nolanr Posted July 7, 2001 Share Posted July 7, 2001 I'm sure there's some good stories out there. I'll start it off, although this isn't even a climbing incident. I spent several summers in the high school years putting in hay for a ranching family. These guys are real live cowboys, and people don't come much tougher than that. One day one of the cowboys gets a bale of hay (a light one was 40-50 lbs., they could be over 100 lbs.) dropped on him from several feet above. He put his arm up to block it, gets knocked to the ground, pops right back up amid a thick cloud of cursing. Cradles the one arm up against his body and keeps on working, with one arm, for the rest of the day. Goes to the hospital after work, the lower arm is broken. Gets it in a sling, I can't even remember if he had a cast, and is back at work the next day, with one functioning arm. Never complained the slighest bit. Now that's pretty damn tough in my book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haireball Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 here's 2 for you... 1977 - Devils Tower - one of my partners slips on the approach to a route and pinballs 300' down a low-angle gully. Greg was a week in critical care before the doctors would allow a 50/50 probability of survival "and if he does live, he'll never walk, talk, or feed himself again." Within a year he'd made full, complete recovery, and was climbing a higher standard than before his fall... 2-Northwest Outward Bound School-Twisp River 1978 - A young lady in Geoff Childs' patrol broke her lower leg early in the course. Dr. Bill Henry, of Twisp, at the gal's request, applied the most weatherproof walking cast he could, and she returned to complete the course, peak-climbs, rock-climbs, rappels, and all... interesting thread... now remember folks, only things you've actually witnessed personally... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted July 8, 2001 Share Posted July 8, 2001 This last weekend we were hiking out from the NE Buttress of Goodde back to the Bridge Creek Trailhead and here is my report..... We were hiking sometime past the Rainbow Lake cutoff trail and before the South Pass cutoff trail. Here I am sweating like it is midsummer New Orleans wearing only shorts and shoes and I come across this man wearing a full sweater and pants and he is carrying a suitcase. Yes, a suitcase. With wheels. At the same time we see him, we also notice his stash. He has 2 other suitcases on the side of the trail. This man also has the largest duffel bag I have ever seen with stuff I can’t see and is even bigger than Greg and mine’s backpacks combined. The man has also brought along with him a metal foot looker about 3 feet long by 1.5 feet in height and width. The man also has a 5 gallon water jug, but we could not tell if it was fuel or water in there. He has no backpack. He has no friends with him. He has no horses. I am flabbergasted by what I see. We get to talking and he says he started at Rainy Pass with all this stuff. Rainy Pass???!!! He said he was going to Leavenworth. What???!!! He also said he started in Spokane. He was about 35 and seemed a little toked up, but I could not tell. I would like to know the friend that dropped him off at Rainy Pass, because this guy had a North Cascades backcountry permit too! To ferry his loads he said it took him five trips to retrieve his stuff. In other words, he would have to walk the trail 10 times!! No backpack. A metal footlocker. 3 suitcases. A 5 gallon water jug. A duffel bag not even a Navy seaman would carry. I would like to see the face of the shuttle bus driver at the Stehekin road when this guy arrives there. That man is either tough and stupid or is running a meth lab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolanr Posted July 8, 2001 Author Share Posted July 8, 2001 Methinks that's pretty fishy. Why the hell would anyone be toting that much crap around, in such non-efficient fashion. Geez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle_Tricky Posted July 9, 2001 Share Posted July 9, 2001 I was working on a construction site with a collection of characters. Of course the biggest guy there (6'6", 300+) goes by the name of Tiny. The second biggest guy there is a grizzled old gray haired black guy named Big John. He had 13 children and used to be a professional boxer back in the 70s. From a lifetime of labor and fighting, his hands were knarled and twisted like the roots of some old tree. I was busy digging a trench, while he was using a chop saw to cut blocks. I heard the chop saw stop and Big John say "shit." Not SHIT!!! or HOLY F*&KING SHIT!!! Just a casual, calm "shit" like he made a wrong cut or something. I didn't pay it any attention and kept digging. Then he ambles over to me and says in a normal conversational voice "Hey man, do you think you could grab my fingers?" I then noticed the waterfall of blood pouring from his one hand which he is holding with the other. I gathered up his pinky, his ring finger and the tip of his middle finger and drove the old guy to the hospital. Never showed any sign that it hurt in the slightest. Never saw him again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerdom Posted July 9, 2001 Share Posted July 9, 2001 Ouch! Not nearly as gruesome as losing fingers, but here goes: Okay, my buddies Jay and Kevin and I are out mountain biking in the gnarliest downpour you've ever seen. Jay hits this rock/log ramp, gets air, and comes down funny. I was standing to the side, slightly above, (I had wiped out just before the ramp and just cleared out of the way), and watched his left leg get trapped under his top tube when his foot wouldn't release from his pedal. It looked just like Joe Thiesman's leg when LT made that infamous MNF hit. In fact, I shouted, "Holy shit, he pulled a Theisman!" (not the most appropriate statement under the circumstances). Kevin rushed out of the woods (some 4-5 miles of tough singletrack) to get medical attention, while I laid there on the ground with Jay, his ankle pointing in a completely unatural direction. For nearly three hours, he laid there in a puddle of mud and rainwater, getting poured on, without muttering so much as a single complaint about the pain. Funnily, the first thing he said when it happened was, "My wife's going to kill me." Turns out, his ankle was simultaneously broken and dislocated. It took a metal plate and several long metal screws to put it back together again, and 6 weeks of not working (his wife did want to kill him), but I'm happy to report that he's back in the saddle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haireball Posted July 9, 2001 Share Posted July 9, 2001 here's another one: Curtis Neubert - about 1985 or so - this ole red-neck-hippie-climber-skier is out