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wyoclimb
Aug 7, 2009, 10:06 PM
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Registered: Oct 12, 2007
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I took my first big fall 4 pitches up on a bolted
multi pitch 5-11 or so it scared the shit outa me but I went back up & finished up , super arete route Awsome exposure, hard moves, alpine enviroment. Comeing 2 A screaming stop so high
in the sky is a super rush. Anyone else remember
their first multi pitch fall. This one I won't forget.
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billcoe_
Aug 7, 2009, 10:50 PM
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Registered: Jun 30, 2002
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Yeah, doing an uncharted line. I did the 1st pitch, got a great belay stance and set up and partner started up on the 2nd pitch. 15' above or so he climbed up and down a few times before finding he was unable to commit so he backed off. I tied in and cranked past his high point in short order. I soon found myself to the place he was looking at but didn't want to approach, unable to take either hand off or move my feet....I finally just peeled off. As I went PAST my partner falling upsidedown @ 20-25 feet below I was simultaneously trying to grab the rack so as not to loose it and berate myself for not putting in that piece I had considered yet rejected while on lead. All self-recriminations ended within a few seconds when my ass slammed hard into the ledge 10 feet below my partner and his belay stance. I sorted myself out and was barely able to stand it hurt so bad: so his next words seemed out of place "Are you going to finish the route?"
Of course I did. However, I was a tad more cautious and put in a piece above Bobs high point. Didn't fall the 2nd time though.
A few days later, the limp had gone away when my wife starts cracking up and pointing as I exit the shower. A quick check of the mirror showed that I had what appeared to be a large Archery Target on my ass-cheek. Deep purple center, big yellow ring around it......
Not any damn fun at all. The worst part, when it wound up in the guidebook as someone else's FA years later, it was only 5.10B!
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asiaclimber
Aug 7, 2009, 10:55 PM
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Registered: Aug 21, 2007
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It was only a four pitch climb, but i fell on the 4th pitch almost at the top and due to bad protection run out as hell and a large piece of rock breaking off I ended up ass first on a ledge. I thought I had broke my tailbone for about 10 mins. Then i realized it was the same feeling I had the first time i went snowboarding, told myself to stop being a nancy and got up and finished the route.
THe best thing about this was, I yelled rock when it came off. The sheer weight of the thing is actually what made me fall. The party and the route next to mine yelled rock both of our belayers yelled rock and people on the ground yelled rock. There was 2 other parties at the base of the climb waiting to go up after we finished up who dove out of the way. When we got back down and pieced the thing together it was about the size of the top of coffee table. I was just amazed that everyone did the right thing in such unison. It was almost like the yell of rock was orchestrated
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vegastradguy
Aug 7, 2009, 11:01 PM
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Registered: Aug 28, 2002
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yeah, it sidelined me for three months with a severely sprained ankle.
we were up on Jubilant Song- probably...600' up? maybe a little higher- at the end of its rather long roof traverse (100' or so). I was trying to do the crux right off belay and, although i wouldnt discover it for about 3 years or so, i was off route doing it the hard way. I was pulling through a mini roof on crimps when my left foot blew (hold broke) and i went sailing past my belayer, landed on the slab below and kept falling...probably about 20' or so. I yarded back up to belay, aided through the crux, and by the time my partner came up, my ankle had swollen to the size of a grapefruit. had to jug the rest of the route (half assed, because of my bad foot), then endure the 3 hour walk back to the car at night.
sucked, but i learned alot from that fall. didnt take another fall on multipitch for years after that...
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boymeetsrock
Aug 8, 2009, 3:58 AM
Post #5 of 19
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Registered: Feb 11, 2005
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Fun!! I'll play.
It was only the Gunks but early on in my climbing. And two pitches... gheesh.
I was in the lead on the upper pitch. I had slung a sturdy piton and climbed about 15 feet above to a small roof. I could see the damn line, but I was sceert. Early climbing for me as mentioned...
After way too many minutes thinking about it, fear and fatigue welled up. I three quarters fell one quarter let go. Three giant steps later and some air, I was upside down, leg tangled in the rope. ...unhurt. WOW!
I've never 'let go' even a little since then, and made it through on some of my more proud routes as a result!
Great stories everyone else. Hope all egos and limbs have healed in time!
