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boltdude
Jul 14, 2003, 12:43 AM
Post #26 of 47
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About my 10th or 20th lead ever, and first lead of a Yosemite 5.9. Second pitch of Central Pillar of Frenzy, a nice 20-footer on a perfect 2.5 HB Quadcam. I looked up, saw the second crack to the left, got right back on and fired to the top of the pitch, much to my belayer's surprise. He got to the belay and said "You didn't see that second crack, did you?"
Unfortunately not my last encounter with tunnel vision while leading a crack...
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redpoint73
Jul 14, 2003, 12:57 AM
Post #27 of 47
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Man, thats a pretty rough first whipper. Mine was so uneventful, I don't even remember it.
Not to sound negative here, but I have to go with ambler on this one. Without a cam to supplement the bolts, Bonehead Roof is a little "necky", and really not a great first "10"; or first whipper for that matter. I did it last year, climb considerably harder, and still thought twice/thrice about that move (without the cam).
Most sport climbs don't have any possibility of hitting a big ledge. Twisting your ankle a bit when you hit the wall is a possibility, but usually not something that will send you to the ER.
Try doing some more climbs at your limit and get used to falling. At the Meadows, try Cold Turkey (10c). The crux is overhanging, so the fall is clean. Centerpiece (10d) and Masterpiece (10a) at Bonsai are very nice. Again, very overhanging so all you hit is air. Even on routes that are vertical, you really don't go slamming into the wall that hard. So just get back out there and crank it!
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wyclimber
Jul 14, 2003, 3:01 AM
Post #28 of 47
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Registered: Dec 21, 1999
Posts: 78
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Man the first real lead fall is a wake up call! Mine was on a 10c trying to clip the third bolt and out to the right a bit - took a Tarzan fall. You know the one, falling AND being yanked sideways because you traversed to far left or right. Smacking body parts and spinning, probably whacking the rope on the way by. Fun stuff. The other one to get out of the way is the old 'step-in-front-of-the-rope-and-fall' fall. Rope burns on your leg/groin and a head first trip back into reality. Get those out of the way quick, cause you'll make damn sure that it won't happen again. Moving onto the cool falls like hucking yourself instead of clipping the anchor on some overhanging route. BIG Air.
NEOMAGI - Congrats on the insane sphincter clenching whipper you took on the 6th pitch of Space Boys. That pitch made my stomach turn a bit, I decided that the view was nice but falling was not an option.
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dlintz
Jul 14, 2003, 3:39 AM
Post #29 of 47
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evoltobmilc wrote
In reply to: My first trad lead fall was on the Dome in Boulder Canyon on Cozyhang (5.7). It's this slabby climb with a real akward bulge move about halfway up.
That's a funky move on a great route.
My first lead fall was on a .10 55 degree slab at Wood's Quarry near the Third Flatiron (wasn't my idea to go here :roll: ). I took a 30 footer onto a manky 1/4" bolt. The slab was so smooth I was able to remain semi-standing as I slid down, I kept walking/running my hands down to keep my balance till I stopped. No skin loss so I tried it again...and fell exactly the same way again. Third time was a charm.
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ajkclay
Jul 14, 2003, 5:07 AM
Post #30 of 47
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In reply to: coylec wrote: Letting go that first time, for a 5 ft. drop was the hardest thing in the world.
My first one was also done on purpose at a gym. You had to take a drop to prove you wouldn't freak out when leading. So there I am, 12m (36feet)up, last clip in below my feet, and i hear "okay now drop" from the instructor.
So I drop, about 9m (27ft)!!!!!! And boy did it hurt the old fun department! The instructor had made my belayer pay out a good deal of slack to really make sure I knew what a biggie was like.
Letting go the first time is hard to do. :lol:
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epic_ed
Jul 14, 2003, 7:16 PM
Post #31 of 47
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My first lead fall was on an easy slab. Picture me running backwards as fast as humanly possible, all the while grunting something completely unintelligible like "UGH-GH-GH-GH-GH-GH-GH-GH-GH" until the rope caught me about 25 feet later. Sounded like Popeye's trademark laugh, but a LOT louder...and I wasn't laughing.
Ed
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charley
Jul 14, 2003, 8:09 PM
Post #32 of 47
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short
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howdidshedothat
Jul 14, 2003, 8:35 PM
Post #33 of 47
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MY first lead fall was f*#**** scary!! I went to lead a pitch on Dike route in famous Tul. Meadows, The guide book we had was stating that there were a lot more bolts then there really where so it was extremely run out. I got to the first bolt, no problem..Going for the second bolt about 10-15 above my head. I was about 5 ft away from it and I ran out of holds..sh&#!! I tried readjusting....no good. Then I realized i was slipping. I yelled Slipping and 1 minute later I was like this is going to really suck, I hope he heard me, and BAM, I fell 20 ft. Boy, It felt like I was being dragged down the road behind a truck. I think it scared watersprite and my other partners more than me ( if that is possible)
:lol: :twisted:
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crazykid
Jul 14, 2003, 8:43 PM
Post #34 of 47
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DAMN SCARY but luckily no injuries.
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watersprite
Jul 14, 2003, 9:11 PM
Post #35 of 47
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Registered: Jan 21, 2003
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that's something you never want to see - I could hear the scraping and it was just - "shee-it... she's falling"!! One tough cookie, you are!!
