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norcalocal
Jun 1, 2008, 11:51 PM
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Yesterday was the last time I will climb after doing some drinking. Made a couple of bad decisions ultimately resulting in a near death fall. I rigged a terrible toprope to clean some pro. Was doing a stupid "jump" move near the top of the crag and next thing I know I am laying on my back next to my belayer saying "what the fuck did you rig up there". Thankfully I escaped the fall with only a horribly bruised heel bone. I don't know how I got so lucky to only hurt my heel.
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time2clmb
Jun 2, 2008, 12:10 AM
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Well, since you posted up what exactly went wrong? Were you rapping off, lowering, or was it an anchor failure? What was the anchor set up?
God protects idiots and drunk people or whatever that saying is...
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swaghole
Jun 2, 2008, 1:02 AM
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So, you were climbing under the influence??
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norcalocal
Jun 2, 2008, 5:00 AM
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I was not wasted drunk, but I did have a little buzz. I set three cams with some runners to secure the top rope...The reason I fell was because the original way I made up was kind of a traverse along a long horiz. crack. I was being lowered, i was trying to get around this dome shaped rock and since my rope was around it when I "jumped" my rope slid around the other side of the dome and released all extra length. luckily my belayer was watching my stupidity and ran back enough rope to make the landing "softer", actually I hit the ground and then I felt the rope pull.
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josephgdawson
Jun 2, 2008, 6:10 AM
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The problem with promising yourself not to do something when you are drunk is that drinking inhibits such reasoning. I have always been amused by absurdity embedded in the "think when you drink" slogan. When I drank, rational thought was simply not possible.
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unabonger
Jun 2, 2008, 11:40 AM
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norcalocal wrote: I hit the ground and then I felt the rope pull.
You just made my Monday morning.
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camhead
Jun 2, 2008, 1:26 PM
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dude, not to say that the effects of alcohol are not significant, but if your trad anchor pulled, it would indicate that your rigging skillz are probably not that great whether or not you are sober.
Just a wild guess.
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dingus
Jun 2, 2008, 1:40 PM
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norcalocal wrote: I was not wasted drunk, but I did have a little buzz. I set three cams with some runners to secure the top rope...The reason I fell was because the original way I made up was kind of a traverse along a long horiz. crack. I was being lowered, i was trying to get around this dome shaped rock and since my rope was around it when I "jumped" my rope slid around the other side of the dome and released all extra length. luckily my belayer was watching my stupidity and ran back enough rope to make the landing "softer", actually I hit the ground and then I felt the rope pull.
I'm curious - where'd this happen?
DMT
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peg_leg1
Jun 2, 2008, 2:10 PM
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I can't believe that you would tell anybody about this. Especially thousand of of people on this site.
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swaghole
Jun 2, 2008, 3:44 PM
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What color of condom should you have used?? Red or green?
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irregularpanda
Jun 2, 2008, 3:53 PM
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j_ung wrote: Man, I'm bummin'. I got the clap from a hooker last weekend. From now on, when I go whoring, I swear I'll be sober.
Hell Fucking Yes.
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majid_sabet
Jun 2, 2008, 4:37 PM
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You were given another chance to live so do not fuc*up while climbing.
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spikeddem
Jun 2, 2008, 4:45 PM
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camhead wrote: dude, not to say that the effects of alcohol are not significant, but if your trad anchor pulled, it would indicate that your rigging skillz are probably not that great whether or not you are sober. Just a wild guess.
Sounds to me like his anchor didn't pull. Based upon his second description, it sounds like he cleared the rope over a feature and a bunch of slack appeared in the system. He said that his belayer was smart and ran back to take in a bunch of slack, but he hit the ground (barely) regardless.
This doesn't seem to be the 30' free fall it was made out to be.
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wonderwoman
Jun 2, 2008, 5:51 PM
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spikeddem wrote: This doesn't seem to be the 30' free fall it was made out to be.
Well, that's a relief! Maybe he was drinking while writing it up!
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angry
Jun 2, 2008, 6:13 PM
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I don't buy this drinking = bad rigging BS.
