scott_harpell Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 GM route with all small gear (we were only gonna do the first couple pitches). I didn't have shit in (just a #1 1/2 way up) and just ran it out took a whip/tumble all the way down to the belay. factor 1 baby! Nice and bloody after that one. Quote
Winter Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 beware the chestbeat took a 30 meter fall above thumb rock on lib ridge. saved by partner self arrest. too close to death. p that took 60 meter fall was in worse shape. Quote
John Frieh Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 thump thump approx. 100 m fall head first (on chest) on SE slopes of N sister (approx. 50 degree slope) at the age of 15ish... lost ax immediately (hence length of fall) proceeded to rip both pickets and partners belay... slid roped together before partners body striking a series of rock outcroppings "arrested" the fall… human stopper nut? Partner broke foot in addition to a "few" brusies... went into shock... etc etc... I walked away with meatloaf arms (sleeves were pushed up at time). We both managed to “walk” out to pole creek… Sidenote: on drive home proceeded to fall asleep behind wheel and drift through oncoming 4th of July weekend traffic on 126... woke up in ditch on other side of road... partner looked at me and said "what are you trying to kill me or something?"... car only received minor dent. Took first NOLS course next summer... no issues since with the exception of some health aid falls… Quote
John Frieh Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 One more for the record: Was soloing one of the cedar trees that grow in the courtyard on campus at OSU over winter break... attempting to get some swings in before a planned ice climb that weekend… As one tool was cocked back to place… the other one sheared (bark it was placed in cracked off)... saw it start to pull so I pulled a batman and turned and jumped clear so I wouldn't snag my points on the base of the tree on the way down... Not sure how high I was but had enough time to see the ground come up... impact was great enough that my knees bent far enough for me to hit my head/helmet on my knee and knock myself out cold on my knee... also broke headlamp on knee from impact... not sure how long I was out but woke up in the dirt... hobbled away from that one also. Quote
RuMR Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 i'd have paid money to see a clip of that one! Quote
John Frieh Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 I wish I did get it on film... all my partners laughed themselves wet in the pants when I told that story over beers... I know they each would have paid 20 buck to have been there... Quote
EWolfe Posted October 25, 2004 Author Posted October 25, 2004 I was in this S & M parlor once, and this 6'2" Dominatrix came in with a tassled black one... Quote
Terminal_Gravity Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 I've taken a couple of 40-50 footers on steep slabs that are not note worthy, a stupid off-route 20 footer on Washington Column that broke an ankle, a small aid fall when the 400 pound flake that I had lowered off to try a tension traverse detached. It passed through the meat of my shoulder...I had lost maybe a pint of blood ( maybe 2...it seemed like a lot) by the time I got down; at which point I passed out cold and pucked while unconcious...my partner totally freaked. But the best was on my second failed attepmt of a big wall, 1978ish. I ran into this scketchy guy in the Camp Curry parking lot, selling these really really strange looking pro. He called them "friends", ranted and raved about them being the hot new thing and just about refused to take no for an answer. Finally, just to make him shut up and go away I bought a number 2 for the wildly outragious price of 13 bucks ( this crazy man actually wanted 15 ) The next day about 5 pitches up Half Dome I came to this severely flaring rounded layback section. Maybe I could have jammed it but my technique was pretty sub-par. I had a good rest stance at the base of the crack and fumbled around for about 10 minutes trying to fit a stopper or a hex. I even tried stacking and opposing, and hand placing a pin in a scar ( we were going hammerless ). It was obvious that nothing would hold. I knew that there was no way that I could place pro once I started up the palmy layback. 20 feet up was a fixed pin as the thing went overhung. I was about 25 feet above my last pro and was about ready to call down for the aid rack when I remembered this stupid "friend " thing. Amazingly, I got 3 out of the 4 swivily things to kind of stick. It was just enough of psycho pro to go for it. 2 minutes later, sweating shaking and panting, my palm popped just as I was clipping the FP. On the flight down I remember assuming I was about to go 100 feet, but the damn thing held. Who would've thunk. My 100 footer turned into a 40 . I was unhurt but my partner & I realized that we were over our heads and rapped off. Later that night I was drinking beer in the Mountain Room, I was well under 21, it didn't seem to matter, and some guy came up to me and handed me my first scotch. Apparently, he had been watching me though a telescope from Glacier point when I fell. I was one of the first climbers to buy a full rack of friends when they became availible in the Curry store. Quote
