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leinosaur
Mar 8, 2005, 9:15 PM
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I mean, graphic details of the fall itself?
My memory of the one longish fall I've taken was kind of sparse for a while, like 3-D snapshots or something.
Granted, it was late in a long day of climbing, but I still remember in detail the placement of pro, and the process of over-reaching and then peeling which led to the fall. In fact, they are almost exaggerated in my memory.
But the fall itself seems sketched rather than filmed into the memory banks.
My mind has kind of pieced the sketches together, since then, but I think this is extrapolation over time rather than a clear memory:
Dropping, swinging, then kind of stumbling backwards through the rope-stretch to the sound of clattering draws on granite.
Get up, plan ahead, send the crux, THEN notice the ankle-sprain.
You?
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jumpingrock
Mar 8, 2005, 9:40 PM
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I remembered mine pretty good.
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dancingmadlybackwards
Mar 8, 2005, 9:48 PM
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ive 'heard' (someone can tell me im crazy wrong if this is the case)... that when you go skydiving for the first time you dont usually remember the fall. The reason, i was told, was because it is a sensory overload, and your brain cant really process all the intense stimuli very well, and therefore you dont remember it well.
I guess something similar might happen during whippers.... i tend to whip alot... :lol: .... i like it.... and theyre blurry at best.
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climbjcc
Mar 8, 2005, 10:03 PM
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I do remember my falls fairly well, because Im a very nervous person, and I feel that If I dont remember my mistakes, they come back to haunt me. Ex: Bouldering in the dead of winter with afirend on an over hang... HE was spoting me and I was about 8 ft. up...Stuck on a problem he pointed out a hold with his hand and as he did that (thus gettin gout of a ready postion to help me should I fall) A piece of the rock broke loose in my hand and I fell into 2 ft. of snow...Had this been the ground, theres a good chance it would have been really, really hurt...
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catbird_seat
Mar 8, 2005, 10:11 PM
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I heard a story once of some guys who were starting out on some alpine rock climb the base of which was a big pile of soft snow. The leader peeled from 30 ft up with no pro in. He augered into the snow pile leaving a human shaped outline, just like in the Roadrunner cartoon. The guy wasn't injured, but it took him a while to dig his way out of the snow.
My first big fall was a 30 footer. My first reaction was that it happened so fast I didn't have time enough to think anything on the way down. One moment I was weighting a cam to be lowered, the next I was hanging from the rope only 2 feet from the ground after the cam pulled. Thank goodness for that bomber #6 hex!
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coylec
Mar 8, 2005, 10:31 PM
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Everything before a fall is crystal clear ... burned into memory. It's useful to figure out what I did wrong. Everything after a fall is also crystal clear, usually long strings of expletives and a burning desire to light up.
The during of a fall is a complete blank. Probably for the best.
coylec
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leinosaur
Mar 8, 2005, 10:43 PM
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In reply to: I remembered mine pretty good.
Well, you wrote up the route pretty good but the fall itself?
In reply to: Before I fully realized I was falling I was finished falling. 30 feet in the blink of an eye.
Not a criticism, but your answer seems to be "no" - you don't remember it at all. I very much enjoyed your report and agree with your analysis. Outweighing your belayer by 100 lbs I'm amazed you didn't anchor him in.
Other falls I've taken were just like that (obviously) - just a sudden drop.
What surprised me about my fall is that it was eventful - a swing, kind of a clattery stumble on sub-vertical terrain, but still my memory of it was patchy at best.
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jackhammer
Mar 8, 2005, 10:50 PM
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I remember all mine...and those that I've belayed.
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crag
Mar 8, 2005, 10:50 PM
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In reply to: I mean, graphic details of the fall itself?
Oh hell yes, vividly. I guess that's a good thing though. Helps keep me honest and around a little longer, something the family appreciates.
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justafurnaceman
Mar 9, 2005, 1:10 AM
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Yeah, I remember mine. It was a pretty good one even though I was just top roping. I decided to be different and went off the route a bit. My hand slipped and I did the pendulem fall sideways ending with a half twist.
For some reason I'm not afraid of falling. I'm more concerned with failing.
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far_east_climber
Mar 9, 2005, 1:18 AM
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In reply to: ive 'heard' (someone can tell me im crazy wrong if this is the case)... that when you go skydiving for the first time you dont usually remember the fall. The reason, i was told, was because it is a sensory overload, and your brain cant really process all the intense stimuli very well, and therefore you dont remember it well.
Hmm, I remember my first fall clearly though... As for climbing, I don't usually remember my falls as they happened quickly and without warning. However, if it was a whistlin' whipper then I'm sure I would remember it :o
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jammer
Mar 9, 2005, 1:34 AM
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Nope ... they happened too fast. I remember bits and pieces, like snapshots in time, but not the whole thing. I do remember each stop, like when I ended up upside down laughing my butt off. The one that I remeber the most is the highball I came off that resulted in the busted ankle.
