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bearbreeder
Mar 29, 2012, 7:06 PM
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more at link ...
http://www.yakima-herald.com/...ng-and-unforgettable
It began with a startled yell.
Poised to make her next move up the wall, Steph Abegg looked up in time to see a climbing shoe, loose and falling, silhouetted against the sky. Even with all that was to happen over the next eight hours, she says, "That's the image that's stuck in my head."
A split-second later, two other objects followed the shoe -- a giant rock, dislodged from the mountain wall, and her climbing partner, Steve Trent.
The boulder tumbled past her. Trent slammed to a halt above her when the slack in his rope caught the second climbing piton he had hammered into the rock face. The top piton -- anchoring the rope connected to both Trent and Abegg -- was ripped from the wall by Trent's sudden weight.
The second piton held. So did the rope, despite being frayed to the core after zipping through the eye holes of numerous pitons.
Trent had fallen 60 feet and was dangling at the end of the rope, head down and unresponsive. Abegg, a 26-year-old graduate student at the University of Washington, couldn't see how badly he was hurt. She couldn't know, in those first few seconds, that he had a head injury and concussion. She couldn't see that his left femur -- the thigh bone, largest bone in the body -- was broken, or that his right heel had shattered.
But she could definitely see the blood on the rocks.
(This post was edited by bearbreeder on Mar 29, 2012, 8:10 PM)
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kennoyce
Mar 29, 2012, 7:59 PM
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bearbreeder wrote: more at link ... It began with a startled yell.
Poised to make her next move up the wall, Steph Abegg looked up in time to see a climbing shoe, loose and falling, silhouetted against the sky. Even with all that was to happen over the next eight hours, she says, "That's the image that's stuck in my head."
A split-second later, two other objects followed the shoe -- a giant rock, dislodged from the mountain wall, and her climbing partner, Steve Trent.
The boulder tumbled past her. Trent slammed to a halt above her when the slack in his rope caught the second climbing piton he had hammered into the rock face. The top piton -- anchoring the rope connected to both Trent and Abegg -- was ripped from the wall by Trent's sudden weight.
The second piton held. So did the rope, despite being frayed to the core after zipping through the eye holes of numerous pitons.
Trent had fallen 60 feet and was dangling at the end of the rope, head down and unresponsive. Abegg, a 26-year-old graduate student at the University of Washington, couldn't see how badly he was hurt. She couldn't know, in those first few seconds, that he had a head injury and concussion. She couldn't see that his left femur -- the thigh bone, largest bone in the body -- was broken, or that his right heel had shattered.
But she could definitely see the blood on the rocks.
Well, there is no link, but this is bearbreeder so I really shouldn't have expected one.
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bearbreeder
Mar 29, 2012, 8:10 PM
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link added for the h8tahs 
(This post was edited by bearbreeder on Mar 29, 2012, 8:11 PM)
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sp115
Mar 30, 2012, 12:58 PM
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j_ung wrote: Good read, except for this: In reply to: The second piton held. So did the rope, despite being frayed to the core after zipping through the eye holes of numerous pitons.
Yeah but it has such a lyrical quality to it.
(This post was edited by sp115 on Mar 30, 2012, 12:59 PM)
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Gmburns2000
Mar 30, 2012, 1:24 PM
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Wow, definitely good to hear they all made it.
Not sure why Abegg and Venema couldn't go back down to get Schilling, though. Maybe I missed that part, but if they had the gear, they probably could have rigged something up. Of course, I'm not familiar with the terrain.
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moose_droppings
Mar 30, 2012, 3:44 PM
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A pretty good read and reminder how quickly fun disappears.
I read about this a few years back and if IRC it seems like it was written more from Schilling's perspective. It detailed what he saw or couldn't see for the days and nights spent in his cave waiting out the storm and his diminishing hopes of getting out. It gave a true sense of your life being at the mercy of the faith of others.
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csproul
Mar 30, 2012, 4:10 PM
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It's called "Mount Terror"!! What'd you expect!?
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edge
Mar 30, 2012, 4:18 PM
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j_ung wrote: Good read, except for this: In reply to: The second piton held. So did the rope, despite being frayed to the core after zipping through the eye holes of numerous pitons.
Maybe he threaded pins on his rope before tying in. Saves on biners.*
*[/sarcasm]
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majid_sabet
Mar 30, 2012, 4:47 PM
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1-0, pretty intense when the rotor is that close to face of the mountain and 5 star to you for posting the link
I mean, this was the best post ever by you in RC
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moose_droppings
Mar 30, 2012, 8:01 PM
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majid_sabet wrote: 1-0, pretty intense when the rotor is that close to face of the mountain and 5 star to you for posting the link I mean, this was the best post ever by you in RC
Yet.....still no stars on his post.
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majid_sabet
Mar 30, 2012, 8:18 PM
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moose_droppings wrote: majid_sabet wrote: 1-0, pretty intense when the rotor is that close to face of the mountain and 5 star to you for posting the link I mean, this was the best post ever by you in RC Yet.....still no stars on his post.
He is a 4 star wabitt hater
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WOLF_Larsen85
Apr 1, 2012, 1:30 AM
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Maybe I glossed over it but, could they have given Schilling a bag with more climbing gear to get down and out on his own?Or were the conditions too bad for a retreat?
I'm not an experienced climber, I boulder mostly, but want to venture outside soon, and into the trad world. So I read as many of these articles as I can in my spare time, to try and learn something.
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moose_droppings
Apr 1, 2012, 3:51 AM
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My memory is a bit dusty of the read from a couple of years ago, but I think the weather socked in so badly that Schilling could barely make out night from day except for a brief time here and there for several days. Their intention was to pluck him off the next day.
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dagibbs
Apr 4, 2012, 3:55 AM
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WOLF_Larsen85 wrote: Maybe I glossed over it but, could they have given Schilling a bag with more climbing gear to get down and out on his own?Or were the conditions too bad for a retreat?
I think down was interior -- not out. I think out was up and over.
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