There we were, having a great time. Our group had climbed all morning and had just moved to a new location. We had rigged our top rope and one of our merry band decides to rap off. Anchor is bomber. ATC is rigged and the crab is locked. Time to cast off. A pause just over the lip...POP! WTF was that?!? In my life I have never seen eyes get that big. The story has a happy ending. The "rapper" is one of the strongest humans I know. "Jet boat waterski racing strong." He grabs both ropes and halts his decent. My other partner and I haul him back over the lip.
When we started breathing again we were all staring at a perfectly good harness completely open and hanging down around the secured leg loops.
My partner failed to double back his harness. I failed my partner by not giving him the triple check.
It was a cold, damp day. Layers of tee shirts and sweatshirts were hanging out. We were only at the top of a 40 foot cliff. Between the four of us we had nearly 90 years of firefighting/rescue experience between us. We had all been laughing so damn hard, having such a great time...I mean really, what could go wrong?
I will never fail my partner like that again. I will never fail my partner like that again
I will never fail my partner like that again.
Peace,
Tad
