Really sad. 20 year old died in a rappelling accident near Teardrop Arch (Moab).

[Scott P]

At this point all we know is what the trib article said.

The Moab Sun News contacted me (though summitpost) wishing to use a photo I had posted of Pool Arch. Apparently there is a story coming out in the Newspaper tomorrow. Since they are asking for a photo of the arch, maybe that's where the accident occurred?

[taatmk]

Sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family. Hope and prayers that you may be comforted in a time of sorrow....

[taatmk]

From another website:

"I have unofficial word on the cause being a failed knot on the webbing tied at the anchor point. Jared Hillhouse"
North Wash Outfitters
Yesterday at 9:45 PM

[Scott P]

It sounds like an improperly tied knot for the sling. :( Also, 8 PM would put it either dark or close to dark.

News story:

http://www.moabsunnews.com/news/arti...a4bcf6878.html

Local man killed in rappelling

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Teardrop Arch

A man rappels from the tree above the headwall behind Teardrop Arch. On Wednesday, March 20 Zachary John Taylor died in an accident at the same location. [Photo by Scott Patterson]







Posted: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 9:46 am | Updated: 10:07 am, Wed Mar 20, 2013.
Andrew Mirrington Moab Sun News Publisher

A day in the backcountry ended tragically last Wednesday when a local man was killed in a rappelling accident at Teardrop Arch in the Pritchett Canyon area nearMoab.

Zachary John Taylor, 20, died of his injuries at the scene as a result of a 110 foot fall. The accident occurred at approximately 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 13 as Taylor attempted to rappel from a tree near the top of Teardrop Arch, also known locally as Pool Arch. There were five others in his group who successfully completed the same rappel just prior to the accident.

The group of friends had begun hiking to the arch about 5 p.m. intending to do a popular rappel from the headwall behind the arch and then camp overnight. Emergency services were contacted by three members of the group who hiked for nearly two hours to reach the Pritchett Canyon trailhead where they placed a 911 call from a local residence at 9:20 p.m. “We received the call and immediately mobilized all available resources. We did everything we could,” said Grand County EMS director Andy Smith. As many as three dozen individuals from different agencies were involved in the rescue effort.

One team of rescuers responded via Careflight helicopter from St.Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., while another team approached on foot from the Pritchett Canyon traihead on Kane Creek Road. Rescuers from the helicopter reached Taylor at approximately 11 p.m.

The incident location was high above Pritchett Canyon in the rugged Behind the Rocks area – a labyrinth of sandstone fins and narrow canyons west of the Moab Valley.

“It’s relatively close to Moab, but remote at the same time,” Smith said.

Taylor died before rescuers reached him and the decision was made that his body would be brought out in daylight the following morning.

“The last thing we want is the possibility of someone else getting injured,” Smith said.

Lt. Kim Neal of the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, who assisted with the recovery of Taylor’s body and the investigation, said that the cause of the accident was the failure of a knot in the nylon webbing portion of the anchor that Taylor was rappelling from.

“There are several ways a knot like this can fail if it’s not tied correctly,” said Neal. “We know that the knot came apart.
We do not know the exact reason why.” The group had attached its ropes to a carabiner that was connected to an 11-foot loop of one-inch nylon webbing fastened around a large pinyon tree.

Taylor is the son of Thomas Taylor and Kristin Millis of Moab. He had recently returned to Moab after spending several months in Mexico as part of what his mother called a “spiritual quest”.

“He was a renaissance man,” said Millis. “He lived a full and authentic life. He loved to sing and dance. He wrote poetry, essays and songs. He was a natural comedian and loved to act. He spoke excitedly about someday being a father and husband. He loved the camaraderie of football and soccer. He was a fierce wrestler. He found joy on the river. And he loved to climb.”

Taylor had quickly reconnected with his old friends in Moab, including Kord Jackson, who was with him at the time of the accident and had known Taylor since 2008.