Rad Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 Small potatoes: 1 - MF onsight attempt in the gunks. Was only 7 ft over my last 2 pieces, equalized cams in a flaring, shallow pocket. Ropedrag was horrendous so I pulled up enough to get me past the upper crux and to the anchor. Got most of the way there and pumped out - launched, pieces held. Fall was only 20-25 ft but I came swinging down right onto the edge of the roof on the route. I smacked into the roof edge with my crotch! Thankfully, my brand new locker took the hurt and not the family jewels. I checked for other injuries (cut on leg but otherwise ok) and headed back up. This time I took the same fall again, though not as far this time. Stopped above the roof. Third time's a charm. I went back up, found a foothold I'd been missing, and reached the anchor. The locker still has a nice gouge in it. Anyone need a belay? 2 - Was leading delicate 5.9 friction on sandstone at an SF bay area secret spot when a lizard came running up next to me. A second one sprinted up and jumped on the first, attempting to hump it. Entwined, they fell together, bouncing twice off the wall before hitting the deck. Both were dazed for a few seconds, but hormones soon kicked in and the humper chased the humpee off into the manzanita. I felt pretty silly with a rope and harness and shoes and bolts after that... Quote
JosephH Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 I didn't take it, but my partner once went over a roof on Metamorphosis (5.10a R) in Eldorado when the route actually went right around the roof. The roof was a one-way move stranding him on a 1" ledge with no more moves available. He was out about 40' off an old lost arrow. After about three tries at moving up he jumped. This was back in the days of hip belays and his belayer hadn't braced a knee against the wall and so got banged into the wall good resulting in being stunned for long enough to let the rope run. That resulted in third degree burns and a longer fall that was stopped by the knot I tied in their rope to join them after arriving late. I measured to the knot afterwards and it was 110'. He stopped about 15' short of the big ledge, but said it was the softest fall he'd ever taken though he did scrape the back of his thumb on the way back up from all that rope stretch. Our partner on the otherhand needed a trip to the ER and was done climbing for awhile. Quote
Bug Posted October 27, 2004 Posted October 27, 2004 Cratered from 60 feet. No significant injuries. It's all in how you land. Quote
Lepton Posted October 28, 2004 Posted October 28, 2004 Quinn's Wild Rides Perhaps the whippers in discussion are related more to rock pitches and air time. I have a story of Quinn K, who took the most amazing falls and lived to tell the tale, or have the tale told. From my foggy memory the first fall of note happened on or near Vesper Peak the winter of 76/77, when there was so little snowfall that it was possible to rock climb in the Cascades. Ice gullies that were normally winter snow slogs became hard icy bits with vertical walls of rock where the ice had melted away. Quinn and a party of at least four had just completed one of these gully cum mixed climbs. While the rest of the party were packing away the gear to hike down the back side, Quinn, being Quinn, decided this was way too slow and too much work and announced he would climb back down the gully - solo. His group watched with amusement as he climbed down to the first rock band and tried to figure out how to get over the edge and down climb it. Finally he gave up on that idea and decided the best and fastest course of action - and understanding that he wanted to get down fast to prove to his partners that he was right in his choice to downclimb the gully - was to jump. His plan was to launch over the 10' cliff and land onto the 40 degree gully ice below then get into a self arrest with his specially hand customized Sumner ice axe. His partners watched him take the leap, and watched as he... ...lost his axe in mid flight. The story is then best described from the point of view of another party of climbers who were hiking up to the base. It is told that it was an exceptionally calm evening, without any hint of wind. "I heard what could only be known as the sound of nylon traveling over ice and snow at a high rate of speed...interspersed by moments of silence. I looked up into the gully and saw this blue bullet, flying over cliff bands then zipping down the next ice section to the next cliff band, take flight again, and again, and again. Then I was horrified to realize this was a PERSON! With a final tobaggon flip he was spit out from the bottom of the gully and came sliding down the snowfield toward us, and slid to a stop no more that 30 yards away. Then he popped up onto his feet and screamed, 'Will somebody get my f#)*ing AXE!'...and then he fell down on his back. We rushed up to lend assistance but that seemed to startle him and he jumped up and began hiking down the trail at a high rate of speed." After that, Quinn became convinced of his immortality. He began seeking out more and more dangerous free solos. The last I knew that he climbed he announced he was going to free solo all the routes at Peshastin in one day. He was well on his way to accomplishing this feat when he tried to solo past a roped party on a steep 5.8 route. The route features a traverse after a crux bulge and the poor lady following the route was facing a big pendulum fall if she unclipped the protection to make the move. Quinn, with his nervous energy and desire to accomplish his goal, volunteered to climb up RIGHT BEHIND the woman to walk her through the moves - after all he was immortal and could hold her if she fell. Indeed she did fall, taking Quinn with her. He grabbed around her legs for dear life and they plummeted on the most amazing pendulum fall I ever saw, both screaming at the top of their lungs. The poor gentleman that was belaying, not knowing what was going on, suddenly had an enormous pull on the rope, and what with the caterwauling below could only think the worst. When the pendulum finished they were lowered to the ground. Quinn, without saying a word, walked rapidly down the hill and hiked out to his car. To my knowledge that was the last he ever climbed. Quote
