"USHBA" failure - ground fall

[BK]

A few locals have already heard I had a "ushba style" ( Grandwall brand, aluminum) rope grab fail on me on a fixed rope while solo freeclimbing. I decked from fifty feet, could easily have died or worse but basically walked away with a fractured vertebrae with no deficits.

I know this type of rope grab device is widely used by many exactly as I used it, one rope, one device. It travels well and by all appearance, testing and prolonged usage seemed entirely reliable, effective and idiot proof. Apparently not, is all I can say at this point. As for my event all I can say is that as my body fell, so fell the "ushba" without any aparent body weight activation of the device, required to force the cam against the rope. It was a clean fall, no interference from clothing, hands, pendulums or anything else out of the ordinary, just like a few hundred over a year or two of use. Set up was tested effective just prior and the rope was weighted with about 2 killos at the bottom.

One thing I'm suspicious of is the nine mill I was using, being "skinny". device is "rated" (stamped) as good for 8 mil to 12 mil. Prior, no discernable difference was noted in using 9 mil or 10 mil. in terms of ability to grab rope.

Generally speaking, I'm stumped as to exactly what happened but I suspect it was a "1in 100,000" sort of event, meaning once every blue moon, you can expect this thing will fail. That is how I'm looking at it and considering what widespread usage these things get for soloing, I suggest everyone should reconsider single device / no back up usage as is commonly practiced.

Personaly, I'm going back to the drawing board ( once I'm out of crutches that is) and will be going back to my rescuecender or something else but i will also be building in some redundency or backup some how, hopefully avoiding the hated backup knots or second rope but not ruling it out. I'm all ears if other people have their own tales of failure or have good systems to recommend.

My most significant error was relying on a single critical element, then getting sucked into complacency by an illusion of reliability by repeated successes, forgetting one critical thing:

It dosn't matter how many hundreds of sucesses you have, it only matters if you have a single failure!

[c-plus]

Glad you came out of this relatively unscathed Bruce! Hope you make a full recovery....

A couple years ago I was top rope soloing using my mini-traxion, and near the top of the pitch I looked down at the device and discovered that the cam had become locked in the open position. I had no idea how this happened (maybe a result of taking up slack through the device too quickly and in a straight upward direction or maybe I put the cam in the open position when installing the rope at the start of the climb and I never reset it??). Either way, I was seconds from leaning back on the device... Since then I've resorted to tying the occasional backup knot or using two devices. The extra fussing about can be a bit of a nuisance, but it at least gives me peace of mind.

[BK]

That recent incident in skaha you describe sounds suspiciously like my little splat. If that is the case, there was no backup knot other than the rope coils on the ground, in other words I grounded out full force.

Petzl certainly seems like the best source for information on reccomended usage. Always, they advize two ropes and / or backup knots. I'm interested to hear if anyone has experience with using a single petzl ascender (handled) in the fashion they reccomend.

Note about the Ushba: prior to decking, I assumed the most hazardous aspect to the ushba was the fact that it will CHOP THE ROPE at 4 kn of force, which is a short dynamic drop. This suggests that a "back up knot" on a single rope is illusory in the event of a slipped / failed ushba. The knot might stop you but the force could easily be enough for the ushba to chop the rope.

Food for thought as you ushba your way up polaris.

Any detail on the microcender failure? I used to use a recuecender ( modified to pick to chest sling to maintain orientation of unit) which is the same thing. Again, it appeared to me that it was idiot proof/ entirely effective if not interfered with ( grabbed, jammed clothing...)

[BK]

I was on Redtail so it's probably me. As they suggest, a bit of significant detail is incorrect although the general commentary about back ups is on the money. Partly my intention here is to encourage accurate ( first hand ) accounts of failure, as opposed to gossip mill / through the grape vine guesses or other story alterations, resulting in incorrect/ inaccurate assumptions as cause. for instance, I have heard of one similar local Ushba failure ( saved by knot) that is "rumoured" to be attributed to removing the cam spring. It would be great to know how true this is as if it is not, perhaps the cause is more similar to my own event, which is further bad news for reliablity of unit.

I know of measured rope failures at 4kn with the Ushba, not too surprising when you look at the big lever arm and focused crush point on the cam. My understanding is that the Ushba is by far the worse for this, compared to other grabs but maybe you have other information source?

What do you think of 2 grabs on one rope? I'm aware of the rope abrasion /edge hazard on one rope. Lots of actual rope faiures /near failures like that but the hazard can be managed with rope gaurds. 2 ropes are a major hassle, at least in some circumstances.

does your microcender travel well or does it need to be managed?

[johnthethird]

Without researching how Petal recommends how to rig a handled ascender....Ive used it in the past without incident. I had it rigged with a chest harness and clipped to belay loop below. It always worked well, but clumsy. I eventually switched to a mini-trax and ushba.

[BK]

Regarding "cut ropes"...... I think you are refering to rope grabs cutting the rope, in which case I agree with you, very little accounting of this happening to my knowlege.

However, everyone should be aware that edges or even a tiny crystal can and often does damage rope, sometimes to failure. There are a fair number of deaths attributed to this, usually jumaring on big walls but the same thing can happen "working" cruxs on free climbs off a fixed line. Again, this isn't idle speculation, it happens.