“He was just the best of dudes,” said Jackson, 23. “He absolutely loved life and wanted to experience everything.”
Jackson and Taylor had successfully rappelled at the same spot just a week earlier. Another of Taylor’s friends at the site of the accident was

Bettymaya Foott. Foott, 19, a sophomore at the University of Utah, had known Taylor since their freshman year at Grand County High School. She had been in Moab for the week on spring break and spent much of it with Taylor enjoying outdoor activities.

“He was really happy, really fun and sarcastic,” said a tearful Foott. “He was a great person and a great friend.”
Foott and Taylor had dated years earlier and recently they had been getting close, she said. Just earlier in the week the adventure-loving Taylor had persuaded her to join him in jumping into the frigid water of a swimming hole in nearby Mill Creek Canyon.

Taylor left a lasting impression on many around him, including his employers, B.C. Laprade and Danelle Ballengee, owners of Milt’s Stop & Eat.

“I saw him grow up. He never said a bad word and was easy to like,” said Laprade, who had hired Taylor for a stint at his restaurant several years ago when he was a high school student, and then re-hired him just a month ago.
According to Grand County officials, last week’s accident was the first recreational backcountry fatality of the year. But rescuers who investigated the accident scene were quick to point out that the group did not appear to have been reckless or negligent in any obvious way.

“This actually appeared to be one of the better-prepared groups we’ve encountered,” said Smith, a veteran of 13 years of emergency calls.

In hindsight, Taylor’s friend Jackson says he would urge anyone who participates in potentially dangerous activities like canyoneering to use caution in the backcountry.

“You need to keep a high level of respect for the outdoors,” Jackson said, “If there’s any message, I’d say it’s that anytime you’re putting your life in the hands of equipment that you triple check it.”

The six friends had rigged a commonly used anchoring setup for the rappel.

“If I ever go out again I think I would use two of everything.” Jackson said.

Local canyoneering outfitters said that a simple set-up like the one used by the group — a single piece of webbing and a single carabineer — is not at all unusual and that when used correctly the equipment will support thousands of pounds.
“A ‘single strand’ is often used as long as the gear has been carefully inspected before it’s used,” said Matt Moore, the owner of Desert Highlights in Moab.

Brett Sutteer, the owner of Moab Cliff and Canyons, agreed that most recreational rappellers use a similar arrangement, but he added that in a commercial setting he would typically use additionally backup anchors to create “a system with redundancy.”

Taylor’s friends and family appear to find some solace in the fact that he was so busy recently enjoying life and all the things that he loved about the Moab area.

“He told me during one of our recent hikes that this was one of the best days he’d ever had,” Foott said. “That makes it a little easier.”

Bridget Phillips, 20, was also with Taylor at Teardrop Arch and had known him for several years, accompanying him in high school to his Junior Prom.

“He was such a caring person, with a good heart,” she said. “On the day of the accident he was having a really great time.”
“He died doing what he loved most with friends he deeply loved and who loved him,” said his mother.



A viewing will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday March 22 at
Spanish Valley Mortuary, 386 N. 100 West. Funeral services will
be held 1 p.m., Saturday, March 23 in the Grand County High
School auditorium, 608 S. 400 East.

[Iceaxe]

It sounds like an improperly tied knot for the sling. :( Also, 8 PM would put it either dark or close to dark.

I wonder if this was the same sling a hundred others have rappeled from with few ever really checking the knot or inspecting the sling. Not a lot of groups completely reset a well established rappel anchor.... probably a lesson in there for us all....

[hesse15]

I wonder if this was the same sling a hundred others have rappeled from with few ever really checking the knot or inspecting the sling. Not a lot of groups completely reset a well established rappel anchor.... probably a lesson in there for us all....

that is so sad just a piece of webbing that was not inspected had such tragic consequences.
please be careful out there !!!!

[Stray]

News story:

http://www.moabsunnews.com/news/arti...a4bcf6878.html

After reading the excellently written article, words seem inadequate to express the sadness we feel about Zachary's death.

