My Rappelling Accident

I did just about everything wrong on this descent. Despite all my errors I thank God I survived. There is no other explanation then divine intervention. I hiked an additional 8 hours after this incident in order to get out of the canyon. Please learn from my mistakes and use this experience to strengthen your faith in God. He lives.

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[akarlska]

The whole point of a video like this, telling us to learn from your mistakes, is to tell us wtf you did, aint it?

So...what did you do?

[shreeve22]

Where to begin? Brand new skinny rope, no helmet, fingerless gloves, didn't rig enough friction, wrong atc, heavy backpack, and not enough experience.

[mezz0italiano]

If GOD were there watching you, there wouldn't have been an accident, would there!? (insert rolleyes here).

Happy rappelling gumbies.

[shreeve22]

God doesn't prevent accidents or trials in life, He helps us through them. In this case He saved me from a physical fall. He can save us all from our spiritual falls.

[niksinthe916]

Prime example of one small thing going wrong amplified by fun. Looks like he was going a little to fast. I myself do this all the time and have gotten away with it its fun going fast when you have been doing this a long time. I don't think the rope let out all the way witch was the main reason for the mishap. Maybe the rope was new? I have problems with new rope not wanting knot and tie up do to it being new and stiff????

[ANSrescuegroup]

Did you just estimate the height of your descent or you measured it and equalled to the length of your rope?..Static ropes are strong enough for 2000 lbs weight. But nobody weighs that heavy so your rope if it was a kern mantle, is just safe for you. The question is..was it long enough to reach your landing area?Or did you underestimate the height?Wear a helmet next time and a rappelling gloves.SAFETY should always be your first priority if you activities like this. Just concerned with safety

[allclownsareevil]

I appreciate you posting this and being honest about your mistakes, perhaps they'll help someone and act as a warning to others.

Sorry, but god had nothing to do with either :

a) The accident. That was your bad fortune.

and

b) The fact you lived. That was your good fortune.

Religious people attribute everything bad in the world to mankind or the devil, or fate, or chance etc etc. Then they attribute everything good to god.

"Strengthen your faith"? No, just take climbing lessons.

[oitry]

To those unfamiliar with rappelling, trust me when I say the uploader is correct in calling this an accident. This went very wrong by the looks of it, and could have so easily went MUCH worse. He's very lucky, or whatever you may call a good outcome (insert religion or lack thereof here).

Criticizing someone who's already criticized himself is a pointless exercise, as is criticizing his beliefs.

Learn from his mistake and be happy for the outcome.

[lutheranmusicstand]

@mezz0italiano God is always watching over you but there is always going to be suffering in life.....believing in God doesn't mean that you will no longer experience physical suffering. Suffering strengthens our faith in God....so just because something seems bad to us, doesn't mean that it doesn't have a purpose or that God has forsaken us.

[gleader]

Maybe he was punishing you for something you did.

[astromicwm]

for those people who say "if God exist, there won't be any accidents", you should know he don't prevent accidents or mistakes made by humans, only if we asked him to do so, and you should know that only if you believe in him, read and understand his words carefully, and if you didn't encounter any event to prove to you that he do exist, that doesn't mean he don't, and it doesn't mean also that many people are experiencing his actions in their lives. btw, Atheism is not a "smart" indicator...

[NYpaddler]

3. That bouncing shit may be fun, but you apparently can't control your rappels. Unless you want one of those out of control rappels to be stopped by the ground instead of friction you should work on managing a steady, controlled speed.

[NYpaddler]

You should ask god for some technical advice. It looks like the only thing you've learned over 9 months is how to spell rappel. Seriously, it looks like you need some competent instruction. I'll start you with some basics. 1. Get your feet apart, and don't get your hips so far above them.2. Learn which is your braking hand and what it's for. If you had a better grip with your left hand you'd probably have ripped your arm off by now.

[bkb0000]

so his tail was coiled up.. he rapped to the first coil, got caught, didn't autoblock, un-caught himself and lost control of the brake line, and so descended uncontrolled..?