Huge fall at Smith

[builder206]

You're all a bunch of wankers. I have fallen over 5,000 feet many times. Once I fell almost 12,000'. NONE OF IT WITH A ROPE. Don't talk to me about 50' vs. 30'.

how's that ropegun training going? Runnin' laps on GNS yet? punter...

 

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy.

[RuMR]

i'll be laughing for a while yet, methinks...

[builder206]

I thought buying you beer and food later was the price of silence. Just a down payment, I guess.

[crimper]

i don't doubt there are routes from the 70s and 80s at eldo and the gunks that have "well-spaced" bolts or that overhanging limestone in europe is similarly well-spaced and "engaging", but how many of you climb sport routes IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST where 30 foot actual falls - as ooposed to 30 foot potential falls on relatively easy parts of harder climbs - are normal, routine, or moderate?

 

i'm in line with rob, the guy who said that if he overheard that a 28 foot fall was about to occur, he'd turn and watch because it would be something out of the ordinary around here.

[sobo]

..i'm in line with rob, the guy who said that if he overheard that a 28 foot fall was about to occur, he'd turn and watch because it would be something out of the ordinary around here.

I've tried to remain on the sidelines of this one, but...

 

We'd all turn and watch, not because it's something out of the ordinary, but because as climbers (and to a lesser extent, humans) we all have a sense of morbid curiosity. I mean really, does anybody watch NASCAR races other than to see the crashes?

 

Winter-

And yes, I am intimately familiar with the "dance of death" that is the exit move of Orange Sunshine. And Developing Arms, and Thriller Pillar Direct (if you don't take the small TCU for the little roof - won't forget that again... ).

 

crimper-

And I've had my share of 30-footers, as have a lot of folks here. But they were all on trad lines (you're correct, bolted lines of later generations seldom see long falls such as kevbone witnessed), put up many years ago, and mostly back east at Seneca Rocks, Looking Glass, Whitesides, New River Gorge, etc.

 

I think what most folks are taking issue with in this thread is that a 30-foot fall is not all that uncommon coming from the ranks of climbers who've been doing it a long time, or who predominantly climb older (classic) trad lines that haven't been retrobolted. My pitiful $0.02 to the discussion.

[JosephH]

Crimp, with regard to Eldo and the Gunks I was talking about trad climbing, then and now. Bottom line in trad climbing is you end up 15' above your gear on a regular basis unless you are carrying a hell of a rack and are stopping a lot to place it.

[kevino]

I hope to watch fights in hockey.

 

I took a 30 foot fall in red rocks. I thought it was big. but thats because i was clipping and the rope caught my leg and flipped me over. But I'm probably just naive and haven't gotten out much. Basically I'm saying this is a subjective topic - nothing wrong with discussing, but there is no reason to get upset because everyone has their own opinion, no hard and fast definition.

 

Edited June 2, 2008 by kevino

[billcoe]

You're all a bunch of wankers. I have fallen over 5,000 feet many times. Once I fell almost 12,000'. NONE OF IT WITH A ROPE. Don't talk to me about 50' vs. 30'.

 

Ha ha, so true on the first part! However, as JH pointed out way back, it's the landing that counts, not the ride in the air or length there of. Esp. re-read that 15' fall ending in a home comment.

 

This isn't a sport route. There may be a protection bolt on it. (vague memories of one) I don't know what folks are arguing here, maybe "huge fall" was overstated, however, I think that if you looked at the route, it just looks like a very impressive line, perhaps looks bigger than it is- but there's maybe a lot of blank space around it, and someone pitching off and pulling their pro to what would appear to be a single point, even if it was 2 bolts: hey, that impresses the hell out of me. That would have been a great picture if you could frame it right.

