First Trad Fall

[ScottP]

I was climbing the west face crack on the first sea stack at Patrick's Point State Park in N CA. This crack is only accessible at low tide and the belayer stands on sloping, barnacle covered rocks right above crashing waves. I was about 20-25 feet off the deck and a body length above my only piece, an old school #4 BD (Chouinard) wired stopper when my left foot and hand let loose at the same time. I barn-doored off and ended up with a ripped tip on the middle finger of my right hand. My partner finished the route.

[mvs]

April Mayhem in the Icicle. It was a really hot morning and the climb gets blasted by the sun. On the "pillar de cowboy boot" the hand crack gets vertical, maybe a little overhanging. I was totally pumped, trying to place some gear. As I was attaching the rope my hands gave out! Caught by a Metolius black 4-cam. Whew...

[Jim]

Tumbling @80 footer P4 (counting the traverse as a pitch) onto a small angle piton SE Corner of Beacon in 1973 while downclimbing with @ 20 lbs on my back as it got dark. Knocked me unconscious for @ 5min, cracked my wrist bone and almost killed us both as the partner I lowered first was not roped into the tree on pitch 3 on the ledge as he belayed me down. The story he told later was this, as I fell, he stepped back to brace for the impact thinking "Oh Holy Fuck, this hip belay is gonna hurt". I augered in on final approach just as he as starting to fall over the edge of the cliff and lose his balance for the long ride to dirt, simultaneous to the rope becoming tight on the single piece of gear between us: it yanked him back up onto the ledge. It was a fixed baby angle piton with a now bent eye which is still there I think.

 

A most excellent adventure!!!

 

Mine: Seneca Rocks 1979- some third pitch of a 5.7 that I was climbing with a wacko who wore out his climbing shoes so he wore them on the opposite feet - and still led 5.10!!! He pesuaded me to lead the crack, and I proceeded to take 4 falls on a number 3 chouinard wire. We couldn't budge it with a pick. So we came back up the next day with a rock stuck in my painter's pants pocket and used the rock to wang on the pick. I think that bent wire thing is still on the rack. Now it's a good luck charm.

[Cairns]

I'm kinda curious...

Do you remember what piece held your first fall (size doesn't matter)? And by fall, I mean a real fall, not a "oh no, take" and weighting a piece. I wonder if there is a particular size that will stand out???

 

 

That was a while ago.

 

I think the piece was an apple my partner gave me.

 

I would have got back to you sooner but I was out getting the swages on my trigger wires replaced.

 

What stands out in particular are several episodes when I may have endangered a younger more innocent partner, such as G-Spotter traumatized by the piece of gear older than he was.

 

There was also Dave Fremes leading Agitez Bien at Metcalf Rock and Ian Bennett leading Serenity Crack, as the gunpowder taste crept in, as I pictured explaining to the parents.

 

I think my first trad fall was Cleveland's Climb at Quincy Quarry. It was on toprope but it was a real fall because of stretch in the goldline and a swing. The first lead fall was on the FA of the roof of Welcome to the Gunks. A stopper behind a flake pulled the flake. The second piece was a nut in a good placement. The fall was about 10'. The belayer was Demetri "Jim" Kolocotronis.

 

[RuMR]

gunpowder taste...funny, i also described it that way...

[JosephH]

I have no idea. And what a thing to forget! It's all falling off the back end of my climbing career at this point. Couldn't have been that big a deal I guess.

[willstrickland]

How in the hell do you take a 35 footer off Rollerball? Done that one several times, other than the crux move it protects very well (and if you're tall, or did it back when there was a fixed pin instead of bolt, you could have pro at your chest during the crux)

 

Anyway...first real trad fall. P3, Reeds Direct. Fell out of the 5.5 section of chimney when a face hold I was stupidly crimping broke. Upside down and backwards for about 15' onto a medium stopper.

[minx]

i don't remember my first trad fall. i wasn't wearing a helmet

[sobo]

That could explain a great many things...

[curtveld]

My first 10a lead attempt - Fistful of Crystals - a classic JTree finger crack, flaring & grainy. Not much for the feet, so I tried to power through the crux jams and flopped, pulling the 1” TCU. Not a big fall (15’?), but hung there with battered knuckles, knees and confidence. A couple more halfhearted tries, then my buddy climbed it through.

 

Took some lunch, a long break in the shade, then jumped on Mama Woolsey (also 10a), which went without incident.

[cskidmore]

First real trad fall was this past week on Castlerock in Leavenworth on a .5 Camelot. Thank god that little purple cam held. Ended up being about a 10-15 footer and scared the crap out of me.

[Bad_Goats]

15 years and many gear falls ago - fell at the roof on Nimrod's Nemesis at Tieton - I thought they really meant 5.5 - the "roof" should have been a clue. The 1.5" hex with holes caught me (I just went to the gear room and kissed it again). How long has it been since they made those?!

 

I guess that makes me Nimrod.....

[zeroclimber]

Quarryman (5.8) on the Penny Lane Wall at Smoke Bluffs at Squamish. It was my first year leading trad. I fell on a fairly small nut -- I don't remember which one. I had climbed the crack through the crux and instead of climbing left to bolts, continued up the crack. The crack flared, got shallow and wouldn't take any more pro. I tried to lay it back, but was in over my skills. I hung out too long trying to keep going up and got tired and fell about 15 feet -- maybe a bit longer. Before missing the chains, I had told my belayer, "this thing eats nuts like a crack ho!" I think that may have been when the crack decided I was going "down".

 

Don't trash talk the crack ho!

[John Frieh]

First Fall Ever (not exactly trad):

approx. 100 m fall head first (on chest) on SE slopes of N sister (approx. 50 degree slope) at the age of 15ish... lost ax immediately (hence length of fall) proceeded to rip both pickets and partners belay... slid roped together before partners body striking a series of rock outcroppings "arrested" the fall… human stopper nut?

 

Partner broke foot in addition to a "few" brusies... went into shock... etc etc... I walked away with meatloaf arms (sleeves were pushed up at time). We both managed to “walk” out to pole creek…

 

Sidenote: on drive home proceeded to fall asleep behind wheel and drift through oncoming 4th of July weekend traffic on 126... woke up in ditch on other side of road... partner looked at me and said "what are you trying to kill me or something?"... car only received minor dent.

 

First Trad Fall:

8ish footer on a black metolius @ the columns in Eugene. I think I was 16??? It was Brock's first "catch"... he has gone on to catch many more of my falls

 

Best Fall I have ever witnessed:

Ivan. Ice Cliff Glacier. Unroped head first on his back in the dark. Still makes me sick when I think about it

[olyclimber]

first fall i remember is maybe 5-6 footer onto a yellow alien at the top of the first pitch of Canary

[grenalds]

Took a 20 footer on a 9+ (i hate +'s) in Ferguson Canyon in SLC. Ran out the top section of a weird face climb with hand cracks trying to get to a fixed pin. Pitched off backward with draw in hand. #1 camalot. Still have it. Bent stem an' all.

 

Anything with a plus is officially a sandbag. Especially around Little Cottonwood.

[A2THEK]

Not rock, but I took a 40 footer onto a stubby ice screw without a screamer on Kitty hawk in the canadian rockies.The piece was in chandeliery aeriated ice, I was very surprised it held.My partner was more rattled than I, although my heartrate was plenty fast.