Feb 17, 2008, 3:30 PM
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Re: [theguy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I've only taken 2 lead falls(well, the first was several attempts at the same stance). The first was with gear at my waist, not much of a fall of course.
The second was actually a "real" fall, but still not far. Frog's head at the Gunks, first pitch. Everyone who knows the route knows where I fell....
I was probably just a foot over my gear. so not much more than 5 feet. But there is a ledge below, so a component of the fall involved evasion tactics(I scrunched my legs up toward my chest).
Man, what a glorious feeling, when the energy hit that nut, and nut sighed..."don't worry, I gotcha..."
I have a confession to make now. I'm sure I'm not the only one....
When I am walking along the trail and see a leader sketching, I simply have to stop and watch. Not that I wish any pain on them..... But come on! Watching the pre-show countdown to a whip does have a curiously peculiar intrigue about it.
The "best" I saw was a guy on The Dangler. He was going strong on the traverse(campusing the way through, no feet whatsoever). A thrill to see in it's own right. Then it came time to get up there, and I could tell he was having trouble. Not so much that it was a given he'd come off. Just enough to....well - the intrigue!!!
"Oooh," I says to my partner as we walked the carriage road. "Look, he's gonna come off the Dangler!" And it was a GOOD SHOW! The guy tried three or four times, different body language each attempt. And then.....he gets a good effort in....alllllmost makes it and - PING! - arcing through the air with the greatest of ease.
He did, unfortunately, smack on the landing though(into the wall). It didn't look like it from my vantage point, but later I saw him on the trail and he said he hit his head(helmet) on the swing. But he was a-ok. No real injury, and ready to get on something else.
Another one was on...oh, I'm forgetting the climb, some classic 5.6. This one was not such a one as you want to say was a "show"(except for Darwin factor).
I was up at the first belay, my leader just started on his way on P2. A guy starts to lead the climb next door, which at times comes very close to the one we are on, and all of a sudden I hear him grating down the cliffside, gear a janglin' and then...of course..... the sound we all dread(sack of potato thud).
He had gotten up a ways, no gear placed, and come off. Luckily not hurt. But then he got back on. He "had to", as he was "the experienced" one in his party of 3......
Unfortunately, he made it to where I was anchored before my partner had hit the next stance, so there I was, greeting the bastard with a "Good show, there! You okay?" hahahah.
He was STILL shaking like a leaf! How he made it up that far I cannot say.
Fallen leader continues on his way, weaving like a drunken sailor, seasick and hungover and sore from time on dry ground....
There was just no way I wanted to be anywhere near the guy, and he was having...routefinding....problems. Because he was so scared, he was afraid to take the route as it went and was coming over into what was our route as the moves were protectable and more obvious.
He slams a cam into the handhold I would have used.... He clips the rope and sets another, then weaves back and forth increasing friction on the sytem...I am watching. Just watching.
My partner calls down "Are you coming!?"
I tell him I want to let a leader get a ways up before I start.... I just can't help but feel this guy is going to shake himself off the wall and bowl me over on the way.
Feb 17, 2008, 4:24 PM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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took the big, scary whipper on Breakfast Burrito (5.10c), at the Red:
So, we were climbing at Drive-by and I decided i HAD to do the route on the cover of the guidebook - it's only 10.c, I've redpointed 12.a's here - although that one move does look scary.
I haul my way up to the alcove and take a good rest. Apparently the faint of heart call this the top - the bolt there has a permanant screw gate anchor biner on it. I should've seen this as a sign.
I go up and lean around the arete, scope out the bolt, then climb back down scared a couple times before finally taking a deep breath and going for it. I move out onto the face no problem, right hand on a decent sidepull crimp, both feet smeared fairly snugly. I chuckle morbidly as I notice the nice, right foothold has a good layer of rubber pasted to it where the previous 20 rookie leaders in-over-their-head have blown off. I'm on a decent overhang, I look down; it's scary.
