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rockfox
Feb 3, 2003, 9:29 PM
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Registered: Nov 18, 2002
Posts: 61
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Saturday (February 1st, 2003) I was climbing at Boulder Canyon with some friends when a climber 3 routes to the right of us took a NASTY whipper and had to be evacuated off the Crag by RMR.
I'm passing this story on so that we can all benefit from the experience.
(message broken up because it is long.)
[ This Message was edited by: rockfox on 2003-02-03 14:44 ]
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rockfox
Feb 3, 2003, 9:29 PM
Post #2 of 3
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Registered: Nov 18, 2002
Posts: 61
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I won't give names here as they are not relevant and are unnecessary.
This climber (we will call him John) was leading trad up one of the routes on Happy Hour Crag. He was about 3/4 of the way to topping out when he fell. His first piece of protection pulled and he took about a 20 foot fall bouncing off of 2 or 3 ledges on the way. His belayer (who was thankfully alert and on the job) was pulled up about 5 feet. After it happened we all rushed over (there were about 20 climbers at the crag) to help and administer first aid. I won't go into all the details of that but I WILL point out his injuries. He hit his head and opened a good sized laceration on his forehead on the outside edge of his eyebrow right by his temple. In addition, when he bounced off of the ledges, he landed on his ribs and smashed them pretty good (he may have broken a few ribs, cracked a few, or just bruised them, we could not tell at the time but he had great difficulty breathing). He lost skin on his head, ribcage, arms and hands. Thankfully, the second piece of protection held AND his belayer was paying attention, otherwise he may have had it a LOT worse.
NOW! Here's the important stuff!
He WAS wearing a helmet. However, it was one of those "bicycle style" climbing helmets (less than half dome). Had he been wearing a traditional rock climbing helmet (you know, full dome "Petzl Ecrin Roc" or "Edelrid" TYPE of helmet) he DEFINITELY would have been better protected. As it was, the helmet sat too high on his forehead and only protected the very top of his head.
The second part, guess what piece pulled and what piece held?
You guessed it. The piece that pulled was a cam and the piece that held was a nut (in fact, the nut held so well that nobody was able to dislodge it. It's still there). By his own admission, "John" said that the placement of the cam was not exactly "bomber". Now, I didn't want to lecture someone WHILE they were waiting to be evacuated (although I DID ask him some important questions so that I could understand what happened and how) but the FIRST thing that came to MY mind was "Why would you lead past a piece of pro that you are unsure of without at LEAST backing it up with another piece" (it was a NICE crack, plenty of options). Perhaps a cam of a different size would have worked better in that particular placement. Perhaps a Hex would have been better (he had Cams, Hexes AND Nuts).
And finally....
As we were waiting for the rescuers to arrive, "John" informs us that this is not the first time he has had this happen.
What we can take away from this.....
First off, climbers are the best bunch of people on the planet. EVERYONE stopped what they were doing to help this guy. We were all organized and prepared and did what needed to be done (including giving up our drinking water and tp to clean and dress his wounds to stop blood loss until rescue arrived).
Secondly, make sure that you know your equipment. Make sure that your safety gear will adequately protect you (if you have a big head and LOTS of hair, don't use a walnut shell for a climbing helmet). Make sure that you know the proper range and placement for a piece of pro (especially cams as they can LOOK right but be too big or too small for a given placement). Make sure that, when leading trad, you stay within your limits. Trad leading is not very compatible with "let's see if I can get away with doing THIS".
Anyway, my reason for relaying this story is this. To remind everyone to never get too comfortable with climbing. Stay vigilant. Be SURE of your placements and realize the potential consequences if you are wrong (not only for YOU but your climbing partner and the people around you).
I wish "John" a speedy recovery and hope he is back climbing again very soon (with the lessons well learned). None of this was meant to be rude or condescending. I just think this story lends itself to reminding others to stay focused.
Rock on!
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mikedano
Feb 3, 2003, 9:49 PM
Post #3 of 3
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Registered: Dec 19, 2001
Posts: 388
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Woah dude. Some sobering info, thanks Andrew.
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