Moab - 2nd Rope Swing Death

[Iceaxe]

DAY CANYON, Grand County

[Iceaxe]

I'm guessing this is the video that will be blamed for this accident.

[recinutah]

Anybody have inside beta on how this happened? Did he forget to put himself on rappel?

[DOSS]

All of these recent accidents can all be blamed on GoPro.. for if they had not brought to the market a way to film and distribute these extreme acts people wouldn't be doing them... Everyone now lets sue gopro.. <tongue in cheek emoticon>

[oldno7]

ALL of these deaths can be prevented if we as a society demand "common sense" legislation to ban ropes.

[oldno7]

And if we can't ban ropes outright, we need to restrict their length.

Less people would die if they couldn't get ropes longer than 30'

[xxnitsuaxx]

I am curious - does anyone know what swing they're talking about or where it is? And how in the world does someone just unclip from the rope?

[yetigonecrazy]

I think the blame falls squarely on the top dogs at ESPN from the 1990s, as well as the makers of Mtn Dew. If they hadn't started the X Games extreme culture everyone would still be around.

[jman]

Anybody have inside beta on how this happened? Did he forget to put himself on rappel?

From the article, as well as personal experience off the corona arch swing last year my friends and I did.......after you stop swinging, you uncoil your rappel rope (which is attached to you), step into a stirrup and then transition from the swing rope to the rappel rope. It's similar to passing a knot on a rope. A lot of people out there think that you just uncoil the rope and slide down the rest of the rope....but I have never seen it done that way.

So my guess is, he wasn't clipped into either ropes (well, clipped in securely) when he was transitioning from rope to rope and fumbled up the connection somehow.

What a awful way to go!...

[Scott P]

I am curious - does anyone know what swing they're talking about or where it is?

The article says it was in Day Canyon (usually known as Abe Day Canyon), which is not too far from Gemini Bridges and the Colorado River, depending on which part of the canyon that you are in.

[Iceaxe]

Authorities ID man dead in Grand Co. canyon fall
By The AP
Monday, May 6, 2013

MOAB, Utah — Authorities have identified a 32-year-old man who was swinging on a rope in a Grand County canyon before falling to his death.

Deputies say Adam James Weber of the Salt Lake City area died after the accident about 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Day Canyon.

Grand County Sheriff’s Lt. Ken Neal says the man and a woman had been swinging on a rope attached to a cable stretched across the canyon. Neal says the pair reached a canyon wall to rappel down, but the man fell as he was getting out of his harness.

Officials say a medical helicopter crew reached the man while he was still alive, but he later died of his injuries.

The woman wasn’t hurt.

This is the third climbing-related death in Grand County this year.

[Scott P]

This is the third climbing-related death in Grand County this year.

How is this a climbing related death?

[Iceaxe]

after you stop swinging, you uncoil your rappel rope (which is attached to you), step into a stirrup and then transition from the swing rope to the rappel rope. It's similar to passing a knot on a rope.

So not something beginners or those who have not practiced should be attempting.

Anyhoo.... Thanks for the explanation. I've had several people ask me how you get down and never had an answer.

[Iceaxe]

How is this a climbing related death?

Because the newspaper said so....

[oldno7]

How is this a climbing related death?

Because it included the use of a rope.

[Scott P]

Because it included the use of a rope.

They might as well include rodeo accidents as climbing ones as well.

[accadacca]

Condolences to the family and anyone else involved.

Unfortunately this is really starting to put a black eye on the sport...

[Iceaxe]

MOAB — A Salt Lake man died Sunday during a rappelling/rope swing accident.

Adam James Weber, 32, was killed after a 7:11 p.m. accident involving a rope swing combined with rappelling, according to the Grand County Sheriff's Office.

Weber and a woman were engaged in a tandem rope swing that included a rappel to the floor of Day Canyon after completion of the swing. Day Canyon is about seven miles west of state Route 191 and the Gemini Bridge Parking area.

As the man went to rappel down, he took his feet out of his stirrups and fell about 200 feet, said Grand County Chief Sheriff’s deputy Darrel Mecham. The woman was still clipped on the swing, and crews were able to get her down, while another crew in a helicopter went to the bottom of the canyon to locate her companion.

The sheriff's office said the distance of the rappel to the canyon floor after the swing was approximately 100 feet and the rope swing had been anchored to a metal airline cable. That cable had been anchored between the canyon walls, with a span that was approximately 600 feet.

It took several days to put the equipment into place and several people had successfully completed the rappel and the rope swing prior to Weber's fall.

Multiple agencies responded to the scene, but Weber succumbed to his injuries.

The sheriff's office advises recreationers that this is the third fatality the agency has investigated this year involving rope swings or rappelling and urges people to use extreme care and caution.

[TurboFan]

I blame Red Bull, Jackass, and Nitro Circus. And darwin.

[rockgremlin]

That sucks. In defense of the deceased, it's sometimes not easy to make the correct decisions when you're dangling from a rope 200 feet above the ground, and adrenaline is flooding your system.


Poor guy...sounds like he may have been in pain in his final moments. RIP.