I clip the draw to the bolt, no prob. So i reach down, grab the rope, feeling a little stressed, go to clip it, realize i'm holding it wrong, as the biner's faced toward me, try to switch the rope around in my hand, AND DROP IT! I'm freakin' by now, right arm shaking, crimp not feeling so secure anymore. I reach down and grab the rope again, and my right hand lets go.
Woooo-hoooo!
I come to rest about halfway down the route, 40 ft down, lip swollen where my left hand smacked me in the face because I was still holding the rope when it came tight, shaking, with a smile of relief on my face. I'd survived my first big whip!
Feb 17, 2008, 4:29 PM
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Re: [happiegrrrl] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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happiegrrrl wrote:
...The second was actually a "real" fall, but still not far. Frog's head at the Gunks, first pitch. Everyone who knows the route knows where I fell...
For a 5.6, that one sees a lot of falls. I saw/heard two different parties fall at that same spot, consecutively. I watched the first fall from the belay at the top of the first pitch. In their defense, it was soaking wet that day. When we rapped after finishing the climb, the second guy was just getting started. He whacked his ankles pretty good on said ledge. The first thought through my mind was "well, we're helping carry this guy out". Surprisingly, he was OK, and continued up the climb. His gf felt pretty bad about him ledging. Wasn't her fault though, she gave a good belay. Kind of inevitable in that spot.
I was sure I was going to slip on lead that day. The rock was soaked.
Feb 17, 2008, 5:38 PM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I took a 40 footer aid soloing the Finger of Fate on The Titan. I ripped out five pieces to an old Layton Kor bolt that was sticking out a 1/2 inch from the rock. Scary. That was my best piece.
Feb 17, 2008, 6:22 PM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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A bit over 40' on natural gear at Arapiles.... 20-25' on ice in New Zealand.... 15' down a crevasse in New Zealand.... It'd be interesting to compare climbers fall distance distribution curves.... I'm sure it would be skewed towards the shorter end. People who push their limits more will probably fall further on average though.
Sport climbing doesn't inherently have long fall potential unless you're doing something wrong or you're climbing somewhere like Stone Mountain or Enchanted Rock where the bolts are spaced a long way apart.
Feb 17, 2008, 6:39 PM
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Re: [kachoong] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I would expect that most people, myself included, probably tend to exaggerate their fall lengths.
that said, my longest fall WAS (for serious) between 50 and 60 feet. It was a combination of an attempt at a calculated enduro-runout, then blowing a clip, and having a lighter belayer giving me a soft catch. I was 2/3 the way up a 130 foot route, and I wound up about 30 feet off the ground after the fall, so you do the math.
And I'm not saying what route it was, either, but it was supposed to be easy :).
Feb 18, 2008, 3:10 AM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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well, there was this one time I was aid-soloing with a 100M Beal Joker on some 300M totally vert wall up in LCC. I was going to run the fourth fifth and sixth pitches together, since they're individually ~33M each, but I underestimated their actual length by less than I could stretch out of the rope, so trying to reach the anchor chains at the top of 6 required high-stepping in my aiders and stretching for all I was worth.
Well, as luck would have it, the fucking hook I was standing on skated off it's micro-crystal nubbin I had balanced it on, sending me for the ride. Unfortunately, I had cam-hooked the majority of the route up to this point, clipping only the copper-head anchors that some jackass had installed trying to make an A6 route out of a 5.10 finger/hands crack.
Well, needless to say, I whipped the ENTIRE length of that 100M rope. When rope stretch was factored in, by the time I came to a stop I was only a few feet off the ground, so I got a nice finger jam, cut the rope, and down-climbed the few feet to the ground.
I decided that day that I would never, ever again try to link three thirty-three and one-third meter pitches together again.
Oh, wait a minute. The SPRAY thread is over there.
Feb 18, 2008, 4:19 AM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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Broke a hold at the anchors of a new RRG route with two arms of slack and went about 62 feet on a 70 foot route. Meet the belayer at the first bolt.
Gone 50+ a couple more times from the top of some of the other rrg routes, but was usually much higher up, so still was 30+ feet from the ground.