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fernregan
Mar 9, 2005, 1:35 AM
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I don't remember the fall, but I do know that I placed a shitty cam and it popped. And all I wanted to do after my head (helmeted head) bounced off the rock a bunch of times was get off the stupid cliff. Its been 4 years and I'm reminded of that fall everyday. Why? Because, I hit my head, even with a helmet, so hard that I can't smell anymore. Something about damaged olfactory nerves......
and I still climb.
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beesknees
Mar 9, 2005, 3:54 AM
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here's something i haven't seen anyone mention yet. i raced DH mountain bikes for 4 years, and the crashes/resulting injuries in that sport are RIDICULOUS compared to climbing. granted, climbing is more able to kill you, but that's really rare. DH, crashing always breaks you and your bike. so when i switched to climbing, the falls seemed really gentle and controlled, and don't manage to elicit much more than a "whoops, better hold on tighter."
so i remember falls as well as i remember any other event of a climb to answer the original question. have any other cross over athletes experienced something similar? seriously, in comparison to eating it at 50 on skis or bikes, or going down hard in a skate park, falling 25 feet onto a cushy rope is inviting.
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reach
Mar 9, 2005, 4:58 AM
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My first lead fall is a total blur
I almost hit the deck in the gym. I missed the second to last clip and pumped out trying to clip the anchor. My belayer was talking to someone when I fell. There were so many things going wrong!
I didn't lead again for a month.
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leinosaur
Mar 9, 2005, 3:05 PM
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In reply to: DH, crashing always breaks you and your bike. so when i switched to climbing, the falls seemed really gentle and controlled, and don't manage to elicit much more than a "whoops, better hold on tighter." so i remember falls as well as i remember any other event of a climb to answer the original question.
Yeah, I'm sure falling experience makes a difference.
I've skateboarded since 1976 but most skate falls are pretty expected. Slide-fall experience has definitely come in handy on runout slabs as well as in a motorcycle laydown a while back (RIP golden retriever) - have managed to minimize roadrash and avoid breakage so far (knock, knock)
but like the motorcycle laydown, come to think of it, this particular clattering late-day drop, for whatever reason, came back in "snapshots in time," as handjammer said. In fact I've used exactly that phrase in recalling this particular fall.
Which wasn't a big-deal fall at all. A clattery tumble off a bulgy crux onto slabby stuff. I was disappointed I hadn't landed more catlike and spared my ankle some tenderness, but it was the end of a good long day which I think affected both my falling "technique" and my memory of it.
Thanks for the thoughtful replies . . . anybody else?
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yekcir
Mar 9, 2005, 4:53 PM
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I remember most of the big falls, but usually just the before and after... a rock breaking and clutching at slopers in a vain attempt to not die.
Strange though, the last big fall I took (about 35 feet), I was leading a bit over my limit on a climb that I wanted really badly. I had pulled the crux, protected well below, and was looking for more pro, but started running it out on the slightly easier ground to get this. A foot slip and I was at the end of the rope before I knew I was even off of the climb. I was so focused on the task at hand, not sketched, not fearful, and not even considering the possibility of falling, just climbing and climbing well, that when the fall happened and I was hanging, my mind was still up there looking for pro.
The aftermath is what usually sticks with me best, the disappointment, frustration, or mortal fear that gives that slight shake in your soul, making it much harder to get your hands back in the crack.
Small falls happen so frequently that they become almost a course of habit and are quickly forgotten, but all too often are caused by a lack of focus and control. As I've found for me, an 8 footer will often turn into 4 or 5 more 8 footers trying to punch through the mental block that failure causes...
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t-dog
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Mar 9, 2005, 5:01 PM
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Even though I don't fall much (it's not a spray thing, I just enjoy on-sighting at or below my OS limit much more than projecting at my RP limit), I would have to say I don't completely remember most of my falls.
On a side note, I noticed that while dynoing (which I do a lot of) my memory typically goes blank from the moment I launch, to the moment I swing for the hold and either catch it or miss. Doesn't seem to happen as bad for sideways dynos than it does for straight up ones though for some reason.
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leinosaur
Mar 9, 2005, 5:06 PM
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In reply to: On a side note, I noticed that while dynoing (which I do a lot of) my memory typically goes blank from the moment I launch, to the moment I swing for the hold and either catch it or miss. Doesn't seem to happen as bad for sideways dynos than it does for straight up ones though for some reason.
now we're getting somewhere -
but will we remember the journey?
interesting stuff.
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gogo
Mar 9, 2005, 5:27 PM
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I remember my first big lead fall in perfect detail.
I was about to clip the rope into the fourth draw when my foot slipped, and I feel about 25ish feet and literally tapped the ground lightly. During the fall I remember thinking - "I'm falling longer than I should be."
