ABS Routesetting Crew Wanted
USAC Routesetting has just announced that applications will be accepted for the upcoming ABS Championship season. This includes positions at ABS Divisionals, ABS Open Nationals and ABS Youth National Championships.
Cleaning Chemicals a Danger to Equipment
Black Diamond’s QC Lab recently posted a fascinating CSI-like investigation of a mysterious harness failure that highlights the risk of chemical contamination to climbing materials. In the article Kolin Powick, Black Diamond’s Director of Quality, describes how a harness that appeared normal had become critically damaged by chemical exposure.
The owner of the climbing harness described the equipment’s failure this way:
Read full QC Lab article here: The Electric Harness Acid Test
Yesterday I went top-roping at my local gym and as I was being lowered, I heard a pop. I looked down to see that my harness has ripped off in the waist. I felt myself falling backwards so immediately grabbed the rope and was lowered safely to the ground. I have kept the harness in pristine condition in my gym bag and it has never been abused or used outdoors.QC Labs asked the customer to send in the harness for evaluation. They determined that the harness had been chemically contaminated, and that the chemical had completely dissolved the nylon threads attaching the waistbelt webbing to the harness. Most frighteningly, while the nylon threads used to sew the harness together had been destroyed, the polyester webbing showed no signs of damage; only a very careful inspection of the equipment would have revealed its danger. Although neither the QC Labs or the customer could determine exactly how or to what chemical the harness had been exposed, QC Labs was able to narrow it down to some type of acid. Using off-the-shelf cleaning chemicals they performed some controlled experiments to see if they could recreate the failure and measure the effect of each chemical on a climbing harness. In their testing they found a number of off-the-shelf chemicals that would destroy the harness’s nylon stitching. By exposing test harnesses to these chemicals for an extended period they were able to “recreate the level of degradation of the nylon threads and easily pull the tacks apart by hand, just as we saw with the customer’s harness.” After a 72-hour exposure these chemicals produced catastrophic failure to the nylon threads:
- muriatic acid: 97% reduction in strength
- sulphuric acid (aquarium cleaner): 92% reduction
- clorox bleach: 73% reduction
Several years ago there was a rope incident and after analysis it ended up looking like the rope was somehow contaminated with acid. How the rope actually came in contact was never determined. So this is the second incident I’ve personally looked into regarding chemical contamination of climbing gear – and luckily in both cases no one was hurt. Also in both cases, the end result was that the customer doesn’t really know how this chemical contamination occurred. Scary.Black Diamond, in the product manual for their harness, advises that “Climbing gear must not come into contact with corrosive materials such as battery acid, battery fumes, solvents, chlorine bleach, antifreeze, isopropyl alcohol or gasoline.” While not common these days, muriatic acid is sometimes used to clean climbing holds. And certainly bleach and bleach-containing chemicals are used in many gyms for cleaning. It’s easy to imagine how the climbing equipment in a gym could be exposed to bleach that is used to clean floors or countertops, or to strong solvents used to clean climbing holds. This incident highlights the importance of properly storing these chemicals away from all climbing equipment, particularly all nylon product such as ropes, draws and harnesses, and to be cautious when using cleaning chemicals in areas where climbing equipment could come into contact with them. By exposing climbing equipment to these chemicals, either through a large spill or by repeated contact with small amounts, the equipment’s safety could become critically compromised without a visual warning that it has been damaged.
Read full QC Lab article here: The Electric Harness Acid Test
The Cliffs Must Shut Doors
Three weeks after the controversial climbing gym The Cliffs at LIC opened to the public, they have been forced to close their doors.
According to a post on The Cliffs Facebook page:
Because of a clerical error and a missing TR-8 Form that requires an engineer’s approval of our climbing structure, we have been forced to vacate The Cliffs LIC building. Our walls have already been approved by the engineer and the form proving this will be faxed Monday morning.A TR-8 form is a technical report that needs to be filed to demonstrate compliance with all progress concerning inspections and tests required for the related job, in accordance with the New York City Energy Conservation Code. Cliffs owner, Mike Wolfert ran into trouble with inspectors early on in the building process, allegedly bribing inspectors and council members to expedite a stop work order. Charges have been filed and a court date is scheduled for Nov. 22 2013. This most recent of glitches will hurt The Cliff’s finances and reputation, and may cause more problems for Wolfert down the line.
New Zealand Gym Fined After Fall
On Oct. 21 a New Zealand climbing gym was fined $35,000 and ordered to pay reparations of $15,000 to the victim after an accident that left a 15-year-old with serious leg and foot injuries.
Vertical Assault Limited, which runs the climbing wall, was fined after the victim, who was climbing with a group of family and friends, fell 15 meters (49 feet) while being lowered from the top of the wall by a 14-year-old friend.
The fall resulted in the victim breaking his right tibia and fracturing his left heel bone. He subsequently underwent several surgeries and had metal pins inserted in both legs.
It’s unclear what caused the victim to be dropped, but all signs point to belayer error exasperated by a deficiency in the instruction the belayer received prior to climbing.
“Although this party had been briefed by staff on how to assist each other, some of the participants told our investigators the briefing was inconsistent and confusing,” said Keith Stewart, Chief Investigations Inspector.
Another possible aspect that was noted by authorities was a lack of supervision of climbers and spectators waiting to climb.
“Vertical Assault did not have a policy to ensure there was a proper staff to climber ratio which made it difficult to adequately supervise belayers and climbers,” Mr Stewart said.
Though it is not known what belay technique Vertical Assault teaches, if the photos on their website are any indication, their belay instruction may be substandard (see photo at top), and the lack of proper flooring may have contributed to the severity of the accident. The date of the photos is unknown.
This accident is a reminder that any facility that operates a climbing wall of any size needs to provide proper instruction that conforms to industry standards.
The climbing wall is located in the town of Turangi, New Zealand and is part of a larger backpackers hostel and cafe.
SOURCE: Tvnz.co.nz