cutting firewood by himself up Colter Creek off highway 2. Drops a big widowmaker which lands on his left leg, breaking his leg and trapping him underneath. Alone, no phone, no radio, Curt knows he's gotta extricate himself or die, so he cranks up that chainsaw and commences to cut the tree off of his leg. Unfortunately, his position does not permit him to cut completely through the tree without cutting into his leg... After finishing the cut, he cobbles together a tourniquet for his leg, drags himself to his stick-shift pickup, and somehow manages to pilot the thing down to highway #2, where he coasts out into the traffic lanes and passes out. A couple days later, I'm visiting him in the Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee - his left leg is now absent below the knee. A year and a half later, he's telemarking double-diamonds at Stevens Pass with a prosthetic leg, and talking about ice-climbing again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan_Harris Posted July 9, 2001 Share Posted July 9, 2001 The ship I was working on was having some trouble tying up to the dock due to wind and current. One mooring line has seized up on the bits and was getting alot of strain on it. A deckhand tried to throw some slack into it when it suddendly ran on him ripping his thumb off. All he said was damn it, jammed the stub into his belly, grabbed the missing digit off the deck and headed to get help. We called the Coast Guard who called an ambulance. The thumb was reattached and he was back working and playing softball it seemed in a pretty short time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 10, 2001 Share Posted July 10, 2001 Two Words. joe simpson Not just for Touching The Void, but for the many other damage incidents. Including my favorite story, after being avalanched down some Himalayan peak and having his face stuck in the snow for hours, his contact lens was stuck (frozen to the surface of his eye), so he SCRAPED IT OFF WITH A SPOON!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambone Posted July 10, 2001 Share Posted July 10, 2001 My buddie and I were skiing a chute at Bridger Bowl in Bozeman Mt. It was pretty steep, and cliffed out with a 15 footer at the bottom. I went for it and waited underneith for Jeff. Then, in horror, I watch him lose his edge and toumble down the cliff. He ends up in a pile at the bottom, jumps up and yells, "AHHH FuuuCCKK!" I say, "Dude chill out here and I'll go get the ski patrol." "Screw that man, I'm going to the bar!" "Are you sure" So he gets his ski back on with some pain and effort and beelines it for the bar. I cant even keep up with him. When I get there he is allready pounding a beer. I look at him and see that his bibs are all red and the spot is growing fast. "Oh shit, I guess I better go to first aid." Turns out he has a compound fracture of the hip. Just goes to show that hockey players from Chicago are tough Mo Fo's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted July 10, 2001 Share Posted July 10, 2001 quote: Originally posted by lambone: Just goes to show that hockey players from Chicago are tough Mo Fo's... Funny, the Hawks seemed kinda out of the Playoffs this year!!! maybe they're tough but they can't score (sort of like Capt caveman) Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambone Posted July 11, 2001 Share Posted July 11, 2001 Warning! The following material is not for viewers under the age of 18. We were coming home from Nepal and had a 12 hr layover in Bankok. So my rowdy partner wants to go to the red light district...of course. So we catch a taxi out of the airport, and the guy takes us to the dirtiest part of town and charges us way too much. Anyway, a lot of crazy shit happens that night, but the toughest thing I saw was when a woman got up on stage and proceded to stuff a string full of razorblades up her you know what, and then pull 'em out! All with a smile on... Some might say that's gross, or sad, I say that is freakn' tough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisa Posted July 12, 2001 Share Posted July 12, 2001 The toughest...waiting in a stark white room, as a man cloaked in white, grimly entered and opened a long steel drawer where my brother lay, lifeless, with a tag on his toe. A late spring snow slide pushed him over a cliff as he hiked to Snow lake to celebrate his 24th b-day in '84. I guess you could say fortunately for him, he was unconscious while the snow suffocated him. Then the service; walking into a room in need of sympathy, while the dead lay, dressed at their best, on wheels in the corner of the room. Life comes and goes, best we pack it full. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllYouCanEat Posted July 12, 2001 Share Posted July 12, 2001 I saw a dude get a running start and jump 180 feet off sugarloaf into water. He broke his back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eerie Posted July 12, 2001 Share Posted July 12, 2001 So where's Sugarloaf at? Tough? I ain't seen nothin yet. But did ya'll hear about the guy in Florida that wrestled a 7ft Bullshark to the shore after it had bitten off his nephews arm and into said nephews leg? Bullsharks are apparently the most vicious sharks after attacking and tasting blood. Seems to me some tough guy Bear Hunters on this site should pick up a new hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialed Posted July 13, 2001 Share Posted July 13, 2001 Farmer caught in hay baler cuts off arm to save himself ROBBINSDALE, Minn. — A 34-year-old farmer sawed off his arm below the elbow as he was being pulled into a hay baler, saying "it was either my whole body or my arm." Jarrod Wagner was removing a clump of hay from twin rollers in the machine Tuesday when his left arm was caught and he felt himself being dragged in. He used a metal piece from his headset to perform the crude surgery. The amputated arm was too mangled to be reattached, said a spokeswoman for North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, near Minneapolis  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalun_D Posted July 14, 2001 Share Posted July 14, 2001 Job I had back in the late 70's. Company owned by this 1/2 cherokee guy. One of his previous companies he was flying a cropduster and hit a power line. The plane crashed and burned. He survived the crash but couldn't get the door open right away and was burned over 80% of his body. He walked/crawled 5 miles to get help. After 6mo in the hospital, all his skin grafted from a little place on his thigh, he got out of the hospital. He went to an Atlanta Falcons game shortly thereafter and someone spilled hot coffee on him and he didn't kill the guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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