Booty on City Park

[Gerg]

Broke my foot in a fall on the second pitch on City Park on Wednesday. In doing so, I unintentionally left an orange metolius cam (with 'biner) about 15-20ft up. If anyone grabs it or knows who ends up with it, I'd appreciate its return.

Also, found a rope at the base of the climb. If you can identify it, I'd be more than happy to return it to you.

Thanks,

Greg

[specialed]

More details Greg. What happened?

[Gerg]

Partner aided the first pitch, I jugged.

I started aiding up the second pitch. Clipped the bolt that was there, cam hooked up a ways. Placed a piece, which bounce tested fine. Was resting there, bumbling around with the new Metolius adjustable aiders. Placed an Orange Metolius cam above the piece I was resting on. Continued bumbling with aiders--the release handle had become twisted on both aiders and I couldn't release it enough to where I could clip the highest piece.

While trying to straighten out my aiders, the 00 cam I was sitting on popped out. I fell ~15 feet to the ledge, landed feet first, bounced off and fell back/down head first another 15 feet. Knocked shoulder and head on wall. Net result was a badly twisted left ankle, broken metatarsel (sp) bone in my right foot, plus the expected scrapes and cuts. Thank God I was wearing a helmet.

Upon examination of the cam once returning to ground, we found the cam to be OK. Reason for fall, improper placement of cam (not cammed far enough). Should have used the right sized cam or better yet, a nut as per suggestions in route beta.

Greg

[This message has been edited by Gerg (edited 07-06-2001).]

[Lambone]

Bummer Dude...

Could have been worse I guess. Good call on the helmet!

My two cents... be super carfull when camhooking above a ledge, ie. don't do it. And watch those little guys!

Hey...two questions:

Are those new daisys woth the $? I would assume that you'd say hell NO!

And, did you fall on to the old bolt? I have been wondering if that thing would hold a fall.

Good luck healing...

[Gerg]

lambone,

The new aiders make jugging super easy. No worries about feet popping off steps. I use standard daisies. Once I get used to working with the adjustable aiders, they will be pretty nice. Like I said, it was my first time with these, so things got all twisted up. A little more experience and getting the system down will make for smoother use.

If you already have a set of aiders, I wouldn't spend the money replacing them with these. If you are getting a new set of aiders, they may be worth the couple extra dollars. If you only second aid lines, or use aiders for jugging, then I would definately recommend them. Like I said, a little practice with them will make using them a lot easier for use on lead. My biggest complaint about these aiders is the extra attention you have to pay to keep the release loop from getting tangled up. I didn't...

If I recall correctly, the bolt I fell on was an older 3/8", not any of the manky quarter inchers that are on the route. In any case, it did hold.

Greg

[Kalun_D]

Greg, did you learn anything from your mistakes?

1. The piece you were standing on popped and you hit the ledge. Why then were you bounce testing it? When you bounce test aren't you trying to make it pop? You would have had the same result. Only bounce test above a clean fall.

2. The second pitch of City Park is not an aid pitch, you get further up and it turns into A3 but it goes free at 5.6. I've seen people try to aid this pitch, unless your ready to step out of you aiders and free the 5.6-5.7 you shouldn't even mess with it. Compared to the first pitch it's totally unasthetic as an aid line anyway.

3. A 00 cam is not the best piece for aiding or free climbing for that matter. I think the backs of the cams hit irregularities and take the force off the working face of the cam and allow it to pull. I consider it to be an A2 placement no matter how good it looks.

hope I'm not being to harsh here, and get well soon

regards, Kalun D

[Gerg]

Kalun,

I did learn from my mistakes.

For clarification, the bounce test was done before weighting it (i.e. while still on a previous piece), trying to avoid said fall. The cam did not appear to move or shift. It is obvious in hindsight that I did not test the piece vigorously enough before commiting to it.

The intent of the climb was to do aid, not to free climb. While I can free climb 5.7 quite easily, I chose to aid the line as that was OUR intent for the climb. In the future, I will be more picky about chosing the best method for ascending a climb irregardless of MY intent for the climbing the route.

Point 3 is duely noted. While I was cautious using the 00 cam in the past, I will be even more so in the future.

Thanks for your input and everyone's well wishes.

G

[Dru]

Even though not recommended as a free climbing piece, a 00 cam with screamer is a lot better than nothing for protecting free climbing. Ever since I got my 00 Metolius I'm amazed at how much I have used it on free routes (like on EVERY PITCH of Dreamweaver in Marble Canyon ) . Never fallen on it though. the 00 will go in a lot of places where RPs wont, and is much, much lighter than pins and a hammer.

[Matt_Anderson]

Don't use 00's as aid pieces and free climbing protection? Whatever. I place them (and ball nuts and copper steels [down to about a #4, sometimes a #3), for that matter) all the time. They have all held numerous falls.

Would I rather have a fat #1 camalot? Of course, but when cracks get hard and interesting, it's generally because they are thin, and you don't get #1 camalot placements. The few times that one of those placements have popped out, I knew the placements were marginal and, while I hoped they would hold, I didn't climb further than was safe for a fall onto the last placement.

The trick, of course is getting to learn the difference between a good and bad placement and living to tell about it. Sorry to hear about the ankle, Gerg, it sure is hard to push off and avoid a ledge when a weighted piece unexpectedly blows. Good luck getting back at it.

Matt

[TimL]

Fallen on 00 and 0 many times while aiding and free climbing. They hold when placed right. I wouldn't consider them a C2 placement. Granted they are not the easiest to place and test due to their small size. Greg, sorry to hear about your injury. Get better soon!

[Paul_C]

Gerg;

Hope things are healing up well. Have you considered submitting this story to Accidents in N. American Mountaineering??? Just curious.

Paul C

[jblakley]

Kalun,

I could have swore pitch 2 of city park is all free at 10b. Been awhile since I've done it so the mind may be a little fuzzy. That or the glue..lol

[This message has been edited by jblakley (edited 07-24-2001).]

[jblakley]

Yep double checked in my guide book at home. Pitch 2 of city park is 5.10b. Starts on the same ledge that Godzilla ends at. Kind of a thin start..used to have a shitty 1/4 bolt..then backs off to 5.8 or something. What pitch are you guys talking about? This is one of the approaches to get to Slow Chilluns'

[jon]

Blakely- It's actually .13b if you calculate the Chillupa/Budweiser factor.

[hollyclimber]

I think you should reconsider...

"Accidents" is a great way for us to learn from each others mistakes. I myself had a fall that was longer than it should be due to the adjustable aiders. And, people need to think about their placements. I know you will think about yours differently now, right?

This is coming from me who will be in "Accidents" next year, and since my accident was in a national park I don't have a choice. My choice is to write my own essay, so that at least I can describe my accident in my own words.

Its easy to submit your report. The info is in the front of the current book.

Hope you are healing well! Its hard to be out of the game. Hope you are back climbing soon.

 

[Gerg]

Paul C,

Things are healing up fine, thanks. As far as "Have I considered submitting this story to Accidents in N. American Mountaineering?" Yes I have thought about it, but only in passing, and I will probably not submit a report.

Greg

[Gerg]

I'll think about it.

Went back on Sunday and aided up the first pitch of City Park again. Since I was with a guy who was passing through on his way to Leavenworth, there was not enough time to do the other pitch(s). I was much more cautious this time and decided that I don't care for the adjustable aiders that much.

Hopefully my ankles will strengthen up so I can start free climbing again too.

greg