In flight awareness

Post by **ynot** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 10:40 pm

One fall comes to mind that was like slo-mo. I remember seeing blue sky and thinking "That's not right" then realizing I was falling upside down.My next thought was "isn't my last piece going to catch me sometime soon?"
Every fall since then has been shorter and mostly upright so they seemed quik.

Post by **StephyG** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 12:56 pm

Yeah, it was pretty impressive seeing wes take a whipper while I was belaying him on hook and pendulum at Wn sky bridge a few weeks ago. He came off 2 - 3 ft above the last bolt and pulled me almost up to the first bolt. He must have taken a very soft fall of about 25 feet. He seemed very pleased

! He comforted me with the fact that we wouldn't change places (i.e. me in the air and him on the ground), - at most we'd meet half way.

Post by **SikMonkey** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 1:03 pm

I get pissed when I fall because it means I fucked up somewhere. Falling is a byproduct of pushing your limits.

Mj

Post by **canadaclimbergirl** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 1:58 pm

Speaking of Falls,

Yesterday my b/f and I were out climbing. We were on a 5.8 trad and he was about 30ft off the ground. He had 4 pieces in and his feet were about 3 ft above his last piece. His foot slipped. We don't know what happened. He fell in total...about 15 feet total (3ft to the bolt from his feet + 3 from his feet to harness X2), plus stretch in the rope. on the stretch he hit a ledge, his right sit bone hit the granite sending a shockwave through his spine. when he came to rest he was just screaming "my back, my back, it feels like its broken". I was able to lower him to the ground and Scream for a friend of mine on a near by route. We had to take him out on a spinal board, and to the hospital. x-rays revealed nothing broken, but he has SEVERE bruising of all the muscles in the lower back, his spine, and his right hip bone. He can't walk, is on some pretty strong pain relievers..and will hopefully make a recovery in 6-8 weeks.
Needless to say, I won't be coming to the RRG in two weeks. It will now be next year (probably spring) before I can get away. my b/f doesn't want to lead anymore at least not trad, and is pretty shook up. I was belaying him. I did everything right, there was no extra slack in the system. I did take about a foot of air though, which..if I hadn't he may not have hit the ledge, I don't know.
about 15 of our best climbing friends were at the crag yesterday and they all helped in the rescue. It was epic. He fell at about 11:15am. the paramedics got there at about 12:30 and we had him in the ambulance at about 1:45pm. The hike is about 25min over very steep rugged terrain. So, this rescue was a difficult one.

Anyways...I thought I would share, and maybe someone else can learn something...that is why we share right?

Post by **canadaclimbergirl** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 1:59 pm

I should add that my b/f leads trad at a 5.10 level, and leads sport at a 5.12 level, so this 5.8 was going to be a nice mulit-pitch warm up for us both. And we have both done this climb 6 or more times before. And he had led it at least 3 times before. He was solid as can be. and his foot just slipped.

Post by **Spragwa** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 2:04 pm

WOW CCG, I'm so sorry. I'm just glad that he's okay. It shows you that no matter how good you are, shit happens.

Post by **canadaclimbergirl** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 2:06 pm

Thanks spraqwa. yup. everything was perfect. it was beautiful weather, the whole deal. He just slipped. scared the shit out of me. I hardly slept a wink last night.

Post by **Spragwa** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 2:45 pm

We'll miss you at Muao Dib's party and at Rocktoberfest

Post by **Spragwa** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 2:47 pm

On a lighter note (or maybe not much lighter), I've been working on the "soft catch" lately and thought that I was getting it. Instead, yesterday I tried to kill Air Canada on Wild Yet Tasty. You damned Canadians bounce don't ya ?

Post by **air canada** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 3:01 pm

That's a pretty rough situation CCG. On either end.