pope Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 I suppose this one kind of lands in the "biggest whipper" category. Anyway, a guy I know who works as an architect in Seattle should probably be dead. One day at the office, he scrambled out of a window, onto a wet pitched roof in order to retrieve a floppy disk. As soon as he weighted his feet, he began to slide down toward the gutter, the gutter that prevented water from spilling to the street five stories below! Sliding feet first, he sensed that he was accelerating and that there was no way of preventing his imminent launch. As he slid over the edge, a nail snagged his trousers, perhaps retarding his progress just enough so that his feet met with the fourth-floor balcony's rail, after which he toppled back onto the balcony. In another episode, he climbed the Hollow Flake pitch on the Salathe Wall, and after scaling many feet beyond the last place in the widening crack where he could find protection, he looked down to see his "big bro" and his over-sized Friend both rattle out. Having already puked from the August heat on Free Blast, he was now at the end of his physical abilities and faced with a very demanding situation: retreat was impossible, and the way ahead involved slippery, exhausting, unprotectable climbing. According to my buddy, flopping onto the belay at the top of that pitch induced a cathartic experience, the details of which are too graphic to disclose on this website! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambone Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 My knot came about %90 untied while I was leading one of the pitches on the Zodiac. I noticed it just before it was about to slip right out of my harness. I screamed like a girl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backcountry Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 My last and final attempt at sporto lead climbing...I was at Mazama and managed to hook up my ATC super funky thru the rope(set the rope doubled thru the chains to make a top rope out of it) and nearly managed to pull the rope all the way thru my ATC...bout pissed myself... Of course the time I was at Castle Rock with Halling and after topping a pitch and coming to the belay/achor point, I hooked into the anchor and he managed to make me wet myself with a "oh no, whats with that...oh no!!!!" that was followed by a frantic what what what what as I pissed myself....I think I used up a life just scaring myself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 I was on a route once, up at Banff it was, at Lake louise. Fun place. Well, I was on a route, climbing higher and higher, and I started wondering a little bit about what was going on 'cause I hadn't clipped a bolt for probably ten feet. So I looked around, and it was then that I noticed: I had gone right past my last bolt, WITHOUT NOTICING IT! The bolt was silver, and blended into the rock, making it almost invisible. (Another reason to paint bolts bright colors.)I couldn't reach back down to it safely, and the next bolt was probably like another 5 or 6 feet above me. Well, I decided to go for it, just run it out, and see what happens. So I started climbing, and I made it! Man was I happy. I was pretty pumped, but I managed to clip the damn thing, and it was right about there that I almost decided to just quit climbing completely, but I decided actually to continue to climb, and I have done just that, although still it is scary sometimes. So that is my contribution to this epic thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figger_Eight Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 25 foot fall on an ice screw, which my partner was able to wiggle out when he cleaned it...along with all the other screws I placed. The conditions weren't ideal climbing, needless to say. "Another reason to paint bolts bright colors." Maybe long streamers and flashing lights should be attached to them as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 I fell off of Canary once while leading it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crank_sloper Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 One time I was setting up a rap line off the roof of the Chem building after sending the WEST SIDE OF B BUILDING TRAVERSE and a posse of campus cowboys showed up and told me to "get down from there boy you under arrest". so I said "man dont come near me Im gonna hang myself!" and showed them a noose in one end. well, standoff - they wanted to arrest me and I wanted to escape and threatened them every time they went to call for backup, so we sat there for a few hours til 4 AM. Then most of them went for donuts and the guy they left to guard me fell asleep and i shimmied down the rope and escaped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambone Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 Nice! I was buildering once in Chicago and all of a sudden a cop turns down the street and starts shining his light around. I got freaked and just jumped off. It was about 20ft up, man that hurt... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaphappy Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 A few seasons back I was leading the second pitch of Princely. I underclinged a large "loaf" of stone as I neared the finish. As I moved up, the "loaf" levered loose and fell straight down toward my belayer. I pitched off and watched in horror, sure my rope was going to be cut or my belayer killed. About ten feet below me the "loaf" relodged itself in the crux flare, missing my rope by inches. I quickly finished, praising the hex that caught my fall. My second oozed by the block without releasing it, there were too many people climbing below to set it free. The next day it was pulled loose by an acquaintance, slamming into the belay ledge and cutting his trail rope in several locations. Luckily no one was hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 Originally quote by Figger Eight: "'Another reason to paint bolts bright colors.' Maybe long streamers and flashing lights should be attached to them as well?" Hey figger eight, don't you think that's kind of overkill? I think just a nice bright color would do the trick; that way we don't need to go overboard with unnecessary attachments to the rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 we should chop all the bolts so you know you arent going to miss any of them - none to miss. then we should pile freshies over every climb and dry-tool to the top and ski down in a cloud of face shots. and then drink , and watch the trained squirrels run around with ropes in their mouths, and everyone should create a new