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tyify
Jul 14, 2003, 9:15 PM
Post #36 of 47
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Registered: Apr 22, 2003
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Painful
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wonderwoman
Jul 14, 2003, 9:42 PM
Post #37 of 47
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Mine was nothing. I just slipped on a particularly slimy part of the climb which was overhung so I got air. didn't see it coming or realize what had happened.
It was more scary watching blueeyedclimber bounce off that ledge. That's something I never want to see again :cry:
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jiadar
Jul 14, 2003, 9:51 PM
Post #38 of 47
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Registered: Oct 2, 2002
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i've been lead climbing almost a year and no falls yet. I think my trip to colorado in august will change that though.
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sharpender
Jul 14, 2003, 10:04 PM
Post #39 of 47
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My first lead fall happened many years ago at Suicide rock in Southern Cal on a route called Mickey Mantle. It is a 5.8 face climb, up three bolts to a belay ledge. The crux is after the second bolt. I had to traverse out right on thin friction and small edges. The third bolt was waaay out there. I was on an onsite lead and scared. Twice I led out and slipped off. I didn't think I could do it but my partner (good belayer) urged me to do it. I moved out again and reached my high point when a hold peeled off under my right hand. I took about a twelve foot fall. I had real tears in my eyes. Pretty pathetic for a grown man but this was frustration. However, I was no longer scared and on my final attempt I cruised to the third bolt and of course on to the belay ledge. In the ensuing years I went on to lead a few 5.10 and 5.11 pitches and had a couple of nasty lead falls, but you didn't ask about that. I still love leading - it's where the juice is. :oops:
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hroldan
Jul 14, 2003, 10:17 PM
Post #40 of 47
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Registered: Mar 7, 2002
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It was surprising, i didn't saw it coming... It was because a group of beautiful girls where leaving the crags, i lost focus, slip and the next thing i now is that i'm hanging on the rope... and my partner laughing really hard because my mistake
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tonyeatworld
Jul 15, 2003, 5:35 AM
Post #41 of 47
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Registered: May 4, 2003
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Kind of like my first time having sex. I was above a cute girl, worried my protection would fail, sweaty, scared and exilarated.
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jumpingrock
Jul 15, 2003, 9:15 PM
Post #42 of 47
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Registered: Dec 16, 2002
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It was a slight over hang 5.10b I said I would take a test fall after the third bolt. A hold broke off after the second bolt. I was quite surprised but it made the fall that much easier. Now I fall on sport all the time.
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lpclimber
Jul 16, 2003, 12:49 AM
Post #43 of 47
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Registered: May 28, 2003
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In reply to: do you still climb with alpinerock?
I am one of thier other climbing partners, and yes Snowrocker does still climb with Alpinerock but I dont think i have seen Alpinerock belay for him in a while. Maybe I should not go for a week, wonder how snowrocker would end up.
Oh ya and my first lead fall was today. if you can call it a lead fall. It hurt because i hadn't quite gotten to the first bolt when it happened. I fell and landed on my feet very painfully, but the worst part about it was that my right foot had landed on a rock right on the ball of it. I tried to climb after that but my foot hurt for a while.
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snowrocker
Jul 16, 2003, 4:05 AM
Post #44 of 47
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In reply to: Oh ya and my first lead fall was today. It hurt because i hadn't quite gotten to the first bolt when it happened. I fell and landed on my feet very painfully, but the worst part about it was that my right foot had landed on a rock right on the ball of it. I tried to climb after that but my foot hurt for a while.
That would be called ground fall, and you only fell like 3 feet onto the rope.
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alpinerock
Jul 16, 2003, 4:10 AM
Post #45 of 47
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In reply to: That would be called ground fall, and you only fell like 3 feet onto the rope.
he put the nice version, you idiot, how could you even think that was a lead fall(oh wait key word there "think" something you are obviously incapable of)(let the flaming begin) :twisted:
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robmcc
Jul 16, 2003, 4:16 AM
Post #46 of 47
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Registered: Apr 1, 2003
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Short and painless, thankfully. Popped off the cracks at the top of the burn @ Seneca, probably fell less than 10'. It was over pretty quickly, but I did manage to yell "Falling!" Some guys on an adjacent climb asked if that was my first lead fall. Seems they could tell by the yell.
Then I fell off the same damn place 4 more times before I made it to the top. That was the first and only time I've ever topped out to applause from people I didn't know. :) They said it was because I'd earned it, but I think they were just happy I didn't go splat. :lol:
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apollodorus
Jul 16, 2003, 4:24 AM
Post #47 of 47
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Registered: Feb 18, 2002
Posts: 2157
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I was on a steep 5.9 hand crack (Absolutely Free, on the Three Brothers in the Valley) and burned out near the top. As I fell, I pushed off from the wall too much, and smacked my knee as the rope grabbed me. It caused the skin to abrade there, and a hemogina (sp?; bubble of vein) to come out later. I had to have a surgeon fix it a few years later because it kept getting bigger and bigger. The hemogina was like a red mole where the skin could not grow back over it. The doctor cut the skin, removed the bulbous vein section and sewed it back up. No problems at all after that.
The rope grabbing me was no big deal because I did the Kung Fu thing of tensing up my back and stomach muscles as it went tight. As I remember, I was on a swami belt (loops of webbing around the waist), and not in a harness. It was about a 30 foot fall. After a hang rest of a few minutes, I went back up and finished the pitch.
I wound up trusting the rope and gear more after that, and took about three falls on harder stuff within a few weeks.
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