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skiclimb
Aug 8, 2009, 4:17 AM
Post #6 of 19
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Registered: Jan 11, 2004
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Groove pitch on the shield.. Leading by headlamp...belayer was sleeping as it turned out... fell maybe 20 or 30 feet...popped a couple heads and stopped on a fixed knifeblade... main feeling was one of fatigue... when cosidering the fact that I'd have to ascend the line then re-do the popped placements even better ..and finish the pitch .....was a cool fall... popped a 2cam alien placement and kinda skated on tipptoe the first ten feet before losing contact and drifting into space 2K OFF THE DECK...
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AntinJ
Aug 9, 2009, 4:11 AM
Post #7 of 19
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In reply to: Fun!! I'll play. It was only the Gunks but early on in my climbing. And two pitches... gheesh. I was in the lead on the upper pitch. I had slung a sturdy piton and climbed about 15 feet above to a small roof. I could see the damn line, but I was sceert. Early climbing for me as mentioned... After way too many minutes thinking about it, fear and fatigue welled up. I three quarters fell one quarter let go. Three giant steps later and some air, I was upside down, leg tangled in the rope. ...unhurt. WOW! I've never 'let go' even a little since then, and made it through on some of my more proud routes as a result! Great stories everyone else. Hope all egos and limbs have healed in time!
What route?
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jamatt
Aug 9, 2009, 4:56 AM
Post #8 of 19
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Registered: Oct 4, 2005
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off route leading p2 of paradise alley on shortoff mountain. found myself in linville-lichen-land runout about 20 feet diagonally from a .3 C4. came off, rope caught leg (climbing with doubles) fell/swung on one mother of a pendulum about forty feet upside down into something really hard.
i guess since i was on a cliff it was probably rock.
ended up dangling upside down with my left arm no longer skeletally attached to the rest of my body as well as numerous other contusions abrasions and embarassments.
then the adventure began. partner rigged a lower and down i went through a tree my various maladies screaming bloody murder at every branch i plunked through.
got down though, improv'd the classic WFR sling, popped some ibuprofen and began the march out which in truth is really a march up since to access the climbs at shortoff you descend down a gully with a fifth class section or two.
so we began the march which in the beginning involves playing a game called boulderscotch which is a blast with all balancing appendages working but is seriously unpleasant otherwise. we then reached the first fifth class section and the other guy ascended the fixed rope to build a z drag which worked until about 5 feet from the top when two of the anchor points blew and i got slammed into the rock on the bad shoulder side.
that was when pain turned to heat. pretty interesting in a detached way.
but we got up that section to another easier fifth class sectioon where the other guy just ran a top body belay and brought me up. by that time i was beyond hurting. as he disassembled whatever he had built i crawled up the last section tripod style until the top. a two mile hike took us to the car. from cliff base to car time was four and a half hours.
i ended up bruising about everything on the left side including a bowling ball sized hematoma on my hip and an abrasion to the bone on my elbow as well as snapping my scapula in half and pulverizing my collarbone, which took seven screws, a ti plate and something called bone putty to fix. and i had to sit on a couch for four months waiting for osteogenesis.
or godot.
and to add insult to injury, my surgery was five days before my 40th birthday which meant i had to stop taking the pills three days out of the hospital because i damn sure was going to drink bourbon on my birthday, and it don't mix with norco and oxyxontin.
anyway, i'm back to it now. my first doc told me i'd never climb again so i quit him and found one who told me what i wanted to hear which was it's always going to hurt and when it hurts too much come back and we'll fix it again.
i do have an legitimate emotional attachment coupled with a true feeling of loss regarding that .3 cam. i at least hope a peregrine used the nylon sling for a nest.
(This post was edited by jamatt on Aug 9, 2009, 5:03 AM)
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mar_leclerc
Aug 9, 2009, 5:26 AM
Post #9 of 19
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Registered: Jun 1, 2008
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Not my fall but I held a 50 footer 6 pitches up Yak Peak a few weeks ago.... My partner fell off a runout 10d slab and fractured his heel. He crawled out and I took him to the hospital.
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billcoe_
Aug 9, 2009, 11:31 AM
Post #10 of 19
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Registered: Jun 30, 2002
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Jmatt, that's a great story: very well written as well. How long has it been since the fall, and does it hurt like they said it would?