[moab mark]

First i want to give my condolences to the family. This is such a tragedy.
I would like to try and learn from this tragic experience. So I have a few observations and a question I'd like to ask. If the water knot that was in the webbing that was on that tree for the last 2 years is what gave way no anchor is safe. That webbing was a wrap 2 pull one with a very well tied water knot with ample tails. I went back thru my calendar and I have had over 80 people rappel off that webbing. I haven't been there since last November so I do not know if it had changed. Is there anyone who had been there this spring that knows what the current anchor looked like? I am looking back thru my pictures to see if I can find a picture of what the anchor looked like last fall.

Mark

[Iceaxe]

I think there is more to the story because properly tied and inspected water knots don't just fail when tied with safe webbing.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[jman]

Bretoyce was there the day before and made the comment on Facebook and hopefully he doesn't get too angry for sharing it ;)

"Nope, we looked at the rappell and it looked alot longer than the 130' that was suggested in the beta and that was the longest rope we had on hand so we didn't do it, it was an optional rap. Also when we were there, there was no webbing around that tree so they placed it them selves, they must have tied it wrong and not been wathcing to see if the knot was sliding, the article said like 5 kids had already rapped on that anchor or maybe he retied the anchor before he went and missed a step who knows what really happened he was the last one?!"

[Iceaxe]

"Nope, we looked at the rappell and it looked alot longer than the 130' that was suggested in the beta and that was the longest rope we had on hand so we didn't do it, it was an optional rap.

Someone needs to invest in better quality beta.

I have it listed at 170'.

[Scott P]

they must have tied it wrong and not been wathcing to see if the knot was sliding

If the article is right on the timing, it would have been close to dark (36 minutes after sunset) when the accident occurred. It could have been a contributing factor.

[Iceaxe]

Out of curiosity I looked outside at 8:00 last night and it was dark. At least it was too dark to properly inspect a knot without a headlamp. But it takes a long time to get a large group down the rap and it appears he was last so it would have been daylight when they arrived.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[oldno7]

Water knots have been known to slip through each loading/unloading sequence.

Knowing this--most will leave 3-4" tails.

Having said that, I doubt it was a water knot.

Each and EVERY member of any group, SHOULD be required to inspect ALL rigging that is associated with the groups use.

Any question, by even one group member, should be doubt enough to re-rig.

A knowledgeable member might see an error, a novice might just want reassurance, either is good enough reason to tear down and re-do under the groups watch.

[Brian in SLC]

Water knots have been known to slip through each loading/unloading sequence.

Knowing this--most will leave 3-4" tails.

A well tightened water knot doesn't usually slip, but, they can. There's tat on climbs around the Wasatch that see hundreds or more rappel cycles from them every season without failure.

That said, it does happen. And, that's a great point to check the knot to insure there are tails prior to launch.

http://www.caves.org/section/vertica...waterknot.html

I'll admit to being guilty of not watching out for this knot slippage. Great reminder to do so!!

[oldno7]

A well tightened water knot doesn't usually slip, but, they can. There's tat on climbs around the Wasatch that see hundreds or more rappel cycles from them every season without failure.

That said, it does happen. And, that's a great point to check the knot to insure there are tails prior to launch.

http://www.caves.org/section/vertica...waterknot.html

I'll admit to being guilty of not watching out for this knot slippage. Great reminder to do so!!

This is the testing I reference, water knots DO slip albeit, slightly, it is enough to pay attention to tail length.

http://user.xmission.com/~tmoyer/tes...ot_Testing.pdf

I always tension a water knot by pulling on all 4 strands.

[rclimb]

There is more to this then we know. I took a group down this march 3 and this is how it was setup at that time. There was a not at the tree and at the rapid link and the water knot was in the middle of them both. the end of the knot was about 4' and the webbing look new. It webbing was a little long making it a little hard to start for some people in the group.
it look like this

[oldno7]

Like Mark stated--that tree is a custom fit for a wrap 2 pull 1.

It helps keep the webbing in place and puts very little stress on a knot, if done properly.

[Carr21]

Honestly. I think it was such a fluke, it was just his time.

[Mountaineer]

This is the testing I reference, water knots DO slip albeit, slightly, it is enough to pay attention to tail length.

How did they do the water knot in this test? Was it rethreaded?