 

 

Ujahn came back from the valley last week or so ago and the party in front of him snapped a pic of him leading the crux of Goodrich Right. It's one of my valley favs. You can see the rope snaking below him for a long long way, but there is no pro. Not visible, but you can see the rope disappearing way down there. It's only 5.9. I remember that pitch (if you do the straight up version) as you climb up 30', clip a manky pin, and thats all for pro. You then proceed to run out the rest of the rope on greasy, insecure, sloping friction. You would look like you'd been playing slip and slide with the rough side of a Cheese Grater if you fell. ...I know a guy who can and does regularly onsite steep difficult Smith 5.12 sport who backed off a 5.8 bolted Glacier Point route (we were doing Cold Fusion at the time, so it was the 5.8 just to the right of that route, old school runout, 1/4 spinner for a first piece). Mental thing about greasing off plus the landing made for bad math. We've probably all been there. It's about the perception of the landing that counts. It's what makes it so interesting sometimes, how one can manage (or piss their pants trying to manage) that perception.

 

Like Joseph said, seems to me that a lot of how one defines the word "Huge" in "Huge" fall, is all about the perceived landing.....

 

Sitting on our computers, not seeing the route in front of us....I haven't even been to Smith for a year....seems smaller here in our minds than there in reality I'll bet. Anyone have a pic of the route? It's not a sport route at all, great line that takes strength and balance: leaves your calves a quivering. In fact, if I remember, theres a bit of mandatory- or maybe near mandatroy runout on P1 cause the potholes pull you out aways from the crack, but it's been a while. I'd post a pic but don't have any of it.

 

Alex...help? You get any pics? Big props on jumping on it, I hardly ever see folks on it, maybe cause it's a tough route. Has anyone else here climbed it yet?

[kevbone]

I guess spray is the norm in a rock climbing forum…..

[G-spotter]

Latest Rage at Smith has 4 bolts in a 60 foot route.

Please calculate maximum fall.

 

That's not atypical for older Smith sport routes.

 

Not to mention the belayer jumps = softer catch thing that also increases fall length.

[kevbone]

I guess the disagreement here is the word “huge”. Well, I wrote the intro to this thread and in my humble opinion this climber took huge fall. I have never witnesses anything bigger than that. So to all you out there who try to slam my “opinion” go sit on a pole.

 

Rain…..why can’t you just stand back and be humble. 30 feet to fall is no small chore. I guess LOTS of other climbers have fallen farther more often. But in the end…..why does it matter if you think 30 feet is not huge and I do? Why do you care?

 

Sorry I was being a hypocrite there……I apparently care if you care……well not anymore.

 

Man that was HUGE of me to admit I am a hypocrite or should I say GIGANTIC of me? Your turn …..

 

[John Frieh]

Dont worry Kevbone: its common for boys to mistakenly describe "things" are "huge" (and will even advertise as such) when in all actuality they aren't.

 

When in doubt: ask a woman... they seem to be much better at quantifying things

 

 

[Bug]

As I told my girls this weekend, there is a supposedly true story of a Russion pilot who exited his jet at 28K and his chute did not open. He took an "average" fall.

Amazingly, he walked away from it due to the perfect landing on the side of a steep snowfield.

But I hear this happens all the time in Canada.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

another thread to remind us all again how this forum is full of fucking assholes

 

 

[G-spotter]

As I told my girls this weekend, there is a supposedly true story of a Russion pilot who exited his jet at 28K and his chute did not open. He took an "average" fall.

Amazingly, he walked away from it due to the perfect landing on the side of a steep snowfield.

 

The details on Chisov, Alkemade and other guys who fell 18,000+ feet and lived:

 

http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/ffallers.html

[kevbone]

another thread to remind us all again how this forum is full of fucking assholes

 

 

 

Opposed to spray were there are just a couple of jerks? Not that I don’t agree with you…….

[Stefan]

I have taken an 8 foot fall and cracked a rib.

I have taken a 35 fall and broke both my ankles.

 

I don't like falling...so any fall at any length is dangerous.

 

p.s. "huge" is an adjective. Adjectives are subjective.

[sobo]

...Has anyone else here climbed it yet?

Yes, ca 1991. Damned near split me at the genitals and it definitely killed my calves.

[sobo]

If I add your numbers thats a 28' fall. Not exactly huge.

