I fall down....

[pindude]

Dane,

Just found this thread. I'd been thinking about you too and wondering why you were quiet. I'm so sorry, but I'm glad you're on the mend.

 

Sobo, thanks for going above and beyond. Good thing you weren't hurt too. Very brave act.

 

Dane, your fall is a shock. For all the times I saw you easily and casually climbing years ago at Minne, sans or with rope, you were an inspiration--not sure if you knew. Maybe it was my late, formal intro to roped climbing by you (relatively speaking, I was in my mid-20s and up to then had dabbled with roped rock climbing and solod up to easy 5th class alpine), but some of your confidence, assurance, and exuberance for rock rubbed off on me: after your intro the bug really caught me and I climbed as often as I could, bouldering, top-roping, learning to lead better, and even highballing a little. Generally though, I've been fairly conservative. I personally haven't suffered any great injuries, so it really gives me pause. Added to it is that Fault to Catapult is one of my Castle faves.

 

Wishing you the best on your recovery, and that you heal quickly.

[Cairns]

A good story from the bad side. Well worth the effort it may have taken to tell.

 

I see myself in every account of an accident that I read. Not perhaps in the preamble but in the stomach-tightening details of the injuries.

 

At this stage, 40 years in, the accumulation of safe adventures threatens to quiet the voice of common sense. You tend to forget how pain can change you.

 

Your story came right in through the defenses.

[billcoe]

A good story from the bad side. Well worth the effort it may have taken to tell.

 

I see myself in every account of an accident that I read. Not perhaps in the preamble but in the stomach-tightening details of the injuries.

 

At this stage, 40 years in, the accumulation of safe adventures threatens to quiet the voice of common sense. You tend to forget how pain can change you.

 

Your story came right in through the defenses.

 

Just what Cairns siad: thanks for sharing it, and good luck on the rehab. It certainly makes me feel a bit more vulnerable, or mortal I guess......

 

Sobo can catch me anytime, that head injury could have easily been fatal had he done the normal instinct and ducked away in self preservation.....damn.Good luck Dane!

[powderhound]

I need to put my helmet back on, remember that I am mortal.Thanks dane for helping me realize that shit happens even to the conscious climber.

[sobo]

Now, come on out with the rest of the story please...

I'll get to it later this week. I'm pretty busy at and after work this week, so I ask for patience.

You won't believe... "the rest of the story..."

[John Frieh]

Crazy story Dane! I'm glad you finally put it on paper!

 

Heal up so we can ice climb this winter!

[Off_White]

Wore my helmet all weekend.

 

 

I did keep banging it on the door jamb getting into the car though.

 

 

 

Seriously though, this story was in my head all weekend while I was out cragging, and I was most diligent about the brain bucket.

[kevino]

Dane, sorry to hear about your injuries but heres to hoping you heal up fast. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

[Off_White]

On a related note, this has me thinking about a new helmet, so I started a thread over in the Gear Critic to see what other's have been happy with lately. Any input would be appreciated.

[sobo]

...I should probably mention that there is a Paul Harvey-esque twist to this whole event.

Dane, Sherri, and Dan: now that this event is out in the open, should I tell them "the rest of the story..."??

You can try, but nobody's going to believe that one guy can have THAT much bad luck in a single day....

 

On the plus side, the second accident brought us together in real life, at last...

Actually, Sherri, I met you after the third accident of the day.

So now... the rest of the story...

 

So I’m hanging out with Dane in the hospital ER and the staff is taking him hither and yon, poking and probing him incessantly. His wife Tracy has been alerted to the incident by a call from Dane on his cell phone (remember that part), so I figure I’ll wait until she gets there from Issaquah so that Dane’s not left alone with those medical types. Tracy arrives a few hours later and after a bit, we discuss Dane’s rig up at Castle Rock and how to retrieve it. You see, Dane was supposed to be driving his old beater truck which could survive a "night out" alone, but instead he decides at the last minute to pirate his wife’s fancy new Beemer for the drive across Stevens Pass. Well, clearly one can’t leave a Beemer at the Castle Rock parking lot overnight...