avatar , and all spontaneously worship Big-Lou, and have a flame war, and sleep it off. oh wait that is what we do anyways ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 In '87 I was loaned a prototype parasail for an expedition. After flying it a few times up in the Arctic, I got cocky. Back in the States, my climbing partner and I went to the top of Lovers Leap near Lake Tahoe for a first descent. I went first. I popped the sail up fine, and ran off the edge of the 700' cliff. The sail stalled in the middle (the only failure from which it couldn't recover), collapsed, and I dropped like a rock. I slammed into the cliff about 100' lower --a glancing blow-- and came to a stop. My buddy Earl came running to the edge yelling my name in terror. I had the presence of mind to say "I'm just hanging out down here." Earl told me to hang tight while he scrambled down some fourth class ledges and got within 15' of me over to my right. I had unclipped from the sail, so I traversed towards him over pretty hard terrain (crimper edges like on 5.10, but the adrenalin could have been clouding my perception) with 600' of air pulling at my back. We retreived the sail from above and found that a hand sized flake had stopped me; seven shrouds got wrapped over it; six had broken. I had been hanging by one parachute cord. We split a bottle of red wine on the way to the emergency room to get my chin sewed back together (13 stiches. 7 on the inside, 6 to close the skin) with the Australian girls we had been banging. One of the bummers was being so sore that night that her touch was painful. I flew again in a couple days, and made a bunch more first descents. But not at Lovers Leap. I gave up the "sport" after a couple years when it became painfully obvious that it was a question of time before I got really hurt. (A bunch of friends and acquaintances got seriously injured parasailing). Then there's all the climbing stories. Sometimes it's best to leave the Tequila at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 freeclimb was that "Earl" Earl Redfern? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexual_chocolate Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 Nice story, freeclimb9. I didn't realize parasailing was so dangerous. Nice lead quote on your home-page, btw! I fully agree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 another question freeclimb, was the australian chicks namez sheila and matalida, cause if so i met them at whislter last year nice gilrz, but ya know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbb Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 Along your thread freeclimb, While we were up in the St. Elias this summer, the infamous Paul Claus told us a story on a peak of which we'd made the 2nd ascent. On the first ascent Paul had brought along a parapont to fly off the summit cliffs with. When they got to the top his partners convinced him out of it, and he just went down with them to fly on some glacial hills down low. When he took off down low, he got about 10 ft off the ground before the thing shook, and then totally collapsed. Aparently some knots had been left in the cord from when they had displayed it at some show. This happened 15 years ago and his wife still remembered it. yikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 forgot to include the trained squirel picture. this thing is the coolest! props to whoever found it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crank_sloper Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Dru: forgot to include the trained squirel picture. this thing is the coolest! props to whoever found it. Hey Dru its Drew J here man. What's up bro? Ard arvin found the squirrel link on www.treeclimbing.com (I think) and put it on www.buildering.net Looks like this Bigwhatever Rocky guy was the first to post it here so www.buildering.net must be getting some cool clickage. Maybe its Rocky like Rocky and Bullwinkle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeclimb9 Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 The "Earl" was my good friend Earl Redfern who got the chop this past year in a plane wreck. I wonder what he was thinking trying to fly tight canyons on such a hot day when the air density --and plane's response-- is so low. He was a crazy mofo, and a lot of fun to be around. I mis him much. I can't remember the Aussie girl's names (not Sheila, or Matilda, though). Earl actually moved down to Australia for a year to be with one of them. Didn't work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigWallBigBallsRocky Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 quote: Originally posted by crank_sloper: Hey Dru its Drew J here man. What's up bro? Ard arvin found the squirrel link on www.treeclimbing.com (I think) and put it on www.buildering.net Looks like this Bigwhatever Rocky guy was the first to post it here so www.buildering.net must be getting some cool clickage. Maybe its Rocky like Rocky and Bullwinkle? I may be named Rocky but I'm hung like a Moose!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freak Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 I totaly missed a bolt on snake dyke I looked down and there it was all shiny like 20 ft down, I was gripped for a second then I was like fuck it! 5.6 got kinda exiteing My roomate took like a 30 ft grounder paraglideing and broke his back, got blood all over my helmet. nic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glacier_dup1 Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 Pulled a phone-book size rock off Elvis' Pharmacist (Vantage), knocked my belayer into a coma and took a 35 footer into the talus. I walked away with a cut on my head, and he got the complimentary helicopter ride to Yakima. After a summer of rehab, he went back to designing wings at Boeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambone Posted November 20, 2001 Share Posted November 20, 2001 Hence the benifit of the good old Gri-Gri... Glad you guys are ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelle Posted November 21, 2001 Share Posted November 21, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Lambone: My knot came about %90 untied while I was leading one of the pitches on the Zodiac. I noticed it just before it was about to slip right out of my harness. I screamed like a girl So do they let you teach knot tying at VW? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted November 21, 2001 Share Posted November 21, 2001 and the self-rescue classes- you wanna talk sketchy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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