srt, anchor failure

[paull]

The following was placed by a new member of the club on our forum . thought i would place it on here for a wider point of view

Here is a hypothetical question for those new and experience with SRT.
It is 1900hrs you are the last in a party of 4 to descend the 90 foot pitch in Bar pot,there are no other parties in the Gaping Ghyll system.
You are 45 feet down the pitch when the rope shudders and a small shower of limestone sherds bounce off you.
As you look up you notice one of the anchors has come out and is swinging around the rope.
you cannot see the condition of the existing anchor,
Do you;
a) Continue to carefully abseil down to the party of chums below.
b)Clip in your ascenders, take off your stop and ascend to the top of the pitch.
         

One to think about, WHAT WOULD YOU DO ?

 

[damian]

Hi Paul,

I was going to reply on the club forum in a minute, but I'll reply here instead!

Firstly, Eco-anchors are pretty much bomb-proof and the situation described is fairly unlikely. However, assuming the rock around an eco-anchor did pop out while I was hanging on it, I would probably gently change to ascent, prusik up gently, investigate and re-rig. To be honest, the chances of two anchors failing together are very minimal indeed.

(I wouldn't have an issue either with someone who chose the other option.)

 

[dunc]

Like Damian I'd probably go back up, albeit carefully, as the chance of failure of both P-bolts (or surrounding rock) is small.
If someone took the option to descend then at least in this situation the party would be dry (assuming it hadn't rained on the walk up) so going down and undertaking a spot of caving whilst waiting for the call-out time to pass would be an option. If it was a wet pot the option of ascending would be preferred as waiting around could prove dangerous.

 

[Geoff R]

Firstly, Eco-anchors are pretty much bomb-proof and the situation described is fairly unlikely. However, assuming the rock around an eco-anchor did pop out while I was hanging on it, I would probably gently change to ascent, prusik up gently, investigate and re-rig. To be honest, the chances of two anchors failing together are very minimal indeed.

(I wouldn't have an issue either with someone who chose the other option.)

Agreed
Personally I would climb up and fix the problem and question how one resin P could have possibly failed !
Anyway, is this rope rigged back for pitch head approach ?

 

[seddon]

A P hanger might fail because the resin mix was poor, or the installer hadn't cleaned out the hole properly. Therefore, the problem with one hanger might well be duplicated in the other anchor in the Y hang!

I'm sure that the person who actually installed the anchors on the 110 in Bar is now having kittens at being calumnied...

But the question is, what is the proper way to rig that pitch anyway? 

 

[damian]

But the question is, what is the proper way to rig that pitch anyway? 

Behave  :spank: :spank:

 

[Pitlamp]

I think my decision as to the best course of action would be influenced firstly by whether I knew if any other entrances were rigged. Even then I'd be tempted to go back up because there is a whole line of approach bolts along the wall to the pitch head, so even if one of those two out over the drop had failed the idea of complete anchor system failure is irrelevant. Rope rub might be an issue though, so it'd be a gentle prussik.

 

[langcliffe]

Even then I'd be tempted to go back up because there is a whole line of approach bolts along the wall to the pitch head, so even if one of those two out over the drop had failed the idea of complete anchor system failure is irrelevant

I thought that the discussion was about the 90' pitch?

Personally, I've never been down the 90' on rope so I have no idea what the belay is like, but I've noticed en passant a rebelay at the level of the ledge.

If the discussion is about the 100', I would always go back up to check what has happened, and sort out the situation. One wouldn't want to risk someone who was unaware of the failure swinging around on it. GG is a big system with many entrances, and you could never guarantee that you're the only party in the place.

 

[Rachel]

I can't recall the pitch head, but ...

If the y hang was backed up with a traverse line, I'd change over and go up to see what had happened.

If the bolt that failed was one of only two, I'd do a very fast, very smooth descent, then go to sand cavern for a good night's sleep, assuming that sooner or later I'd be missed and someone would turn up and re-rig the pitch so we can exit without brown trousers.

 

[damian]

If the y hang was backed up with a traverse line, I'd change over and go up to see what had happened.

The 100' pitch (which is the one being referred to really, despite them calling it the 90') is indeed backed up by a very long traverse line.