I was pretty pissed at my belayer because I felt the fall should not have been nearly that long, but when I climbed back up to my highpoint, I saw that the gate had snapped off the brand-new carabiner and that the rope was barely hanging onto the draw, so his dynamic belay kept me from really decking.
Oh, and I don't buy trango anymore.
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t-dog
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Mar 9, 2005, 5:33 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: On a side note, I noticed that while dynoing (which I do a lot of) my memory typically goes blank from the moment I launch, to the moment I swing for the hold and either catch it or miss. Doesn't seem to happen as bad for sideways dynos than it does for straight up ones though for some reason. now we're getting somewhere - but will we remember the journey? interesting stuff.
I don't know if my mind remembers it, but my muscles sure do and it makes the dynos easy to repeat :P
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microbarn
Mar 9, 2005, 5:39 PM
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Something bugs me with the way this is asked because at first I was going to say "No, I don't remember." Though, I realized that while I don't remember the fall now, I did remember it then. I remembered telling all my friends about how it felt so long and saw the wall whizzing by my face, but I don't remember it now. Maybe a bigger fall would have more effect on me one way or the other.
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comet
Mar 10, 2005, 5:38 AM
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this reminds me of a year and a half ago, when i totalled my VW golf. i know i spun around at least 360 degrees, because the front and rear were damaged from hitting phone poles, and i know i hit my head on the window, because damn did it hurt afterward. all i remember about the accident, though, was the moment where i lost control and thought, "i've fishtailed before, i can totally pull out of this." the next thing i remember is jumping out of the car, frantic to see if my dog was okay in the back (she was). the loss of memory was not related to the head injury; i never passed out, nor did i have a concussion, just a lump.
much the same goes for my falls, even little ones. the fall itself is a blank. there's a theory that high cortisol levels (stress hormone released during an "adrenaline rush") block encoding of memory somehow. i'm not too worried about it; i think i'm better off without memories like these hanging over my head. i vividly remember the whippers i've caught, however, even the ones that have sent me flying into the air (my partner outweighs me by 60 lbs), and have definitely made my heart rate pop up. so who knows.
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xiang49
Mar 10, 2005, 4:06 PM
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i remember mine 2, i was so nervous n try 2 grap what ever i can. As a result, my palms n fingers get hurt. the stones were pretty sharp...i remind myself not to do so n enjoy the fall next time (even there is no more next time)....
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dirtineye
Mar 10, 2005, 4:17 PM
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HAHA I remember most of them very well, in vivid detail.
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racebannon
Mar 10, 2005, 4:51 PM
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I just refer back to my stained underwear.
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ben87
Mar 10, 2005, 7:27 PM
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I've only taken one real lead fall. I was most of the way up a the pitch, and my feet were 2-3' above my last piece, which was a #2 or #3 camalot. I don't think I realized I was going to fall... I was having a bit of trouble finding my way, and I was starting to back down a bit to look around, when my foot must have slipped. And then it was all over before I even had a chance to realize it was happening or notice anything at all.
I wonder if experiences vary depending on whether you KNEW you were going to fall or not :?:
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leinosaur
Mar 11, 2005, 5:37 AM
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In reply to: the next thing i remember is jumping out of the car
Yeah, if I hadn't started sliding at 60 I'd probably remember almost nothing - but it took a damn long time to stop. Thank God for smooth highways, leather gloves, hard-soled boots and especially a lack of traffic.
In reply to: I wonder if experiences vary depending on whether you KNEW you were going to fall or not
maybe - I knew I was going to & peeled. Still got the "snapshots in time" effect. Also it's more of a kinesthetic memory than a visual one. Like the one of the motorcycle catching air (off the dog) - not visual but a strong physical memory.
In reply to: I just refer back to my stained underwear.
that would be "crapshots in time" - and they say smell is the sense most linked to memory. Better forgotten, if you ask me!
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skinner
Mar 11, 2005, 6:19 AM
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In reply to: ive 'heard' (someone can tell me im crazy wrong if this is the case)... that when you go skydiving for the first time you dont usually remember the fall.
This is true for "some" people. My brother and I did our first jump together. His exit was less then graceful to say the least. After flapping around in the wind while hanging from the wing strut by one arm, he bounced off the wheel and went spinning off into space until his chute opened. Not only does he not recall the jump, but doesn't even remember the plane ride up to jump altitude. Yes he was scared sh*tless from the minute they strapped a chute on him.
On the other I remember my first jump with vividness and clarity as if in slow motion. This holds true for my first fall- 60' whipper. I remember every split second of reeling backwards through space, still clutching the block which had detatched as I attempted to get over a small overhang.
To this day, recalling either of these brings up that same slow motion frame-by-frame sequence.
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