sobo Posted October 28, 2004 Posted October 28, 2004 Quinn's Wild Rides... Friggin' hilarious! As I mentioned in another thread, you should seriously consider writing as a calling. Quote
EWolfe Posted October 28, 2004 Author Posted October 28, 2004 That's a great tale, Lepton. Excellent storytelling, as Sobo said. Quote
EWolfe Posted October 28, 2004 Author Posted October 28, 2004 Reminds me a lot of Yabo, God Rest His Soul. Quote
Lepton Posted October 29, 2004 Posted October 29, 2004 Terminal Gravity, I really enjoyed your post with your story buying Friends from Jardine. I have another, although not necessarily a whipper tale, an interesting perspective regarding Friends. On May 17, 1980 I summited the Nose of El Cap in a driving snowstorm. We got back to Curry, ate steaks, got drunk, then blitzed sleep until late the next morning. I remember laying on my back in the late morning, watching the patterns of shadows and sunlight on the walls of my tent, when suddenly somebody apparently hit the vibrator setting on the bed. After a moments confusion I realized we were having an earthquake. I decided just lay there and enjoy the ride, flat on my back, since there really wasn't any danger of the pine trees falling over or anything. There where whoops and hollars of excitement all around as climbers were digging on the volume of the earthquake's roar and watching incredible rock avalanches across the valley. After it finished I crawled out of my tent to see great billows of dust clouds hanging from the valley cliffs and to listen to the tales of those who witnessed the huge rock falls. Later we learned the earthquake was about 6.5 on the Richtor and centered in Bishop, about 30 miles away. After an hour or so climbers started returning to Curry with their stories of either being at the base of cliffs or on climbs during the earthquake. There were a number of near misses. I happened to be in a group of climbers with Ray Jardine nearby when a particulary harrowing story was told. I can't remember the name of the climb, but it is about a 4 pitch crack and layback in a right facing dihedral that is formed by a gigantic pillar of rock leaning against the cliff. The crux pitch is hard 5.10 starting as a finger crack and eventually expanding to fist or wider, with laybacking the final part to the belay ledge being the technique of choice. At that time it was common to have a single set of Friends on a rack to supplement our hexes, as the cost of Friends was such a shocking advance in the economics of climbing. Those with more funds may have had two sets, which they would display with all the pride of a hunter with a trophy. One climber told the story of being in the middle of that layback pitch, halfway through the runout layback section at the top. He had a single set of Friends, and had protected as usual, with several hex placements then a Friend, several hex placements then a Friend, etc. until he had his last and largest Friend at the top of the widening section in his hand, ready to place, when the earthquake struck. Imagine his horror as suddenly the entire pillar started to sway back and forth, out and in from the main wall, as he was in the middle of a layback. He looked down to see ALL of his hexes rattling down the rope, with only the Friends left in place (since they were expanding and contracting quite nicely with the flexing of the crack). He suddenly realized that his last Friend was about 60 feet below! He hung on for dear life with both hands until the earthquake subsided, slammed in the last Friend, then sprinted up the last 20' of the layback to the belay ledge. They quickly rapped off. Unfortunately the 3 Friends placed in the early part of the climb could not be retrieved, since as they expanded and contracted they had "walked" so far back into the crack they couldn't reach the triggers. When Ray Jardine heard this story he immediately GAVE the man a new set of Friends and asked for his testimonial for his marketing. Quote
Dru Posted October 29, 2004 Posted October 29, 2004 Heh... I have heard that story before from other people who were there so it must be true! Quote
Cairns Posted October 30, 2004 Posted October 30, 2004 Quinn story helps explain the Pre-Memorial route, I guess. At 5.9 that was the hardest route I ever got my climbing mentor to accompany me on - he was old school 5.4 when he got me started in the Gunks back in '67. I'm not much of a faller, myself. The longest I recall happened just a couple years ago on Great Game at Squamish, running a long second pitch. You wouldn't expect to fall far with that much rope drag. I was just about nose level with a bolt near the belay when I popped. Usually I don't even bother to call 'falling' cause its so obvious anyway, but the belayer was out of sight so I did. Don't now how far I went but I do know I got to say 'falling' 2 and 1/2 times with increasing emphasis. Quote
Chad_A Posted October 30, 2004 Posted October 30, 2004 40 footer on the approach pitches to Girth Pillar. Hold broke off. Broke both arms, head injury, ankle fuked up, one arm partially severed by the rope, radial head snapped off, bone poking out, the whole nine yards. SUPER strong partner lowered and short roped me to the moraine and we hiked out with a nice couple. Ouch. Guess I shouldn't complain about the headache I have today. Took a 40 footer at Red River Gorge. Can't remember what it was, just that we read the guidebook wrong, and it was an 11b (slab). All I remember is the face zipping by in front of my, my foot touching the rock enough to spin me vertical; then my partner caught me. The catch bowed my back pretty hard, and it hurt on and off for a good year. Nothing spectacular since then. But, I got back on, and finished the climb (had to; didn't want to leave gear behind!) Quote
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