Page 1 of 1

Abseiling death

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:37 am
by Gob
A man has died in an abseiling accident in northwest Sydney, police say.

Police were called to Loyalty Road in North Rocks after the man didn't return home following a day of abseiling. His car was found in Loyalty Road and a search of the area was conducted. The man was later found dead on the side wall of a dam, police said.

The man, who is yet to be formally identified, is believed to be aged in his 20s. Investigations into his death are continuing and a report will be prepared for the coroner.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-abseil ... 1j5ap.html
Puzzled me this did. In all my years of adventure sports participation, I have never known anyone go abseiling for fun, let alone go abseiling for fun alone on a dam. I've taken people out and trained them in abseiling as part of an introduction to rock climbing course, but always abseiling as a means to an end, rather than a thing in itself.

The nearest I've come to that would be bridge swinging.

On a high railway bridge, set up some ropes over an arch. Weight a rope and swing it until it swings under the arch and up the other side. Clip in, jump off!

A gang of us climbing mates would do this on damp afternoons when the rock was too greasy to climb, just for larks.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliwade/5679385399/

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5186/567 ... 6b86d1.jpg

That's not us in the image, though it is the viaduct we used to drop from.

Image

Re: Abseiling death

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:16 am
by BoSoxGal
Rappelling! One of the most fun things I've ever done - did it several times back in my stint as a JROTC cadet. At Ft. Huachuca, AZ, we hiked up a big hill to have the pleasure of rappelling down a 160' cliff face from the top. We had a man on belay, though - no going solo!