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mitchal
Aug 20, 2002, 1:15 AM
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Get this,
Craig Demartino,formerly of Berks Co. Pa.,fell 94 feet while climbing "Lumpy Ridge" in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Craig was at the top of "Lumpy's" rock face,while his buddy was at the bottom belaying.As they called back and forth,they both wound up with different impressions of what was going on.Craig thought he was still on belay,his buddy thought otherwise and went for his shoes,to second.Craig,thinking he was on belay,let go.Hitting a tree with his head on the way down,which straightened him up for the landing.
He wound up with shattered feet and ankles,collapsed a cervical vertebra,exploded a lumbar vertebra,and bruised everything inside him.
His buddy had a cellphone,called for help,which arrived in 40 minutes.Was carried 5 miles to helicopter,and,was in surgery within 7 hours.
A 4-6 week stay in the rehab. hospital followed by 18 months to two years of rehabing is ahead.
For details:
www.readingeagle.com
go to COLUMNISTS page and click on "Joeseph N. Farrell" link.
If anyone knows this guy,tell him not to play the lottery,he's used up more than his share of good luck.
Climb Happy
Mitch
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waxtadpole
Aug 20, 2002, 1:38 AM
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Wow, so those damn hippies were right. Trees are good for something.
Buy this man a beer for me.
Kinda raises the issue (pointing no fingers at these guys) of having clear communication.
The worst i hear quite a bit is people calling "below" instead of "rock" when something is falling. It might be taken as "belay".
But that is for another thread.
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svilnit
Aug 20, 2002, 1:40 AM
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One word: "ouch"
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drewcoleman
Aug 20, 2002, 1:49 AM
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Cool
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veep23
Aug 20, 2002, 2:03 AM
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Does anybody use the Motorola FCR radios? I often do while on multi-pitch routes and they work great. My only problem is they are a little bulky and the clips are pretty wimpy. I've had one skip down the face of a route, hit a ledge and explode into a hundred pieces. Luckily you can buy em for twenty five bucks now. Anybody have a suggestion on keeping them attached.
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tim
Aug 20, 2002, 2:10 AM
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Well, congratulations to dude for not dying, but saying 'He fell while climbing Lumpy Ridge' is kind of like saying 'He fell while climbing Yosemite Valley'. Are there any other details about his splash?
thx
tim
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madturtle
Aug 20, 2002, 2:21 AM
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I've got two different motorola's but not the $20 dollar version. I'm not sure what model. In any case both have a little loop other than the clip that you can get some webbing or shoelace through and then I girthhitch it to my gear loops. They do get beat on a bit so I've been looking for cases for them. I feel like a bit of a weeny using a radio when climbing but it provides a real peace of mind always being in contact with my belayer. It is a lot better than trying to use morse code with rope tugs like I used to on cimbs.
If you don't have any loops I'd say reinforce the clips with some good solid duct tape.
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reeskimo12
Aug 20, 2002, 2:31 AM
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crap
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freeballn
Aug 20, 2002, 2:33 AM
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The last thing I want to worry about while climbing is communication. I don’t have great ears to begin with, and it didn’t take but a couple experiences of not being able to hear my partner’s commands over the wind for me to decide that radios would be a good idea. We laid out a rope pull signal system, but that can be hard enough to keep straight much less with the additional obstacle of some rope drag. I got a pair of Cobra radios with the new GMRS band. I haven’t heard anyone else or any interference on those frequencies yet. The radios I got each came with a short leash. I usually climb trad with a camelback so I attach the chest strap through the leash and then clip the radio to the same strap. We have scraped them up good, but they still work great and if it falls it just hangs by the leash. I do worry about the radios annoying anyone, but it hasn’t seemed like they have. We make a lot less noise than most climbers we are around as we calmly press the button and speak the commands to each other, rather than have to repeatedly yell or scream.
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paintinhaler
Aug 20, 2002, 2:47 AM
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good one waxtadpole
you get a 10
[ This Message was edited by: paintinhaler on 2002-08-19 19:47 ]
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msecoda
Aug 20, 2002, 8:47 PM
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Glad he made it....
I use Motorola's on multi pitch routes. Too hard to hear. I guess I went to too many concerts because I can't hear $hit... I am always like what, huh, what d'you say???
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atg200
Aug 20, 2002, 8:55 PM
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I believe he was on an 11 at Sundance Buttress. I cracked up too when I saw he was nearing the top of Lumpy Ridge.
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fieldmouse
Aug 20, 2002, 10:33 PM
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i think Ive seen you with those motorolas. we thought it was kind of funny.
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murf
Aug 20, 2002, 11:11 PM
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The length of the fall could have potentially been minimized if the leader's partner had tied in. Granted, he still would have fallen quite a distance but would not have hit the ground ( unless the rope was a 60m ). It usually doesn't hurt to tie in when the leader does, and may be quite beneficial.
murf
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collegekid
Aug 21, 2002, 7:35 AM
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what a nightmare...it just inspires confidence in you.
I think i've had that nightmare...the rope goes loose when you start decending. shudder
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rockdude
Sep 4, 2002, 7:52 AM
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When I read this article, I thought s--- what a lucky bastard(excuse my french).
I'd think falling 94 feet to ground would of f*@#ing HURT! Craig should thank that tree for doing what it did, cause without that tree he could of been killed.
I'm now 14 years old, and I haven't even CHIPPED a bone. Craig is one very luck guy!
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kidrock
Sep 4, 2002, 8:37 AM
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UPS, that hurts...
This guy must go and buy a lottery ticket, with thazt luck he may get som cash too !!!
Kid
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climbinganne
Sep 4, 2002, 11:58 AM
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this story sounds quite familiar to me...happened to a friend of ours...40 feet...miscommunication at Great Falls in Va...
God works in very mysterious ways, doesn't she...
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wlderdude
Sep 8, 2002, 4:34 AM
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You can get those motarola like FSR radios that have a clip buit into them. Not much of a gate opening, though. They have a 2 mile radge on a clear day on the moon or something. When it is raining, they have miserable range. I think the GMRS or whatever have 5 mile ranges under perfect conditions.
I a 100 ft climb (1 pitch) last April in Arches. It was really windy and I could not even hear muffled yelling from my belayer. My radios were in the car. We were just really patient to avoid miscommunication.
[ This Message was edited by: wlderdude on 2002-09-07 21:36 ]
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andy_lemon
Sep 8, 2002, 5:00 AM
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I bet that guy calls himself a treehugger from now on!
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rocks4jules
Sep 8, 2002, 5:22 AM
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That is freaky!!!! Good communication definitely is the key to this "buddy" activity, eh? Wow, I am happy to hear he made it through the fall and lived.
JULES
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karlbaba
Sep 8, 2002, 5:49 AM
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Having the belayer tie in probably wouldn't have helped him. After all, he was expecting to be lowered to the ground, so he must have figured there was plenty of rope to reach the ground.
BTW I use the FRS radios all the time. Particularly on walls and multipitch. It's the way to go!
peace
karl
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bumblesbounce
Sep 9, 2002, 1:58 AM
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Um, ok. He's one lucky man. And the belayer is one stupid man!
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timmyclimber
Sep 10, 2002, 7:57 PM
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I would rather be dead then go through what he is about to go through. He will never be able to walk normal again, he'll have cronic pain the rest of his life and never climb again. I'd rather be dead.
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climbinganne
Sep 10, 2002, 8:05 PM
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that is a stupid thing to say...
tell that to your mother sometime!!!
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