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boymeetsrock
Aug 9, 2009, 11:57 AM
Post #11 of 19
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Registered: Feb 11, 2005
Posts: 1709
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AntinJ wrote: In reply to: Fun!! I'll play. It was only the Gunks but early on in my climbing. And two pitches... gheesh. I was in the lead on the upper pitch. I had slung a sturdy piton and climbed about 15 feet above to a small roof. I could see the damn line, but I was sceert. Early climbing for me as mentioned... After way too many minutes thinking about it, fear and fatigue welled up. I three quarters fell one quarter let go. Three giant steps later and some air, I was upside down, leg tangled in the rope. ...unhurt. WOW! I've never 'let go' even a little since then, and made it through on some of my more proud routes as a result! Great stories everyone else. Hope all egos and limbs have healed in time! What route?
Strictly from Nowhere.
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irregularpanda
Aug 9, 2009, 2:44 PM
Post #13 of 19
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Registered: Mar 13, 2007
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jamatt wrote: so we began the march which in the beginning involves playing a game called boulderscotch which is a blast with all balancing appendages working but is seriously unpleasant otherwise.. i had to sit on a couch for four months waiting for osteogenesis. or godot. and to add insult to injury, my surgery was five days before my 40th birthday which meant i had to stop taking the pills three days out of the hospital because i damn sure was going to drink bourbon on my birthday, and it don't mix with norco and oxyxontin. a true feeling of loss regarding that .3 cam. i at least hope a peregrine used the nylon sling for a nest.
I like your priorities.
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jamatt
Aug 9, 2009, 6:14 PM
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Registered: Oct 4, 2005
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it's been about a year and a half and it's passiviely/chronically painful pretty much all the time, but whatever, i think about georgia o'keefe and how she wrote about her suffering validating her existence.
love and loss, pain and pleasure are all drawn from the same well.
as far as climbing i really feel it on mantle/match moves, but the worst thing is driving. something about the extension i guess.
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lena_chita
Moderator
Aug 10, 2009, 1:18 AM
Post #15 of 19
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Registered: Jun 27, 2006
Posts: 6087
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boymeetsrock wrote: AntinJ wrote: In reply to: Fun!! I'll play. It was only the Gunks but early on in my climbing. And two pitches... gheesh. I was in the lead on the upper pitch. I had slung a sturdy piton and climbed about 15 feet above to a small roof. I could see the damn line, but I was sceert. Early climbing for me as mentioned... After way too many minutes thinking about it, fear and fatigue welled up. I three quarters fell one quarter let go. Three giant steps later and some air, I was upside down, leg tangled in the rope. ...unhurt. WOW! I've never 'let go' even a little since then, and made it through on some of my more proud routes as a result! Great stories everyone else. Hope all egos and limbs have healed in time! What route? Strictly from Nowhere.
I am glad I didn't read this earlier. This climb was my first lead at the Gunks this Friday. The roof was a bit of an "oh, shit" moment. No falls to report though.
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boymeetsrock
Aug 10, 2009, 1:24 AM
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Registered: Feb 11, 2005
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LOL. Glad to hear you made it through Lena!
Funny story. I went back to do Strickly last year. On the upper pitch I took the lead again. I was wearing a helmet, which I will say is not the norm for me. When I got to the roof I was pulling through just fine. As I hopped up to get on the ledge I hit my helmet on the roof above.
Damn near fell off again. 
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AntinJ
Aug 10, 2009, 1:28 AM
Post #17 of 19
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Registered: Aug 4, 2008
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It's so easy to climb too high and have trouble finding/seeing a crucial foot placement that takes the spice out of that roof.
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lena_chita
Moderator
Aug 10, 2009, 1:48 PM
Post #18 of 19
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boymeetsrock wrote: LOL. Glad to hear you made it through Lena! Funny story. I went back to do Strickly last year. On the upper pitch I took the lead again. I was wearing a helmet, which I will say is not the norm for me. When I got to the roof I was pulling through just fine. As I hopped up to get on the ledge I hit my helmet on the roof above.
LOL, Yeah, the only time I ever hit my head on anything is when I wear helmet.
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karcand
Aug 10, 2009, 4:12 PM
Post #19 of 19
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Registered: Jun 30, 2008
Posts: 30
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Belayer was sleeping... :o That's not good.
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