The big air rides are not all that scary, but the slabbly, swing around an aerate, etc. ones, while maybe only 15 or so feet, are way more invigorating.
Gone maybe 35 or so feet on gear a couple times. Once at the creek on ananuki, I put a cam in the little roof at that top that was too shallow, and when I fell above it, it ripped, so that one was probably 30ish.
Feb 18, 2008, 4:31 AM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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My biggest lead fall was on CCK Direct at the Gunks. I wasn't intentionally following the direct route, it just looked like a feasible way to go. Anyway, by the time I got to the top of the flake just before the finish I was pretty pumped, didn't clip the fixed pin in the horizontal at the top of the flake and with a #1 Camalot about 7 feet below me I took about a 20-25 foot ride. Banged my shin a little when I stopped by a small overhang but no real injury. Scared the shit out of me. I lowered to the GT ledge, rested a few minutes, then went back and finished it up with the normal finish.
Feb 18, 2008, 5:18 AM
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Re: [stymingersfink] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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The outside corner at Quincy Quarry near Boston. I was teaching some new guys for most of the day and couldn't do any real climbing. I decided I was going to do at least one good climb that day, grabbed my trad gear and headed to one of the few few tradable routes in the quarry.
At around 30 ft I place a cam and look down and see to my dismay that the nut I had placed directly below had popped, resulting in one piece between me and the ground. Instead of backing it up, I decide to push on. I reach the one super manky bolt on the route, clip it, take a sigh of relief, and back it up. Crisis abated.
I get a little cocky and start charging through the last third of the climb. For those that know the route, the last 15 feet are exactly where it is a poor decision to start getting cocky. I place a perfect cam (black metolius powercam) and charge on. 5 feet from the top, 10 feet from my last cam, in a layback position, I botch a foot placement and send myself grunting into the abyss. I estimate around 20-25 feet of falling
Immediately afterwards I climb back up deciding to pay attention to my feet. Deciding that it was really my lack of attention, I don't bother backing up the cam I had fallen on, although I easily could have. I get to the same position, pop my foot the exact same way, and take the exact same fall. By this time there was a group watching the climb. I get a round of applause for the second fall.
Finally got that sucker on the third try.
My favorite falls are the ones that give you just enough time to think something is wrong. I was being belayed by a partner who, at my request, belayed me very loosely. Took a fall and had a split second where I was wondering why I hadn't been caught yet. I stopped about 7 feet from the ground.
(This post was edited by shoo on Feb 18, 2008, 5:22 AM)
Feb 18, 2008, 12:59 PM
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Re: [bobruef] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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bobruef wrote:
happiegrrrl wrote:
...The second was actually a "real" fall, but still not far. Frog's head at the Gunks, first pitch. Everyone who knows the route knows where I fell...
For a 5.6, that one sees a lot of falls. I saw/heard two different parties fall at that same spot, consecutively. I watched the first fall from the belay at the top of the first pitch. In their defense, it was soaking wet that day. When we rapped after finishing the climb, the second guy was just getting started. He whacked his ankles pretty good on said ledge. The first thought through my mind was "well, we're helping carry this guy out". Surprisingly, he was OK, and continued up the climb. His gf felt pretty bad about him ledging. Wasn't her fault though, she gave a good belay. Kind of inevitable in that spot.
I was sure I was going to slip on lead that day. The rock was soaked.
pretty sure that route is 5.5 (as if it matters), but I could be wrong.
First time I led that route it started raining in the middle of pitch 2. Pretty intense.
Feb 18, 2008, 3:23 PM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I took a 50 to 60 footer in SoIll, almost cratered, that was the last time that I was belayed by that person. She just wasn't paying attention, and I fell at the chains.
The outside corner at Quincy Quarry near Boston. I was teaching some new guys for most of the day and couldn't do any real climbing. I decided I was going to do at least one good climb that day, grabbed my trad gear and headed to one of the few few tradable routes in the quarry.