Actually, more like 24 feet. To wit:

He was about 4 feet from a bolt and now his feet were a good 4 – 6 feet above his gear and he was freaking out. He lost it and fell. Both of his pieces ripped out of the wall taking fist size chucks of smith rock with it. People on the ground had to duck…….Alex came to a crashing halt about 15 feet below the two quick draws (the anchor) that saved his life.

So if we go with the larger value of 6 feet from Alex's feet to his gear, then add 3 feet to get from his feet to his waist (and the end of the rope to which he is tied), then add the stated 15 feet below the QDs/anchor as the point where he came to rest, the equation looks like this:

 

6' + 3' + 15' = 24', which also includes any slack in the rope before the fall, belayer inattention, rope stretch, etc. So unlike many a fish story, this one gets smaller as time goes on. I'm not discounting the notion that Alex may have been a might unnerved by such a fall, but to reiterate, 24 feet from start to finish is generally not considered "huge" in this game, whether it involves gear ripping or not. The simple fact of distance fallen is the sole metric.

 

For the record, a month ago I "caught" a leader fall of easily about 20 feet. And when I say "caught", I mean "caught", as in no pro had yet been placed. It was a grounder, except that I placed myself in the path to cushion my partner's impact, as I knew he was coming "all the way home." He bounced once solidly about halfway down, then into my arms, and we crashed to the dirt together. In this instance, would one call this a "huge", "big", or a "moderate" fall? I'd still say it was a moderate fall, using distance fallen as the only criterion. If one wants to add injuries, then I'd have to say it was "pretty big" to "huge", as there was no shaking it off and walking away from it. YMMV.

 

And my partner and I agreed that he would remain anonymous, so don't ask who it was.

[billcoe]

And my partner and I agreed that he would remain anonymous, so don't ask who it was.

 

Damn, I want to climb with you. Did he yell "TAKE ME HARD BIG FELLA" as he peeled?

 

Cause I think I'm adding that to my verbal signal repertoire as of today.

[Choada_Boy]

I was at Smith on the day in question and I saw the whole thing. He actually fell 22'48".

 

I think Kevboner's got a big handful of sand on his taint, seems to be acting especially tender today.

 

Regardless, you don't get out much if you think a less than 30' clean fall is a big deal. If he'd meat bombed I'd be interested. And who/why were the retards applauding?

[catbirdseat]

I guess the disagreement here is the word “huge”. Well, I wrote the intro to this thread and in my humble opinion this climber took huge fall. I have never witnesses anything bigger than that. So to all you out there who try to slam my “opinion” go sit on a pole.

 

 

Huge or not, it can surely be described as a "serious" fall. It was essentially a FF2 fall, since all the pro pulled out and he fell on his anchor. Any FF2 fall is serious regardless of the distance fallen and I would argue, regardless of the quality of the anchor. This magnitude of fall can get away from the belayer depending on a number of factors.

[eric8]

reread it, it was not a ff2

[RuMR]

I guess the disagreement here is the word “huge”. Well, I wrote the intro to this thread and in my humble opinion this climber took huge fall. I have never witnesses anything bigger than that. So to all you out there who try to slam my “opinion” go sit on a pole.

 

 

Huge or not, it can surely be described as a "serious" fall. It was essentially a FF2 fall, since all the pro pulled out and he fell on his anchor. Any FF2 fall is serious regardless of the distance fallen and I would argue, regardless of the quality of the anchor. This magnitude of fall can get away from the belayer depending on a number of factors.

No tool...he led from the ground, there was an entire pitch of rope to the anchor...fall factor was not very big... Edited June 2, 2008 by RuMR

[sobo]

Huge at Smiff

 

And my partner and I agreed that he would remain anonymous, so don't ask who it was.

 

Damn, I want to climb with you. Did he yell "TAKE ME HARD BIG FELLA" as he peeled?

 

Cause I think I'm adding that to my verbal signal repertoire as of today.

It's all kinda funny now, bill, since no one died or was permanently maimed, but as that huge hunk o' burning man love was heading my way, I was, shall we say, a might intimidated...