Quickdraw Unclips When Climber Whips!

Aislynn Trompler was climbing Hippocrite (5.12a) at the Zoo, in the Red River Gorge when she whipped and her quickdraw unclipped. 

Kolin Powick of Black Diamond said: "The Biner started off cross-loaded during the fall and then got hung up a bit as the fall started," Powick says. "With everything flipping and flopping around during the fall (which is normal), plus the tension in the rope because the bolt above was clipped, the dogbone migrates UP the gate. The spine of the carabiner hits the wall, causing the gate to open. As the gate is open, the dogbone slides right off.

"If she had fallen prior to the next bolt clipped, the same thing may have happened… tough to say because the tension in the rope up to the next bolt wouldn’t have been there.  Regardless, if it had happened, she would have been in for a big whip, and perhaps been pretty darn close to the ground.

"I think the moral of the story is take note of the orientation of your quickdraws as you climb past them. If they’re out of whack, fix them. If I’m belaying and notice something that doesn’t look right, I’ll tell the climber to flick the rope to get things to orient correctly. Correctly oriented carabiners and quickdraws are far less likely to have wackiness like that happen."