At around 30 ft I place a cam and look down and see to my dismay that the nut I had placed directly below had popped, resulting in one piece between me and the ground. Instead of backing it up, I decide to push on. I reach the one super manky bolt on the route, clip it, take a sigh of relief, and back it up. Crisis abated.
I get a little cocky and start charging through the last third of the climb. For those that know the route, the last 15 feet are exactly where it is a poor decision to start getting cocky. I place a perfect cam (black metolius powercam) and charge on. 5 feet from the top, 10 feet from my last cam, in a layback position, I botch a foot placement and send myself grunting into the abyss. I estimate around 20-25 feet of falling
Immediately afterwards I climb back up deciding to pay attention to my feet. Deciding that it was really my lack of attention, I don't bother backing up the cam I had fallen on, although I easily could have. I get to the same position, pop my foot the exact same way, and take the exact same fall. By this time there was a group watching the climb. I get a round of applause for the second fall.
Finally got that sucker on the third try.
My favorite falls are the ones that give you just enough time to think something is wrong. I was being belayed by a partner who, at my request, belayed me very loosely. Took a fall and had a split second where I was wondering why I hadn't been caught yet. I stopped about 7 feet from the ground.
That's kinda of funny, I was just thinking about where mine was (the sloping staircase at Quincy Quarries, 5.10a and very sandbagged, as QQ climbers know).
The first bolt is maybe 20 feet off the ground, and is past the crux of the climb. I had repelled to clip the first bolt. Now, I did this route in the summer of 2006 and top roped it, only to find why it's the only completely bolted climb at the quarries (there is a ledge that sticks out towards the top, and gave me some nice dark blotches on the sheath of my rope). So I figured I would try to sport it this time. I was too sketched to do it ground up (since the crux is early and just high enough to be outside my comfort level). Well, I get up it a decent ways, clip the last bolt, and keep going. I stand up on the shelf above the bolt, reach up for another shelf, and was promptly reminded how slippery the rock at QQ is. As soon as I hand matched, I peeled before I even knew I was slipping. I probably didn't fall more than 10 feet... my knot was about 4 feet above the clip, and I pulled my belayer about up to where I came to rest. Gave me a good start, as it was my first real lead fall from above the clip.
Feb 18, 2008, 4:34 PM
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Re: [itstoearly] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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Mine was a 30 footer on the durance route of devils tower. It was also my first trad fall. I didn't have much of a rack at the time and I had less experience climbing offwidths. I was trying to link the first 2 pitches and ran out of gear 25 feet from the top. I climbed above my last piece (Maroon power cam) and thought I could see the top and so I climbed a few more moves, looked for gear, couldn't find any place to put something small so climbed a couple of more moves and get a good rest. While resting I think about if I should go for it, or down climb and then, my foot pops and I'm flying through the air yelling, "shit, shit, SHIT" It was the softest catch I've ever had because I had so much rope out, and I thought I felt a piece blow, but I think my cam slid some.
I asked the guys below us (anykine) how many times i had yelled shit and they confirmed it was a 3 shitter. i did get scraped up some on that climb, but it was all on the way up, the fall was totally clean, which is rare for 5.6.
Feb 19, 2008, 1:22 PM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I took a 60-80 footer while doing the 2nd ascent solo, of the prow on Washington column. Ripped an entire A4 pitch. Jumared back up to the anchor, ( 1/4 inch bolt), and didn't make the same mistake twice! Finished the route several days later in a wild thunderstorm with plenty of hail and lightning. John Dill, prior to his running of Yosar, was watching me in a scope and said I went totally out of his view when I took the fall. I've taken a few 30 footers over the years as well.
Feb 19, 2008, 1:33 PM
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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My longest one was my first trad fall onto a blue alien. Probably about 20 feet, but i am not certain. I have taken a bunch of falls 15 feet or less. Too many to count.
Feb 19, 2008, 2:07 PM
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Re: [blueeyedclimber] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I took about a 30 foot fall in Thailand, only a few weeks ago.
