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zuegma
Apr 3, 2007, 9:37 PM
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A seventeen year old Havre de Grace boy was in critical condition at Maryland Shock Trauma center yesterday after he and another teenager fell while climbing a rock formation sunday in harford county.
Michael R.was taken by helicopter to shock trauma in baltimore after falling about 60 feet while scaling the king and Queen seat in Rocks State park.
Michael P also 17 of Bel Air was fell about 15 and was rescued from the rocks without injury.
The teenagers were climbing about 60 feet up the 190-foot formation without any gear shortly before noon when they both fell. Michael P. landed on a ledge 15 feet down. Michael R. fell to the base.
Michael R was conscious and alert when put on the helicopter said Rich Gardiner spokesman for the harford county dept. of fire and emergency services. Michael P. refused medical aid.
Source: Baltimore Sun written by Mary Gail Hare
I believe the kid is still in shock trauma and i hope that he gets well soon.
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jumpingrock
Apr 3, 2007, 9:54 PM
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Is this a technical climb or a 4th class scramble?
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deschamps1000
Apr 3, 2007, 10:29 PM
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Why post this on a rock climbing webpage? It seems that they were not rock climbers, just kids scrambling. Don't bother posting this stuff.
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zuegma
Apr 3, 2007, 10:41 PM
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i honestly dont know whether or not they were scramblilng...they way the article was written doesnt really make sense. because if you fall 60 feet without a rope then it would be a miracle if you managed to live, much less be conscious when resuced. although, because the article said that they were climbing and had no gear, i assumed they were actaully climbing. also, if they were just scrambling in the area and fell...the one kid wouldn't have ended up in shock trauma.
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tharlow
Apr 3, 2007, 10:56 PM
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Once again, hikers falling after getting in over their heads, but its called a climbing accident. My question, how do you draw the line between somebody scrambling and a free solo.
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ludloj
Apr 4, 2007, 2:18 AM
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I've climbed out at Kings/Queens seat twice and what was written in the article doesn't really make sense.
There really isn't any real vertical falls until you're at the top. Other than that it's 3rd/4th class scrambles. The article says they were 60' up, which just seams wrong.
What it sounds like to me, is that they fell from the top, and one person landed down where the top of the front right face are and the other person landed at the bottom of the front right face.
Meh, there are a lot of local idiots at K/Q seat, but it's very pretty.
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dylan1
Apr 4, 2007, 2:31 AM
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I have been there a bunch of times, on any given day there are always a lot of people hanging around the top of the King and Queen Seat...sometimes a dozen at a time. I would think they were on the top and fell while jumping around.
Last year there was a fatality that way.
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reg
Apr 4, 2007, 12:11 PM
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i believe they were doing a known bouldering wall just below the seats. the ledge is called "break-away ledge" - 80' up - named for the climbs below (B left and B right). from that ledge is a 15 foot wall to the seats. big ledge maybe 10-12 feet to the lip but not safe enough for to be bouldering above. not the first kid to go for a ride doin the same thing.
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svilnit
Apr 4, 2007, 1:11 PM
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If somebody fell down Breakaway wall I'd have a hard time believing they would survive. That's 80+ ft to a rocky/uneven ledge. Maybe they were down by the 4th class scamble by Strawberry Jam?
Easy to see how somebody could get hurt there, people (non-climbers) are hopping all over the top of that cliff all the time.
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microbarn
Apr 4, 2007, 1:38 PM
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Something else that bothers me about the story. How is it that one guy watches his buddy take a 15 foot fall and then goes and takes the 60 footer themselves? (or watches the 60 foot fall then taking a 15 foot fall themselves)
Wouldn't you be wanting to take the easy way down after seeing the first fall? When do you decide to just wait for help if there is no easy way down?
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reg
Apr 4, 2007, 2:00 PM
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yeah it's confusing to me but having been there and seen peeps "bouldering" up to the seats with "spotters" 5' from the lip of an 80' drop - i try and tell them but i get "oh we'll be ok - done this before" crap. i guess one could have knocked the other over - who knows - v usafe area for that stuff.