Certainly a hell of a good argument for two ropes. A pain in the a$% but perhaps smart after all.

[SGB]

I have used the rock exotica soloist for several years without a problem
No sharp teeth on it either
Don't see a whole lot of people using it these days
Just don't use it on overhanging routes
Backup knots as you ascend if single strand or clipping into knots if 2 strands mandatory for redundancy for me at least

[Peter]

I use a jumar above the ushba and just push it ahead of me. Sometimes I go "past" the jumar and the ushba will just drag it up the rope. Seems to work fine....

[BK]

EUREKA!

I think i have found the major factor contributing to the my device failure. Upon comparing my device to an identical unit, side by side, it appears the "cam activation spring" on my unit is notably weaker than the other. When the unit is oriented just so, it will slide down a vertical rope, somewhat resisted by friction but not entirely. This occurs with little difference on a 9 mm or a 10.2 mm rope.

The interesting thing - THAT EVERY USHBA USER SHOULD NOTE - is that unless deliberately and consciously compared with a fully functional unit, the "weak spring" and the potential it holds is not obviously apparent in standard operation. Even when deliberately mocked up, tested and skeptically scrutinized, the effect and potential it indicates is not immediately apparent.

By this I mean the weak spring is hard to detect and become aware of. The spring "appears" to be fine and functional. The usual "load test" grabs the rope effectively, not detecting the potential for the unit to slide under an "unloaded" condition.

How a spring loses tension i have no idea. I have yet to bring this up with Grandwall Manufacturing but I intend to and it would be good to hear about more failures or other noted potentials.

I must admit, I'm a bit surprised at the relative silence that this thread has generated, considering how wide spread the use of these "ushba" devices are as "one unit, one rope". Its nice to hear that some of us are doubling up but I know for a fact that many - like myself - are not. One curiosity is that only in the Sea to Sky corrider are these widely in use, everywhere else other devices dominate the rope solo scene.

I honestly thought these "ushba" devices were solid. This demonstrated "spring failure" and particularly how it is not easily detected in use or even by deliberate testing is in my view a major red flag.

The other major red flag is back up knots intended to stop a plummeting fall. 4 kn to chop the rope.

[maurop]

I recently started using one of these. Some of the things that popped in my head during my first few uses were the lack of redundancy, and the tendancy for the rope to get pinched in the cam. Tipping the scales at 250, I noticed that the cam would pinch the rope so tightly that once past a rest/fall the rope would remain pinched for a few minutes. Taken to it's logical conclusion, this device, with large enough loads, would cut the rope. And this seems to be confirmed by other anecdotal reports.

Wet ropes could also cause an issue with this device, in my mind.

Don't springs undergo fatigue after a while? http://www.europeansprings.com/springs/ ... bility.asp

I'm looking into a dedicated static rope/micro traxion setup. For most single pitch routes, a 60m rope with a loop on a bight at the top would be a decent setup, with 2 devices (ushba/mini traxion?) for some redundancy. Might be overkill, but it would give some peace of mind.

Glad to hear you're doing well after such a fall.

[wed]

After my phone call with you Bruce, I have let everybody know here in the Fraser Valley who uses one.

They all have the original titanium version and I have the Grand Wall copy (aluminum). This might be an important distinction.

Weakening of spring would do it!

I like the jumar above the usba as a backup, but haven't tried it yet

I have been tieing knots on a doubled up rope since your unfortunate failure.

All the best in your recovery.

[maurop]

since my last post ive probably seen half a dozen different folks with shiny ushaba copies doing laps in the bluffs

Climb On recommends the grand wall ushba's over other TR soloing devices becuase they don't cause rope wear, which is why I ended up purchasing one, with a bit of reservation. I'll have a chat with them when I visit them next time.

[Kyle]

I'm curious to know if anyone has ever had any failures with an original ushba. I've had one for many years and I am going to always back it up now after hearing this. I recently bought a Sterling Hollowblock from MEC to use as a backup prusik. It slides above my ushba easily and seems to lock off quickly too (I havn't used it much but it seems decent). I triple wrap the prusik on the rope and attach it to my belay loop over my ushba. Less bulky and cheaper than another ascender device.
I Wouldn't want to use a skinny rope either (but I'm sure a 9mm worked well for years, eh Bruce).
I'm glad to hear this accident didn't get the best of you. Hope to see you out on the rock. When you're all healed up of course.

[BK]

Thanks for that volume of info Bearbreeder, great stuff.

I've seen a prussik burn through in less than two feet of sliding, which is highly likely unless you are using tandem ( dual) prussiks, perfectly set up.

[rolfr]

Bruce how old was the rope? New? Recently there was another accident in Skaha due to multiple causes. The belayer tripped while lowering the leader on an ATC, the new rope slide through the device before she could regain control resulting in a ground fall.
A day before the accident I had spoken with the local SAR about problems with their newly replaced ropes, which did not hold a prussic. The prussic cord was the same one use effectively on older ropes.

I wonder if new dry coatings or the change in the mantle weave to comply with new regulations for ropes over sharp edges is part of the cause of recent accidents?