I have been climbing and guiding at this place called Tonsai Tower on Phi Phi Island, Thailand. I am usually one of the best climbers at the crag, only because all of the good climbers in Thailand are in Tonsai. So I get over confident sometimes.
Anyways, I am teaching a lead climbing course, and my student is learning to lead on easy stuff. Quite boring. The day before, I had onsighted a 6c (5.11b I think) called Gladiator and skipped a bolt, leaving a quickdraw on the wall. My student wanted a break, and a fellow guide was at the crag with nothing to do, so I decide to go and get the draw.
No warm up, no stretching, stupid stupid stupid.
I am at the crux, a big overhang with a good distance between bolts. When I get tired and stressed, I skip bolts. It is faster and I climb better. So I had skipped a bolt, and am at the top of the overhang and am completely pumped. Worst flash pump I ever had. I go for the last tough move before a rest and a bolt, and just come off. I knew I was pumped but did not expect to fall on that move. The fall was from 15 to 20 feet above the last bolt I had clipped, so the fall could have been more like 40 feet. I swung all the way back to the wall below the overhang and came in hard, but I knew it was coming and was able to keep my face and body from smacking the wall. Sprained both wrists and my feet were sore for days, but that was it.
I'll never climb that hard with out a good warm up. I'm lucky I was ok. I scared the shit out of my student, who said he was done for the day after seeing that. He said he was just tired but I think he got freaked out. Oh well, live and learn!
Feb 19, 2008, 5:07 PM
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Re: [cracklover] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I took a 40 footer because I was too cocky to clip a bolt on a granite trad route (5.8), after the bolt I placed a blue tcu in a flexy flake, then went right where I should have gone left. I then started traversing left on some slabby shit and popped off, I had enough time (while sliding down the slab) to notice the tcu spinning around the rope, my partner had enough time to take in 10 feet of slack. I fell onto my friends yellow TCU, it was bomber, but that fucking bolt would have stopped me from falling about 20 of those feet. I was had a 9 inch section of raw skin on my right fore-arm, and a bit of skin missing from the top of my hip bone and right knee, my harness was even tore up a bit, but mostly on the padding.
Lesson for all if someone is willing to go through the trouble of placing a bolt in granite clip that shit!
Feb 19, 2008, 7:30 PM
Post #32 of 52
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Re: [irregularpanda] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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My biggest outdoor lead fall was pretty small - around 10 feet, maybe a little more. But it was the first lead I'd ever tried. After I'd been climbing for a few months, I got talked into leading The Raven, a 5.9+ at Shelf Road, and managed to slip off the top of a layback section. It was my second lead fall ever, the first having occurred a bolt below, with about 6 inches of drop.
There's a ledge on the route that sticks out a couple of inches, and I managed to catch my toe on it, on the way down. My friend Ron was taking photos, and had his camera on the high speed setting. I think something about all the shaking and cursing I was doing convinced him that a fall may have been coming. He caught the fall, and my left ankle breaking on the ledge. You can see the medial malleolus, the lumpy bone on the inside of an ankle, breaking off in this picture.
at least once you have to take a lead fall on a steep wall to see the coils of rope going by 65-70 feet is what I have taken before time does not exist it is all moment.. however the worst fall I think are the short ones with a bad belay and know where to go.
The outside corner at Quincy Quarry near Boston. I was teaching some new guys for most of the day and couldn't do any real climbing. I decided I was going to do at least one good climb that day, grabbed my trad gear and headed to one of the few few tradable routes in the quarry.
HA! it's a fun little lead ain't it? seems all peaceful like until you get to the hand/layback crack...
