BBC2 9 o'clock

[carlos]

Hi folks, this was Ben from my team. He's made a complete recovery except for the hearing in his ear. It was actually the mounting point for the webbing on the back of a petzl vertex vent that dug into his skull - where the plastic clip housing is.

 

We went through the whole process with the HSE and were fully investigated, we were not prosecuted and it was found to be climber error because ben climbed above his high point and unfortunately his high point came down with him after a 1m long split. Flippin Goat Willows! Ben was in full and appropriate PPE with a high point bigger than his forearm.

 

Suffice to say that Ben should never have climbed above his high point, and on the rare occasion that this happens then you better make sure you're tied in somewhere that is going to save your life!

 

It's amazing how many people have come forward and told us that they've had a high point failure in their career. I've had one myself and been tied in somewhere stronger lower down.

 

Please feel free to ask me any questions about what happened.

 

All the best,

 

Tom

 

thanks for posting about this, iam always keen to hear details, so he climbed above his anchor then slipped and shock loaded his anchor ?

did the anchor fail due to a weak fork?

glad he is ok.

thanks carl