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phreakdigital
Oct 12, 2003, 1:53 AM
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ok so this is all second hand, but...
Supposedly, someone on Sunshine Dihedral(5.9 trad) was about 15 ft up putting in thier second piece of gear and it pulled when he tested it. He hit the ground just before the rope would have caught him, but the tension took him off his feet and he ended up hitting his head on the ground...he had to be taken out on the gourney(sp?). Anyway the person who told me said the guy had put the first piece in while standing on the ground. ugh...does anyone know anything else?
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dynoguy
Oct 12, 2003, 2:01 AM
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ouch :shock:
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chitlinsconcarne
Oct 12, 2003, 3:25 AM
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Yep, I know more. I know enough to know better than to declare an accident idiotic in nature when what is known, secondhand at that, is that somebody popped a piece of gear and hit their head.
Accidents happen. Keep climbing and one will eventually happen to you. How long till you're the "idiot"?
pull like a freak.
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phreakdigital
Oct 12, 2003, 6:01 AM
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Well i certainly didn't mean to offend anyone...the person who saw it told me that this guy was an idiot...sorry to not have clarified that...lol
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herm
Oct 12, 2003, 6:20 AM
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I've seen this before; "the gear looked sketchy, so I tested it" What the hell does that mean? You are looking at a whipper so you deliberately commit to the gear? Don't test gear by commiting to it! What if you are right, and it IS crap? THINK!
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curt
Oct 12, 2003, 7:06 AM
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Please pay attention to what herm just said.
Curt
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climbsomething
Oct 12, 2003, 8:46 AM
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On a side note, I suspect a lot of rc.commers are "idiots waiting to happen." They just haven't fallen yet...
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dairyfarmer
Oct 12, 2003, 11:50 AM
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In reply to: On a side note, I suspect a lot of rc.commers are "idiots waiting to happen." They just haven't fallen yet...
I think a lot of climbers feel (right or wrong) that the only way to improve is to push the limit. If you push your limit long enough your going to come off. If you come off enough times your going to crash and burn. Does that make one an idiot? Certainly lacking safty and good judgement. This brings up the question . "How does one improve" As an older climber, prior to the introduction of kernmantle ropes, sticky rubber and SLC's, about the only way we could improve was by top roping and beleying better climbers on harder routes until we felt comfortable at that level. Pro was placed, not because we expected to fall, but in case we did. As you can imagine it took years to improve to the level that many climbers today attain in a few months. So does constantly pushing the envelope make one an idiot or simply dedicated to their sport? your opinions please>
Dick
"there are old climbers and bold climbers, but few old, bold climbers"
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climber_dave
Oct 12, 2003, 2:00 PM
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In reply to: So does constantly pushing the envelope make one an idiot or simply dedicated to their sport? your opinions please
Perhaps in this instance the root cause was not climbing ability (gyms make this possible) but experience placing pro. I don't know the route in question. I would say that "pushing the envelope" is a good thing, just don't make the "pushing" part involve pushing ones skills in setting anchors or protection. Only an idiot does that.
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shortfatoldguy
Oct 12, 2003, 2:14 PM
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Sunshine Dihedral is .11d. I assume the route was Moonshine Dihedral (.9), a classic stemming and jamming route. The crux is the first 20 feet or so. For someone without decent stemming and jamming skills, it makes for the strong possibility of a grounder.
I can understand someone just hitting 5.9 trad coming off. I can't imagine why someone would want to "test" his/her second piece. Especially because the route pro's very easily. (I.e., if you don't like that piece, slot another one six inches above it.)
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one900johnnyk
Oct 12, 2003, 3:37 PM
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In reply to: Yep, I know more. I know enough to know better than to declare an accident idiotic in nature when what is known, secondhand at that, is that somebody popped a piece of gear and hit their head. Accidents happen. Keep climbing and one will eventually happen to you. How long till you're the "idiot"? pull like a freak.
i agree here. besides, placing your first piece while standing on the ground isn't a bad idea at all if you are placing an upward pull, multidirectinal anchor...
