CRG Highline incident and consequences on webbing lifetime recommendations
On April 20th, 2024, there was a mainline and backup failure at Cosumnes River Gorge (CRG), California, United States of America. The failure occurred during a spontaneous tandem session, with the main snapping during a leash fall and the backup failing as it engaged. Both highliners fell but had only minor injuries given the circumstances.
Up until now the lifetime recommendations for non-PES (Polyester) and non-PA (Polyamid/Nylon) webbings were summarized as “high-tech/low stretch” webbings in our highline gear standards. Due to the CRG incident the ISA Safety Commission decided to specifiy the materials more clearly and revise the lifetime recommendations.
New lifetime recommendations for highline webbing:
We created a more specific UHMWPE (=Dyneema/Spectra) webbing category from which our database does not (yet) allow to make precise recommendations for lifetime, due to a small amount of datapoints that fit the category. We hope to change this with a new long-term test series starting this summer.
The following chart describes the recommended maximum lifetimes (RLT) for webbings of different strengths and materials. These lifetimes are to be interpreted as “days exposed to the elements / days in use” and NOT as the literal age of the webbing (date from manufacture).
These numbers account for an average of 3000 J/m2 dose per day over the course of one year
Many equatorial and high altitude regions have much higher UV dosages than 3000 J/m2 average dose per day (averaged over the year). Also the dosages fluctuate massively during seasons (summer – winter), this needs to be taken into account by the user.
These numbers represent the recommended lifetimes for normal use. Intensive use (festivals, competitions, etc.) or harsh environments (strong UV, high winds, sand, salt water, etc.) can drastically reduce the lifetime of highline webbing.
It is strongly recommended that webbing owners document the number of days the webbing was used for, to have a good understanding of when to retire the webbing from highline use.
“No recommendation” indicates that there is not enough data to provide a general recommendation – it is up to the manufacturer to suggest a lifetime, and the end user to determine a webbing’s continued suitability.