Falling On Slabs

[Bronco]

climb at Index in the winter. The green slime oozing from the cracks makes a nice lubricant to glide down as you take a whipper. smells good too.

[David_Parker]

Just as you get to the point where you know you're falling, throw on your inline skates.

I took my slab wipper (25-30 ft?) near the very top of Mr. Natural on Glacier Point. Fortunately I had a locking biner with a figure 8 hanging off a gear loop on one side. My pro was around a shoulder sling. I got lucky because I rolled onto that side and basically slid down with my hip on top of the figure 8. It was like I was on a mini sled and I escaped with very minimal scraping. I still have the figure 8 with the deep scars in it!

About this turn around and running thing? What happens when the rope goes taut? You must get spun back around fairly violently!

[Latch_Holeflaffer]

Don't turn around and run, if you trip you will end up in a head down position. Two techniques I have seen and used are the running backwards, sort of like reverse sliding downclimbing. Sometimes you can come to a stop this way. It definatly really slows you down. The other way is to slide down on all fours. I once saw a guy falling down the apron (Glacier Point) with no pro on the first pitch from about 100 ft. He was sliding on all fours, we yelled at him to lower his heels, next thing you know he came to a halt about 30 ft. from the deck. He just started back up.

[Smoker]

Slabbage....I love it! Small edges or pure friction its all good!

Falling is never a good idea on slabbage. I have never considered running down/backwards forwards headfirst, tail first etc an option.

Peshastin is a wonderful place to practice not falling. The price of falling on soft shit stone is very apparent when you start examining "crux" areas. Dru mentioned Potholes Direct, last summer the start into the lie-back was protected by 6 empty stud holes! Boring climbing, if you think that the 7th stud will hold your ass. Thrilling, if you know better.

Took a 40+ footer a few years ago at Static point. I proudly rode shoe rubber the entire length with one hand on the rock for balence. I had some weeping finger tips for a week, nothing worse (minus some shoe rubber as well).

The harder the lead/grade, (and in friction that translates into steeper slabs) the less your gonna grate and tumble, i.e.- a cleaner fall!

Friction climbing and runout go hand in hand. A good line will be runout below the grade with acceptable pro at or near the the grade.

Sooo, I say learn how to climb with out falling in the lower grades, it will help with the headgame. Keep your hands at head height or lower, balence up using down pressure or "palming" the slab,id the foot placement set and go. Don't hang out fretting the moves. Set your feet and move on.

I amazed myself, when I pushed my way up "Nubbin Grubbin" last year. No wounds despite many falls.

The steeper the route, the better the falls!

Smoker

[Uncle_Tricky]

I did some spontaneous slab falling research on "local boys" at squish this week. (Fun and exciting climb BTW) Just kept my weight over my feet and backpedaled with both hands and feet until the rope caught me. Works great.

 

[ 07-13-2002, 07:29 AM: Message edited by: Uncle Tricky ]

[Dennis_Harmon]

Damn! Your best technique for falling off...is to not fall off! I've taken two major falls of over 30 feet. The first on Sheep's Nose on a route called Outer Limits in CO. I managed to spider-man my way down until just as the rope came taught...I impacted the ledge. I thought my ankle was shattered, but was only spained. The second fall of magnitude was off of a route called the Kor-Engles (Castle Rock) near Canyonlands N.P. Ended up upside down about 5 feet off the ledge and the only thing that saved me was a number 4 Friend. In both cases I was very lucky to survive. God bless and wish you the same. Dennis

[JuanTwoPunch]

You did great, Jay, even taking the harder line to the third bolt. Fun to see you guys and enjoy a perfect day at Static. Doug and Terry and I lucked out being able to climb both Online and Offline without getting too many sprinkles or too much sun.

 

As an aside, was that your blue Buick sedan and was driven under the downed tree? Pretty funny.

 

Hope to see you and Greg again for beer.

 

John

[JayB]

John:

 

Well I wish I could say that the line I took was the result of a deliberate decision on my part, but the fact of the matter is that I was just looking for the easiest line, all the while wondering to myself "Hmmmm-err-Just where is this feature that's supposed to appear after the second bolt?" I refrained from asking in order to avoid appearing any more dense or timid than necessary. I probably would have hung looking for it even longer than I did if the few drops of rain that were falling hadn't given me the encouragement to keep moving....

 

But anyway - back to the Buick sedan. Greg and I rode to area in the white toyota truck topped with the black canopy that you may have seen at the turnoff, so we can't take credit for the incredible feat of automotive bravado that took place within the confines of that Blue Buick. On the way down Greg and I heard a couple of folks thrashing around in the gully and decided to inquire if they were looking for Static Point or just out for a hike. They said they were looking to do some rock climbing and Greg and I let them know that if that was the case that they should take the trail that we were descending. An easy enough mistake to make - if Greg hadn't shown me where the trail was I'm sure I would have walked right past it also. Anyway - it looked like the owners of the care were two young fellows of about 20. From what we could see of their packs it looked like they had one rope and a few draws between them - which suggested that they might not be too familiar with the nature of the climbing out there but it seemed fair to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them judge for themselves after they had a look at the routes. Anyway - the doubts that we had about those fellows were amplified considerably when we got a look at their vehicle - the aforementioned Buick, sporting several dozen new racing stripes down each side courtesy of the encroaching underbrush they drove through, and the massive log they maneuvered the car under. Very impressive work with a sedan, but nothing compared to what it would take to do the whole thing again in reverse! We saw the Air Force Academy fame on the license and could only hope that these weren't cadets on their way to assuming control of B-52's or our nuclear arsenal...