 

So after some discussion about Tracy and me heading up to get it and leaving Dane solo, we hit upon the fact that Debbie, Tracy’s sister-in-law, lives in East Wenatchee. She and her husband Tim had been out of town for the day, and they were just getting back home when Tracy called her. "We’ll get Debbie to drive up with sobo, and that way Tracy can stay with Dane until they get back with the car, and then we can figure out what to do with it after that." It seemed like a cunning plan...

 

So another hour or so later Debbie and I are driving up to Castle Rock, discussing Dane’s accident. I offer the obvious: "So do you want to see the rock where he fell? And where he bounced and landed?" Debbie readily agrees, saying it would be cool to get an appreciation of it from a first-hand perspective. So we get there, and hike up the short trail to the base of The Fault. We check out the scene, and then head back down. Debbie did fine on the way up the trail, not so much on the way down. At the last switchback, just below the tree roots that grow across the trail, she slipped on the loose dirt and gravel. She tries to catch herself – SNAP! She rolls off the trail and starts sliding down the hillside, screaming about her ankle. I grab her before she gets too far, and stabilize her in the dirt. She’s an RN, and she assures me that she’s broken her ankle in the slip and fall, so I don’t even try to get her to stand on it.

 

It’s early evening now, and the parking lot crowd has thinned significantly. I decide that the best thing to do is to get her down to the road first, then flag down a passing motorist second. I hold her ankle aloft and drag her by the pants legs while she skids her butt down the last 50 feet of trail to the parking lot. I deposit her at the base of the trail, and go looking for help.

 

I spy this wood nymph milling about a vehicle on the far side of the lot, stashing climbing gear into the back. I approach this mesmerizing siren and inquire if she would be willing to help me load an incapacitated person into the rig. She indicates in the affirmative, and suggests that her friend Dan, who was watering the dog in the river, could also join in the operation. So the three of us load Debbie into her truck, I get her all buckled in with her leg elevated on the dash, and I prepare to leave.

 

Dan had gone back to tend to the pooch, so I exchange introductions and thanks with the enchanting rock creature. She introduces herself as “Sherri”, and my mind instantly flashes to a stored image of the photograph submissions for the Girls of CC.Com Calendar contest of last year. I steal a glance at her biceps and make a quick mental comparison: "Yup, gurl's got guns - must be 'that' Sherri." And that’s how I finally met The Mountain Goddess That Is Sherri.

 

So that was the third accident that day. Now, let's go back... remember Dane’s cell phone? As soon as we got Dane loaded into the ambulance, he wanted his cell phone so he could call Tracy to have her come and get him. I jumped out of the back of the van, but I didn't duck my head far enough. The top of my head crashed full-speed into the top of the back door of the ambulance and I split my scalp open (that’s what I get for taking off my helmet too soon ). And this was a padded door jamb! WTF?? It dazed me for a second, but not to the point of seeing stars (been there, done that, in my sailboat racing days).

 

I bled all over the floor of their van, and the paramedics got all amped up about my state. I convinced them that all I really needed was a towel. I got Dane his phone and they took off, and I went back up and cleaned up our gear from the scene and then headed into Wenatchee to meet up at the hospital.

 

The faces of the hospital staff when I walked in the doors and up to the front desk were absolutely priceless!!!1 Dried blood all over one arm, more blood from my hairline down to my eye, and holding a white towel covered in fresh blood to my head. You should have seen them jump into action. It was hilarious! They took a look, and said I could benefit from a stitch or two, or I could opt not. I opted for not.

 

So they say bad things happen in threes. After I tallied up the day's travails and tribulations, I thought I'd be OK for the long drive home. Thankfully, it was uneventful.

 

PS: Debbie ended up with 2 pins, 6 screws, and a plate for her troubles.

[Dane]

And Debbie still isn't mobile. I suspect she got the worst of that day's tough luck.

 

Just wanted to say thanks for all the well wishes from everyone here. To Sobo, Debbie, Tracy and all the guys (fellow climbers, ambulance, and fire crew) that made the phone calls and helped get me down the trail I really apprecaited the effort, thank you.

 

 

[sobo]

Youch! Six weeks and still no shuffling about. I'd say you're right about who got the worst of it, friend.

[JBo6]

Holy hell. Thats all I can say.

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Damn!! I'm so sorry to hear the rest of the story - but I was honestly expecting something funny (and was not expecting any more injuries). One really suckass day... hope everyone heals up soon.