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At around 30 ft I place a cam and look down and see to my dismay that the nut I had placed directly below had popped, resulting in one piece between me and the ground. Instead of backing it up, I decide to push on. I reach the one super manky bolt on the route, clip it, take a sigh of relief, and back it up. Crisis abated.
on outside corner? don't you mean that rusty old piton bashed in at about teh second ledge? ;-)
dude, excpet for the falling part, I had a similar experience on OC a couple years ago. I placed Blue tricam at teh bottom of the hand crack, started up, and kicked the tricam out as I passed it, making my last piece of gear the old piton 10 feet below that last little footledge. so, I downclimbed. I have never had such a monster kung fu deathgrip on the rock in my life, then or since ;-)
that's a fun lead, right there ;-)
My own biggest lead fall happened at Purgatory Chasm in sutton MA, on the 5.8 roof "Paradise Lost". I'd led it the week before no problems, and came back super confident. got up under the roof, protrected under the roof behind a solid flake, placed the usual #3 camalot in the slot just above the roof, clipped it, rested a second or two under the roof, and then pulled over onto teh sloped face above.
unfortunately the key sidepull was covered with dirt...I could feel my hand going, going, adn...
"FALLING!"
the first one was only about 10-12 feet.
I got back on, got back up under the roof,, settled my head a bit, and then pulled over -
after pulling over the roof I wind up in this awkward squatted stance, off balance backwards, needing that side pull to steady myself so I can move my rigth foot up one hold, which rebalances me forward into the slopped face...where there aren't any positive handholds, or crimps even -
anyway the key left hand sidepull was still too dirty, I felt it going, and off I went backwards again.
I too had an audience, one of whom took this picture as I swung down on the second fall.
total was about 15-20 feet or so. I was pretty sketched after the second fall. Oh, the gear that held me was an ebay-sourced Chouinard U-stem #3 Camalot ;-)
(This post was edited by robbovius on Feb 19, 2008, 8:41 PM)
Feb 19, 2008, 9:30 PM
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Re: [Arrogant_Bastard] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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It was a tad over 120'. The green route, off the arete next to the vending machine.
Thats funny!
I've taken a bunch, but never over about 20 feet. Most memorable was 20 feet, headfirst backwards, after blowing out of a steep layback. Rapped to the ground, grabbed another 1.5 friend (old school solid aluminum stem, pre-forged, pre-cable), went back up, and with a better piece in, of course I didn't fall again.
Nov 16, 2008, 8:00 AM
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Re: [areyoumydude] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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The 80ish footer was pretty bad but it was close to other pepes so I did all right. But then one year I was late in the season at City of Rocks. Then the partner didn't show up . I had a list to do so I stayed on. The day after the ranger had stopped by to announce " there's no body in the reserve except you so I am going to be back in a couple days." I tool a 20 footer on Animal Crackers while solo. That silly fall messed with my head and I ended up callin the trip a day early.
Nov 16, 2008, 8:30 AM
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Re: [frogman21] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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frogman21 wrote:
at least once you have to take a lead fall on a steep wall to see the coils of rope going by 65-70 feet is what I have taken before time does not exist it is all moment.. however the worst fall I think are the short ones with a bad belay and know where to go.
Nov 16, 2008, 1:15 PM
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Re: [spikeddem] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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On LTD in the Wichitas I slotted a #3 wired stopper into a keyhole--it was hanging halfway out and I said to my belayer "no way will that hold..." 20 feet of slab higher, that thought is probably what caused me to fall. The piece held as I tumbled backwards down 40 feet or so, ripping off the sole of one shoe and a reasonable amount of skin in the process. That stopper now has a special place in my heart!
