"...

We are so quick to absolve any person, whether it be the victim, or the people climbing with the victim of any possible blame when such an accident occurs. It is true the family should be spared the heartache, but I really wish the media could be a bit more objective sometimes.

Granted, I wasn't there and don't know what happened, and TBH we will probably never know as detailed objective reports rarely reach the ANAM, especially from the Gunks area. But we all know that climbing equipment rarely fails, and it is 99.9% user error when something like this happens.

[Admin Al]

"...somehow the anchor came down with the rope she was on..."

[sigh]

[DWT]

We are so quick to absolve any person, whether it be the victim, or the people climbing with the victim of any possible blame when such an accident occurs. It is true the family should be spared the heartache, but I really wish the media could be a bit more objective sometimes.

For who?  Us or them?  We(climbers) know what happened.

[sneoh]

Really sad.  1st time climbing and killed by a 15~20-foot fall.  How tragic. 
From the read, perhaps a TR top-anchor malfunction/failure ?  Probably not the victim's error given it was her 1st time climbing.

[strandman]

If i comment, i wil get more negatives than Champ... Climbing is dangerous... You  gotta pay attention and KNOW what the fuck you are doing.

If a TR fails ?

[apbt1976]

If i comment, i wil get more negatives than Champ... Climbing is dangerous... You  gotta pay attention and KNOW what the fuck you are doing.

If a TR fails ?

I just deleted all kinds of shit. I will leave it at i am also gonna keep my mouth shut.

[eyebolter]

Last time I was at the Gunks I saw all kinds of crazy shyte.  Put Gotham city within a two hour drive of a world class multi-pitch trad crag and what do you expect? 

Frankly, I'm flabbergasted that people aren't killed there every weekend.  It is not for a lack of trying.

[M_Sprague]

Poor girl. I'm sorry, but there is no excuse for a complete top anchor to fail (if that is indeed what happened) unless it is hit by a bolt of lightning out of the blue sky or a plane crash or something.

It sounds like she died of massive internal bleeding.

[hobbsj]

The article really didn't state much regarding the cause.  Half you guys are just as bad as  the anonymous newspaper posters with their "stupid free spirit hippies" and "I know better never leaving my house b/c something bad could  happen" comments.  All we have is what the paper printed, which has been shown not to be a reliable source of information.  We participate in an inherently dangerous activity.  A young woman died.  That's about all the 100% factual information  we have.  We've all messed up and have had the luck not to have to pay the big one for one reason or another.  I'm sure if I had seen any one of you develop as a climber, I could shake my head at one point or another and scoff. How about we be respectful towards this young woman, and when more details are available, learn from it in any way we can and improve.

[apbt1976]

Good points John,

Hence partly the reason i zipped it.

The other part mostly due to having to take into consideration how often in life the outcome of any given situation can and does ultimately end up predominately determined by the tone set forth by just one individual. The responding officer, the climbing partner, the media blah blah blah.....

[old_school]

A tragic loss and such a young woman. My heart to goes out to her family and friends.

[sneoh]

More info (though not sure of its accuracy) -
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web12s/newswire-flash-woman-dies-gunks?utm_source

Off topic and making broad generalization ... I echo Ward's observations.

[DLottmann]

More info (though not sure of its accuracy) -
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web12s/newswire-flash-woman-dies-gunks?utm_source

Off topic and making broad generalization ... but I echo Ward's observations.

Nothing new that I can see... maybe they pulled something? This is what it says currently:

"Stephanie Prezant, 22, died on Sunday of internal bleeding after falling from Easy Keyhole at the Trapps. Prezant was, reportedly, being lowered when the anchor she was top roping from failed. She was conscious on the ground but witnesses reported her condition to be "fading."

It is currently unclear what caused the anchor failure but initial reports indicate that the anchor involved either webbing, or a series of slings, girth-hitched around a tree. Some or all of this system was found on the ground near Prezant.

Alpinist.com will continue to update this page as more information becomes available."

[sneoh]

DMan, the new info to me is, according to Alpinist.com, she fell while being lowered.  I thought neither of the earlier articles indicated when she actually weighted the rope.