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Falling on screws


boatskiclimbsail

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Took a 100 foot slider down the eliot glacier ripping one of my partners off his feet and was stopped by a single screw. No damage to screw; few cracked ribs on me.

 

Fell about 20 feet on a screw on a short ice pitch at Ski Bowl. No damage to screw; minor rope burn on finger.

 

Never had one pull but have placed them where I wasn't too confident they'd hold. But haven't we all?

 

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A partner of mine took a full rope length winger (ice tools flailing everywhere) from a full rope above me to a full rope length below me in the Sherpa couloir on Stewart. The only thing between us was a fluke that I had just installed before he cut loose. Thank god it held and he didn't clober me on his way down!

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Led_Hed said:

A partner of mine took a full rope length winger (ice tools flailing everywhere) from a full rope above me to a full rope length below me in the Sherpa couloir on Stewart. The only thing between us was a fluke that I had just installed before he cut loose. Thank god it held and he didn't clober me on his way down!

 

we have a winner!

 

bigdrink.gif

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I met a guy in Icicle canyon a few years ago who wore a T-Shirt that said "I fell 120 feet on an ice screw" and he had. It was bent at about 45 degrees. He fell off a vertical pitch. All he did was gash his forehead with his pick when he cut loose. Momma mia!

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Led_Hed said:

A partner of mine took a full rope length winger (ice tools flailing everywhere) from a full rope above me to a full rope length below me in the Sherpa couloir on Stewart. The only thing between us was a fluke that I had just installed before he cut loose. Thank god it held and he didn't clober me on his way down!

 

Wow. How in god's name did that happen? The sherpa coulior is the pretty low angle one. Did you mean the ice cliff coulior? I've heard that is fairly steepish.

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I held a leader fall on the last pitch (pillar) of Stairway to Heaven in Provo Canyon. Partner popped and went hard on a snarg. It held fine and another guy with my camera caught him in mid air. Haven't seen too many photos of ice climbers logging air time...classic! I got to finish the pitch after that. I always wondered about snargs, but that proved they were ok.

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As a concerned citizen, I feel compelled to add: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, FOLKS!!!!

 

(I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to see if I can avoid ever taking a fall with crampons on my feet and tools in both hands -- and I don't think I want to climb with RBW, either, because I don't want to be around when he tries it for time #3. The way I see it, RBW's tried twice to hurt himself - and the third time's the charm, right?)

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David_Parker said:

I held a leader fall on the last pitch (pillar) of Stairway to Heaven in Provo Canyon. Partner popped and went hard on a snarg. It held fine and another guy with my camera caught him in mid air. Haven't seen too many photos of ice climbers logging air time...classic! I got to finish the pitch after that. I always wondered about snargs, but that proved they were ok.

So where's the picture?

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I taught an ice climbing class in Colorado. The days lecture was ice screws are scary, don't fall on them. To prove my point, I took one of those $15 russian screws that come with the red cap (you know the ones) and placed it near the top of the climb.

On top, I filled a big ol' haul bag full of ice blocks till it was full and I couldn't lift it. Then I shoved it off the lip of the climb so it would take a massive fall onto the screw.

 

WHAM! The screw held!

So I did it again.

WHAM! The screw held!

So I did it again.

CREAK! The screw bent.

So I did it again and again and again.

The fucker wouldn't come out! I rapped down and the thing was holding on by ONE THREAD.

This has to be it I thought so I climbed up and dropped the haul bag again.

Guess what? It held.

My class was a failure and all my students now trust ice screws totally.

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michael_layton said:

I taught an ice climbing class in Colorado. The days lecture was ice screws are scary, don't fall on them. To prove my point, I took one of those $15 russian screws that come with the red cap (you know the ones) and placed it near the top of the climb.

On top, I filled a big ol' haul bag full of ice blocks till it was full and I couldn't lift it. Then I shoved it off the lip of the climb so it would take a massive fall onto the screw.

 

WHAM! The screw held!

So I did it again.

WHAM! The screw held!

So I did it again.

CREAK! The screw bent.

So I did it again and again and again.

The fucker wouldn't come out! I rapped down and the thing was holding on by ONE THREAD.

This has to be it I thought so I climbed up and dropped the haul bag again.

Guess what? It held.

My class was a failure and all my students now trust ice screws totally.

yelrotflmao.gifyelrotflmao.gifyelrotflmao.gifyelrotflmao.gifyelrotflmao.gifyelrotflmao.gif

It's only when you are with a girl friend that the damn things fail.

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Alpine_Tom said:

So where's the picture?

 

It's a slide and I still have it somewhere in one of my slide trays. I should find it and make it into a digital image.

 

I'm with Matt. I do not plan to ever fall ice climbing and I don't want to climb with anyone who thinks falling while ice climbing is no big deal. It is.

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mattp said:

As a concerned citizen, I feel compelled to add: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, FOLKS!!!!

 

(I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to see if I can avoid ever taking a fall with crampons on my feet and tools in both hands -- and I don't think I want to climb with RBW, either, because I don't want to be around when he tries it for time #3. The way I see it, RBW's tried twice to hurt himself - and the third time's the charm, right?)

 

Matt, I respect your opinins a great deal, but I'll have to be the contrarian this time around...I'll Climb with RBW any day of the week; I just prefer to lead. yelrotflmao.gif

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