Nov 16, 2008, 2:17 PM
Post #42 of 52
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Re: [USnavy] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I was putting up a new route a few years ago in the Grand Canyon, it is on the south rim somewhere near hermits trail, cannot be specific because of the NPS. However it is a beautiful line with amazing views and classic moves, from the ground it looked like it would go at 5.9-5.10ish not bad for a backcountry climb. The first moves are stiff with no pro for about 15'off the deck, around 20' I placed a bomber LA, continued up another 15' and placed a 1/2 angle fairly bomber placement, and within another 15' the the seam disappeared, so in my ignorance continued to climb up(15-20'), looking up I a saw a small horizontal shelf with some tough grass/and a baby cacti/ and a small pine tree 1" in diameter. Yup the horizontal was crap but I did manage to to equalize the grass/cacti/bush, by now the grade was around 5.6 and only had to climb about 20' to top out, however lichen was scattered around, it was the flaky stuff on sandstone. Of course by now I was starting to worry(Elvis was in the house), since my feet were scating off the lichen and crumbly sandstone, finally the top came, however toping out in the GC is not always easy since most top outs require a bit of scree climbing. I spotted a fairly good size tree 2-3" dia. close to the edge and grabbed it and started to mantle up and out. The next moment is frozen in time, the slab of rock I was mantling on was actually a not attached to the cliff, nor were the roots of that tree anchored into anything solid and as I was starting to fall I remember that I admired what a delicate root system that tree had. Whack!! back into reality the fall lasted for a long time I went zipping past the equalized garden, past the 1/2 angle and cratered into the deck, the LA held and saved my life. I broke my right foot in several places, including fracturing my right shin/ankle, broke three toes on my left foot, and two fingers on my right hand and broke my fiberglass CAMP helmet(it was brand new). Needless to say I left on my climbing shoes for the hike out, since I knew there would be no way to hike out with broken and swollen feet.(cell phones were not around yet) Late 80's. Thankfully there is a clinic on the south rim and they take credit cards. Lesson learned if you are going to fall 50+' and deck wear a diaper since there was a steaming hot tater in my pants!!! Anthony
Nov 16, 2008, 4:00 PM
Post #43 of 52
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Re: [anthonymason] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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I took a good 35-40ft ground fall when I was learning to lead. As the gear pulled it slowed me down. didn't get hurt and rode my bike home.
The biggest fall I've seen was at Smith Rock. A Mexican guy took a big fall near the top anchors on Churning in the Wake. With a combo of skipping some bolts and poor belay he fell so fall he almost kicked the belayer in the head. the belayer was pull atleast 10ft off the ground. yikes
On a route called the sting at the gunks, probably about 25-28 feet, with a soft catch. There is an all-points off giant dyno at the end from above your gear, and if you miss the top jug it's a lot of airtime. Fortunately the gear is two bomber cams in .75 range - and I was pinking it on bomber gear.
Nov 16, 2008, 4:41 PM
Post #45 of 52
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Re: [blueeyedclimber] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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My longest was at the Red. I was on Creep Show and was clipping the chains. This was my first weekend ever on lead, and actually my first time ever on a rope. Got to the top of Creep Show and got my draw in the chains. Then pulled out slack to clip the draw, my hand slipped off the sloper at the top and I fell around 30'. I was a little pissed.
Nov 16, 2008, 11:39 PM
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Re: [currupt4130] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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Mine also @ the Red, Slow Jack, had both hands on the sloping holds @ the top and fell 15' on the bomber #4 hex I placed above the large Hueco. First trad lead ever!
Nov 17, 2008, 2:24 AM
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Re: [jamatt] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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Theres a big difference between the falls you are expect and those sneaky ones where you are just climbing, minding your own business then BLAM you are suddenly taking some air time
I can't remember distances but I do really a couple where I was thinking "man this fall is taking awhile... Oh there goes the bolt, should be stopping sometime soon.... "
Nov 17, 2008, 2:50 AM
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Re: [Myxomatosis] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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Scariest Fall I ever had was on Closer to the Heart at Stone. Not the longest but by far the scariest. Slid about 15-20' Stayed upright and palmed my way down. could watch the little curlyques of rubbers coming off my shoes. I was about 3-4' from the second bolt. Slid until I was a few feet above the 1st bolt. I guess that still counts as a whipper even though I didn't fall past the bolt.
Nov 17, 2008, 4:25 AM
Post #50 of 52
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Re: [Myxomatosis] What’s the longest lead fall you have taken?
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Myxomatosis wrote:
Theres a big difference between the falls you are expect and those sneaky ones where you are just climbing, minding your own business then BLAM you are suddenly taking some air time
I can't remember distances but I do really a couple where I was thinking "man this fall is taking awhile... Oh there goes the bolt, should be stopping sometime soon.... "
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