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nobody
Oct 12, 2003, 4:11 PM
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c'mon, now - the info presented doesn't tell us a thing.
As is, the story doesn't even make sense - how would a piece placed from the ground catch a 15 footer just as the person hit the ground, pulling him off his feet? Superhuman belayer pulling up all that slack midflight? That's the story, right?
Did the 2nd piece pull from testing, or not? Sounds like the original poster isn't sure. Was it bounce tested, or just tugged-on (throwing climber off when it suddenly pulled)?
Maybe I can make-up some story about a climbing accident, and we can post criticisms of the climbing technique presented...
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kalcario
Oct 12, 2003, 4:22 PM
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One of my best friends sustained a brain stem injury and had CFS for years (he's fine now) when he pull tested a piece from the ground and fell backwards when it ripped...
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nobody
Oct 12, 2003, 4:27 PM
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How about these?
I heard about this guy once, he forgot to tie-in at the anchor. What an idiot!
Once, when these two guys were climbing without helmets, one dropped a huge cam right on his belayers noggin. What idiots!
When this guy was topping out on a boulder problem, his spotter checked out a girl. They guy blew the mantle and crushed his spotter. What an idiot!
Last week, I heard about a girl who rapped off the end of her ropes. What an idiot!
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katydid
Oct 12, 2003, 5:06 PM
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FWIW, it's raining like a maniac at Smith this weekend, and the wind is really stiff. Ben and I stayed for 2 hours yesterday before we got too cold, then we bailed.
It's entirely possible that dude was yanking around on a piece of gear to see how solid it was ("testing") and his feet slipped, since the rock was quite wet. It also sounds like his leg might have gotten tangled in the rope on the way down, which would account for him flipping and hitting his head. Having watched this happen to my partner (who, luckily, did NOT hit his head) in a flukey situation, I'd hesitate to chalk this up to stupidity. Sometimes weird things just happen.
Personally, I wouldn't attempt a route in the rain unless it was well below my limit, so my only hope is that this guy wasn't trying to push himself in wet conditions.
I saw the rescue guys' trucks parked down by the footbridge, but it must have been well after the fact, since there was no flurry of activity and someone else was on that particular route when I was at the Dihedrals.
Let's try to get all the details (haven't checked smithrock.com) before jumping to the conclusion that dude's an idiot. He might have just had a freak accident.
k.
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mrme
Oct 12, 2003, 6:42 PM
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In reply to: FWIW, it's raining like a maniac at Smith this weekend, and the wind is really stiff. Ben and I stayed for 2 hours yesterday before we got too cold, then we bailed. It's entirely possible that dude was yanking around on a piece of gear to see how solid it was ("testing") and his feet slipped, since the rock was quite wet. It also sounds like his leg might have gotten tangled in the rope on the way down, which would account for him flipping and hitting his head. Having watched this happen to my partner (who, luckily, did NOT hit his head) in a flukey situation, I'd hesitate to chalk this up to stupidity. Sometimes weird things just happen. Personally, I wouldn't attempt a route in the rain unless it was well below my limit, so my only hope is that this guy wasn't trying to push himself in wet conditions. I saw the rescue guys' trucks parked down by the footbridge, but it must have been well after the fact, since there was no flurry of activity and someone else was on that particular route when I was at the Dihedrals. Let's try to get all the details (haven't checked smithrock.com) before jumping to the conclusion that dude's an idiot. He might have just had a freak accident. k.
yea i seen the same guy take an upside down swinger on a sport climb called personal pronoun (ak Menace Alert) ..... i t is a widly known fact that this peroson is not an idiot but a dumb @ss! :P
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overlord
Oct 13, 2003, 7:16 PM
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sucks.
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indigo_nite
Oct 13, 2003, 8:35 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: On a side note, I suspect a lot of rc.commers are "idiots waiting to happen." They just haven't fallen yet... So does constantly pushing the envelope make one an idiot or simply dedicated to their sport? your opinions please>
I guess it depends on how much risk-taking a person wants. But there is a difference between taking calculated risk (having awareness of consequences) and just charging blindly...
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