Like camhead said, if you can't do it drunk then you can't do it sober.
Anchors are not complicated, you can rig one mostly blind, with frozen hands, with the wrong gear, after being on route for 36 hours straight.
The problem is in experience, not alcohol.
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patmay81
Jun 2, 2008, 6:15 PM
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I was rear ended by a drunk driver (I was parked, he was going 70). He walked away w/o a scratch- something about being drunk kept him relaxed so as to avoid injury. Maybe the same applies to climbing, a drunk deck keeps you from tensing up while decking allowing your body to bounce around uninhibited by your reflexes. just my stupid rambling- there is no truth to it.
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norcalocal
Jun 2, 2008, 8:40 PM
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None of the the pro came out. I was just not paying enough attention to the amount of rope that was being run out while I was cleaning gear. I only placed cams on the route, so it would have been incredibly hard to misplace some of the pro. But I am not incredibly experienced at placing pro, since it was only my third lead trad climb, and I have had NO instruction on "proper placement", but I understand physics and how to operate camming devices. That being said, I more then adequately protected myself on the way up, it was on the way down that I got sloppy.
I do believe that the being intoxicated did relax my body upon impact.
oh and in response to not telling anyone about this, isn't this the "injuries and accidents" section of a forum for climbing.
(This post was edited by norcalocal on Jun 2, 2008, 9:07 PM)
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WVUCLMBR
Jun 2, 2008, 8:51 PM
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Sounds to me like you weren't drunk enough. If you remember it happening you were still sober. Try harder next time and maybe Majid will get some I&A time.
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wonderwoman
Jun 2, 2008, 9:01 PM
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norcalocal wrote: But I am not incredibly experienced at placing pro, since it was only my third lead trad climb, and I have had NO instruction on "proper placement", but I understand physics and how to operate camming devices.
Are you for real? Quit drinking and start cracking open some climbing books instead! These are not enough tools to make you a leader. Please do some groundwork before getting on the sharp end. Aside from being sober while climbing, it takes more than understanding physics and how to plug a cam into a crack.
Man, and I'm not one to lecture!
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yokese
Jun 2, 2008, 9:20 PM
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angry wrote: Like camhead said, if you can't do it drunk then you can't do it sober.
I don't know about you, but when I'm drunk I have a very hard time doing many things that are just trivial when I'm sober. This goes for no brainer things like walking or speaking, coordination-related activities like peeing inside a bowl or driving a car, up to more intellectual demanding tasks like solving differential equations systems. I don't see why setting up anchors should be any different. Even if I can do it sober, chances are that I can't while drunk. Heck, apparently people can't even touch their own nose while drunk...
Perhaps that's the main reason why I don't drive or climb when I'm drunk.
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angry
Jun 2, 2008, 9:40 PM
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yokese wrote: angry wrote: Like camhead said, if you can't do it drunk then you can't do it sober. I don't know about you, but when I'm drunk I have a very hard time doing many things that are just trivial when I'm sober. This goes for no brainer things like walking or speaking, coordination-related activities like peeing inside a bowl or driving a car, up to more intellectual demanding tasks like solving differential equations systems. I don't see why setting up anchors should be any different. Even if I can do it sober, chances are that I can't while drunk. Heck, apparently people can't even touch their own nose while drunk... Perhaps that's the main reason why I don't drive or climb when I'm drunk.
My thought on the matter is that many times we are totally in sober in situations that impair us far more than being drunk would.
Climbing anchors do not take coordination, balance, or communication skills. They also should be redundant. This means that you can set up an anchor and even if done only partially right, it's still enough.
I'm not saying it's a good idea but I think if you can build a good anchor sober you can build an ok anchor drunk.
I'm not the type to test this hypothesis but this is how I see it.
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swaghole
Jun 2, 2008, 11:16 PM
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angry wrote: My thought on the matter is that many times we are totally in sober in situations that impair us far more than being drunk would.
Yeah, like hitting on fat chicks. When I'm sober, I just can't!
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