Following a serious accident in the early evening of the 5th May on the 1st section of the Grenoble Via Ferrata Petzl have issued a recall of all Scorpio L60 and L60K Y Lanyards made before the 4th of March 2005. This concerns the serial numbers from 02150 to 05062.

The young man fell 20 meters just before the bridge and suffered multiple injuries. He was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

Petzl have identified a possible problem with stitching on his lanyard

http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/news/products-news-0/2011/05/13/product-safety-alert-request-inspection-scorpio-via-ferrata

Very sad result for what I’m sure was expected to be an exciting but safe outing. One which we enjoyed just a few months ago, as in that photo.

Thanks a lot for posting the report and the recall notice.
I do not own that particular via ferrata device, but a few months ago I bought one with a similar design—which I do not know how to inspect myself to see if it could possibly have a defect like what Petzl seems to have acknowledged.

In the last few months I’ve become more suspicious of the safety of most Via Ferrata devices generally to handle falls, because of the inherently high impact forces—which could injure a climber’s body even if the VF device works successfully after a fall (as I saw happen last year on another VF climb in France).

So my personal policy for Via Ferrata climbing has moved more toward keeping my selection of routes and climbing style and weather conditions far within my capabilities—so I never have to find out how well my Via Ferrata device actually works in a real fall. But (until now) I was not much thinking I should worry that a VF device might fail in the way I’m sort of understanding from reports so far of this event.

Ken

Yes it is always a bit more personal when the accident happens on a route you know. VF are not to be taken too lightly and the Grenoble route is very accessible too.

Did the Sierra’s ski touring go ok?

Even when the KISA works OK you can get some awful accidents on VF. IIRC some of the published accident figures show more accidents on VF than on alpine routes. A public perception that you’re bolted on doesn’t help. If you’re taking other people you probably need some good skills. You see people on routes where they’re carrying no other gear (rope, slings etc) and/or they’ve just picked the rental gear up from the store. I’ve seen people using rental gear (V lanyards) incorrectly and you have to judge whether to intervene, it’s a bit of a shocker there’s still V lanyards on rental stock.

incidentally, if suspect scorpios have been around for so long it does go to show that the adage about not falling on a VF is holding true.

There was an fatal accident a couple of weeks ago on one of the VF around Grenoble (maybe the Crolles one). It appears the guy unclipped to pass from one section to the other without having first clipped onto the new section.... and of course at that point he slid and fell.

On my Petzl kit they advise that the karabiners should also be facing in opposite directions but I see few people actually doing this in practise.

davidof - 19 May 2011 09:41 AM

On my Petzl kit they advise that the karabiners should also be facing in opposite directions but I see few people actually doing this in practise.

opposing the gates is best practice for any application where there’s a pair of carabiners including via ferrata but high ropes and some belay rigging.

We do it, it’s just automatic, I also like to try and get some space between us and other people on routes so I don’t really see close up what majority of people are doing.

The Grenoble appeal court has found Petzl not guilty in the case against the manufacturer concerning its Scorpio Via Ferrata kit. On the 5 May 2011 a 25 year old climber was seriously injured after a fall of 20 meters on the Bastille Via Ferrata at Grenoble. The accident left him blind. The Via Ferrata gear had not held him when he fell and an investigation found that three stitches were lacking from the gear.

Already found not guilty by the first instance court the appeals court said the accident was due to lack of care by the victim and Petzl was in no way responsible.