Last week we reported the tragic death of Tito Traversa, the young Italian sport climber, who fell to the ground after his quickdraws were incorrectly attached whilst he was climbing in France. There is now information on how his quickdraws were attached.
We illustrated the initial report with a UKC video from several years ago, that shows how easy it is to have an incorrectly threaded quickdraw if you use an open sling.
It has now come to light in a report on the French website Grimper that the quickdraws that Tito used were not open slings, but had still been similarly incorrectly threaded with an elastic 'keeper' - used to grip the carabiner and stop it moving around on the end of the sling.
You can see in the photo on the right that the sling is not clipped to the carabiner, it is just held by the elastic band. This is INCORRECT.
It is essential that the actual sling itself takes the load of the climber, and not just the elastic band. Double check when assembling your quickdraws, and if you have open slings, check them again before you clip as they can accidentally end up incorrectly threaded in your rucksack (see video below).
VIDEO: The Potential Danger of Open Slings
- Image from Grimper.com
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