 

Big respect to you Sobo - running around not caring about your bloody head. At least you got to meet the cutest CC.com calendar girl!

[Sherri]

The rest of the story was worth waiting for. Well told, Sobo.

 

Poor Debbie. And she was such a trooper about her injury at the time that one could have suspected it to be just a sprain.

 

If I were a REAL goddess, I would have made it all better. That's what goddesses do, you know.

 

 

 

Good thing you were there to do the real work. How's the whole in your head, BTW? Cool scar?

[pink]

the goddess is alive and majic is a foot.

 

 

 

[sobo]

Poor Debbie. And she was such a trooper about her injury at the time that one could have suspected it to be just a sprain.

She really was a trooper. On the ride back to hospital, this time to check her in, she was calling her workmates and letting them know she "wasn't going to make it in tomorrow."

 

If I were a REAL goddess, I would have made it all better. That's what goddesses do, you know.

You had merely misplaced your magic wand that day. Perfectly understandable.

 

How's the whole in your head, BTW? Cool scar?

It healed up so well you can hardly tell it happened. It's all in my genetics, ya know...

 

[Sherri]

It healed up so well you can hardly tell it happened. It's all in my genetics, ya know...

 

 

Uh, maybe you should have opted for the stitch.

Just sayin'.

[Off_White]

Funny, if I was going to be identifying Sherri in the wild I'd probably be looking for the clown feet

[sobo]

A lot of people are clowns, and a lot of people have feet. But NO ONE has guns like hers!

ID-ing her was a slam dunk.

 

BTW, the clown feet thang is just a ruse to distract would-be Sherri hunters. They're elusive creatures, those wood nymphs...

[sobo]

It healed up so well you can hardly tell it happened. It's all in my genetics, ya know...

 

 

Uh, maybe you should have opted for the stitch.

Just sayin'.

Ya think I went a bit overboard with the surgery, eh?

[Sherri]

I'm worried all those wires will get in the way when we go climbing this summer.

 

And my "guns" aren't THAT big. It's just that the rest of me is small. Except the clown-feet.

 

 

[Dane]

Just and update. It has been 365 days since I took this fall.

 

I rehab'd hard for the most part of the last 12 months.

 

Half dozen or so triathlons, as many Centuries on the bike and some climbing. Becky route on Liberty Bell by August was the first rock. I suffered after that. By late fall the North face of Observation Rock, NE Gully on Dragontail. Again I suffered. Then after the new year, Flow Reversal on the pass, Pineapple Express on Snoqualimie, all three routes on Weeping Wall, Louise, Polar Circus and Curtain Call. By the end of winter I was even leading and soloing hard ice again.

Things were finally feeling normal again by late March.

 

But sadly ice is not rock, still a gumby on pure rock. No where near 100% physically even a year later. But I aint complaining either!

 

I really wanted to thank everyone who allowed me to tag on to their rope over the past year and get some much needed milage in. Some of you didn't realise just how much I needed the help...thanks for letting me hang out! Without your help I would not be climbing now or as far along as I am today physically. Thanks Guys!

 

That list includes, Dave, Braydon, Craig, Rob, Jens, Brian, Jack, Josh,. ..Sobo for keeping me off the big dirt dive and Tracy for taking care of me when I couldn't walk, among other things.

 

Big props to all of you...and for the entire CC.com crowd for all the entertainment and encouragement!

 

Ya'll be careful out there, ya hear?

 

[marc_leclerc]

Thats awesome to hear Dane! You're probably soloing harder ice than half of us cc'ers lead less than a year after that accident.. props!

[billcoe]

Welcome back Dane! I can totally relate right now as I've decided to head to Yos Thursday (bit later than planned) to be with my bros.

 

My leg is over 5/8s of the way back, weak, tad swollen...etc, etc. No climbing or training for 3 weeks if you don't count drinking, eating and working on enlarging my manboobs and love handles:-)

 

 

s'alright...I can be camp bitch and climb the climbs Dwayner would do if he still climbed. Thinking Grack Center, best 5.6 in the universe like every day in the am and quit for the day and read a book and drink some wine. I'll do a daily lap and a nap..LOL!

 

BTW, the only reason I didn't start my post "Holy shit!" was because that's already been used on this thread. I was thinking it though. I feel for you and Debbie for sure. Damn.