 

Take Care,

 

[ 07-14-2002, 04:35 PM: Message edited by: JayB ]

[JuanTwoPunch]

Too funny. For all we know, they are still up there. Our country's finest out for a little adventure. Shoot now, ask questions later.

 

Cheers.

[JayB]

I was all set to do some controlled experiments involving rapid, involuntary descents down slabs this weekend (even had the double Carhartt's on). However - Juan, being the very nice guy that he is, was not content to simply give me really good information about Online - he actually saw fit to position himself a few feet to the right of Greg and I on Offline and hook us up with some very valuable and much appreciated beta for Online's business pitch. Big thumbs up to Juan - nice to meet a fellow cc'er out on the rock.

[Greg_W]

Yeah, that Buick had "gumby" written all over it. Jay and I saw those guys at about 4:30 pretty close to the trail turnoff.

 

Juan, you mentioned a work party. You interested? I'd be down for doing some heavy duty pruning; let me know.

 

Greg

[Juan]

Would love to, and will check with Kirsten. Weekends are in short supply right now though. Do you think we should ask permission, or just go for it and risk a ticket or Deliverance-style encounter? Can you squeal like a pig?

[Greg_W]

It's tough to sacrifice a nice climbing day to work; wouldn't mind a damp or wet day, or waiting until a bit later this season. If we don't ask, they can't say 'no'. I can't squeal like a pig, but I can shoot pretty straight . Weekends are pretty busy, but I've got some flexibility later in August. Grill will be open.

 

Greg

[DavidW]

I've done a bit of slab climbing over the years and can say without too many knots in my stomach that I've never come off more than 10'feet from a bolt. Some time ago Chris Greyell and I were trying to do Dream On at Squamish and Chris said he'd try the first runnout 5.11 pitch. Constantino had been all stoked about this "get-up-and-run" concept and had used it a couple of times on Green Giant Buttress to satisfactory results. So anyway, Chris was about 15' out and a bit to the right and tells me he's gonna loose it. Then, to my surprise he jumps up...... grabs the rope and turms around to start running like a wild man in a big arc. It worked, and he started up to try it again........ this time he gets up and starts running but after a few steps trips and bashes his shoulder and hip with much more force than if he'd just layed there and taken his medicine. I had no intention of duplicating any of that kinda bullshit so we did that old "tie-both-ends-of-the-rope-together" thing and vacated.....

[Thinker]

We were on Dream On on Sat and my partner took one of those epic 30 foot slides. His approach has always been to slide down on his toes, burning rubber all the way. This time he tweaked a muscle/tendon in his calf and ended our day. Said it felt like a riding crop nailed him there when it happened. It was so bad he couldn't straighten out his leg or put much weight on it, even after a couple of beers at the Shady Tree.

 

So I guess wearing out shoes isn't the only concern with that approach.

 

I'm not sure there IS a good way to fall on a slab. I also think one should have several techniques for minimizing damage in the hip pocket. Different scenarios call for different reactions.

 

For instance, starting the 'crux' 'crack' section on the 4th Pitch of Total Soul (Darrington) leaves you vulnerable to hitting a lower angle slab below if you peel there (kind of along the lines of hitting a ledge). It's still slabby, but I'd not care to push off there and try for a free fall, nor would I care to skid down the rock there. Thankfully that section isn't too sketchy and takes lots of little cams.

 

My best rec is don't fall, don't lead run out slabs at or above your ability, and get your partner to lead all the scary sections. Now that my partner's out for awhile, maybe I should beg some of the gals from craghag.com to ropegun the slabs for me when they need a break from their tradleading adventures.

[glacier_dup1]

Ok, so a buddy and I were climbing at Static several years ago, and we're swapping leads on On Line. He draws the crux pitch, and as he's a relatively new slab leader, I ask him if he really wants to take it - he says sure, and strikes off. So he makes it through the crux, and is just beginning to reach for that magical 3rd bolt, when I notice his legs begin to sewing-machine. Oops. Game over, and he's running backward like a madman trying to stay upright as I pull in about three-four armloads of rope through the belay device. He goes over backwards with a resounding coconut-like 'pop'. Spontaneously, from the bottom of the wall, I hear a unanimous, 'Ooooo.' from the other two pairs on the wall that day. So I'm trying to simultaneously worry about his condition and not laugh at the spontaneous respose.

 

"You ok?"

"My elbow hurts."

"OK."

"My head hurts."

"OK."

"Can I come down now?"

"OK."

 

Fortunately, he took most of the fall on his elbow, but still had a knot on his (unhelmeted) head. Nevertheless, we finished the route - I lead the crux - and we called it a day.

[JayB]

Found this thread while looking for the original "THERE'S NO TIME!!!!!!!!!!!" story.

 

Viva Le Thread Revival...

[Dru]

and on the 2 year anniversary too!