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reg
Apr 4, 2007, 2:11 PM
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well the report from the op says "about 60'" - and they were near or relative to the K&Q seat and that is a popular boulder wall - with the slope of the land at the base - could've been 60+ depending where he landed.
sad.
just aside story: ranger asked my friend to approach this couple atop the seats. apparently they can not by park rules (??). the boyfriend was about to lower his gal over the lip. he had her bound up in yellow nylon garden cord (1/4 - 3/8 home depot stuff) and on a questionable body belay. my friend being persuasive and friendly got them to stop. the young girl was Very relieved!!
(This post was edited by reg on Apr 4, 2007, 2:13 PM)
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svilnit
Apr 4, 2007, 2:39 PM
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reg wrote: well the report from the op says "about 60'" - and they were near or relative to the K&Q seat and that is a popular boulder wall - with the slope of the land at the base - could've been 60+ depending where he landed. sad. just aside story: ranger asked my friend to approach this couple atop the seats. apparently they can not by park rules (??). the boyfriend was about to lower his gal over the lip. he had her bound up in yellow nylon garden cord (1/4 - 3/8 home depot stuff) and on a questionable body belay. my friend being persuasive and friendly got them to stop. the young girl was Very relieved!!
Yeah, that's true, that backside of Breakaway can get pretty high as well. Wow, I'm glad he convinced them it wasn't a good idea. I'd hate to see that area closed due to complete stupidity!
I took two noobs there once, I had forgotten how difficult it is to get to the climbing areas even though we were setting up TR. Nice spot, but not worth the crowds in my book. As stated, I could definitely see someone falling there if they weren't experienced.
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reg
Apr 4, 2007, 3:10 PM
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ur right - for the less expierenced, the access to both ledges difficult and dangerous but where else you gonna get quaility climbs of that height in md?
went there one winter day not long ago and the traverse to brkaway was snow covered and slippery so we belayed each other and tied the pack in the mix as well.
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vinzoni
Apr 4, 2007, 8:42 PM
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I climb there all the time. I've basically climbed on each part at least once so know the lay of the land. I'm a beginner still but it's a fun place. The actual K & Q seat is located above the "Biceps wall". It's about 60' up from the belay ledge. There are always kids hacking their way up on hubris, foolishness, and adreniline. Easy to get rimrocked, lose energy, and peel off. Scrambles are located right next to technical climbs, the terrain changes quickly. Non technical climbers can get into fast trouble. No hacker could climb on the vertical wall, it's all technical I think. hard to get sucked in though it is done. You guys are right, the set up is tougher than more accessable places, but it's fun, and doable.....nice tall rewarding fun climbs.....not easy setup...true. Every year scramblers die there, or are injured. It lures them in. so does the grand canyon, and mount washington.
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reg
Apr 4, 2007, 8:52 PM
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verticle ledge is 60' up from the "belay" ledge, breakaway ledge is 80' up and the belay ledge is about 25' off the ground so a fall from biceps to the ground could be like 115' - believe the seats are 120-125 on the long side of the formation. rope up you peeps!
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bobruef
Apr 4, 2007, 9:25 PM
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vinzoni wrote: ...The actual K & Q seat is located above the "Biceps wall". It's about 60' up from the belay ledge...
I think this is the most likely scenario. If memory serves me, there is a ledge about 15' from the top, so a climber could fall to this ledge, or the whole 60' to the ground. Biceps is directly under King and Queen' seat, and is where you usually see the local-yokals messing around. Biceps is also easily accessed via a hike around.
Breakaway is harder to access and isn't as close to King and Queen's seat. However, they may just be refering to King and Queen's seat to refer to the cliffs in general. We're probably the only ones who care exactly on what segment of the cliffs that this happened.
Climber or not, I hope the kid comes out of this ok, and learns his lesson.
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zuegma
Apr 5, 2007, 2:53 AM
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Yea thats the conclusion i have come to as well. and i can only asssume that the reporter took a guess at the height and came up short. Hope the kid is doing well.
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vinzoni
Apr 5, 2007, 4:35 PM
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I hear ya'. If they fell from the top, they were idiots/drunk or something. If they tried to solo the biceps wall, even the low class 5 stuff, they could have got rimrocked and fallen off tired. That's the scary part, they get lured in. I see kids doing that all the time. Sneaks and etc.....just soloing the low five slabs under the gap in front of the K & Q. Did some climbing at the vertical wall......vertical and piney....was fun.....want to try to get that overhang under the tree (piney) this year. Would like to clean breakaway left too. It beat me last time.
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