Ground Fall @ Drive-By

[dustonian]

thanks Hugh, very interesting

[caribe]

my belayer was in no way responsible or at fault for what was ultimately a very scary accident.

Where was your belayer? Was he/she directly under the first bolt when you were clipping #2? If not you should have instructed your belayer to take that position after your movement allowed him/her to do so. This position GREATLY decreases the margin of error during a short hard fall. I don't mean to assign blame here. This note is just for future reference. Crouching like a cat on the hunt directly under bolt one is where you need to be while your climber is clipping bolt 2 and 3.

[caribe]

A word about head injuries.

A word from the wise to the wise and a cudgel to the obtuse.

[rhunt]

If you can barely onsight lead climb 5.10 in a climbing gym it likely you can not do the same outside on real rock. The first thing climbing gyms can do is to stop using the yosemite decimal system in their gyms. No matter how big the gym is and how good the route setters are, plastic and rock are not the same thing.

[JR]

If you can barely onsight lead climb 5.10 in a climbing gym it likely you can not do the same outside on real rock. The first thing climbing gyms can do is to stop using the yosemite decimal system in their gyms. No matter how big the gym is and how good the route setters are, plastic and rock are not the same thing.

Stop using the Yosemite decimal system in the gyms? Can you explain why that would cause fewer accidents in the gym or outside?

[rhunt]

if its not obvious....nevermind

[Andrew]

If you can climb 5.10 at rockquest, then 5.10 will feel easy at the red.

[ReachHigh]

If you can climb 5.10 at rockquest, then 5.10 will feel easy at the red.

I agree, I haven't climbed there more then a couple times, but I was surprised that I didn't see any of the soft grading that people bitch about in gyms along with holds that were well worn in giving then what I would describe a "NRG" feel to them.

[ReachHigh]

Where was your belayer? Was he/she directly under the first bolt when you were clipping #2? If not you should have instructed your belayer to take that position after your movement allowed him/her to do so. This position GREATLY decreases the margin of error during a short hard fall.

I agree strongly with this, after bitching at my belayer to stand closer in while I was low on the route earlier in the day, I was bounced off the ground on a second bolt fall because my belayer decided to stand 10ft+ back while I was going to the second. I only had a bruised foot and strained ankle but it was unnecessary.

[lena_chita]

ND Clee, I am glad you are O.K., and suffered no long-term consequences.

I still have some questions:

I would like to clarify about what happened though. While it is true that I don't have years of outdoor experience, I am not a naïve, ignorant gymrat who had no business on breakfast burrito. I have successfully lead-climbed more "difficult" routes but had the misfortune of slipping off my handhold as I reached to clip the rope...while I was a little shaky, I did not panic nor was I at all pumped. Likewise, my belayer was in no way responsible or at fault for what was ultimately a very scary accident. I had stick clipped the first bolt, but should have gone for the second. The bolts weren't too far apart...but I definitely think the first bolt could have been higher. That said, it was my hand popping off that led to my fall, not anything else.

I don't know how or why I was able to leave with nothing but a severe ropeburn on my leg and a bruised head (with some lingering headaches on the side), but I count myself incredibly blessed to be able to walk away (relatively) unscathed.

You say you were " reaching to clip"-- does it mean that the 2nd bolt was high above you (above shoulder level?) when you were trying to clip it? I am asking b/c I remember the second clip being comfortable and not a high reach above my head.

You have a severe ropeburn on your leg-- does it mean that you flipped over because of the rope behind your leg and landed head-first?

The description of what happened does make it sound like you did not have enough experience to judge the situation, regardless of whether you have climbed more difficult routes in the past. But what doesn't kill us, makes us... (more experienced) right?


Edited to add:

What I see in your post is the attitude of "it was nobody's fault, my hand slipped, could have happened to anyone, bad bolt positioning..."-- but if you walk away from this accident with that as a take-home message, then IMO you have not gotten the right one.

Yes, a hand slipping is not anyone's 'fault' in a legal sense of the word and yes, that could happen to anyone.

But it IS your fault in a sense that you put yourself in a position where your hand slipping could result in a groudfall, your fault that the rope was positioned behind your leg. Your fault in misjudging yuor ability, your belayers' fault, too, if he/she knew your ability and did not advice you to climb higher before clipping, for example, or didn't tell you that your rope was behind your leg... or maybe the belayer could have done something to make the fall less severe-- I don't know.

And stick-clipping the second bolt isn't the cure-all answer. Because there are routes where a fall from the 3rd bolt would be a ground fall, there are routes where a fall from the 4th bolt could be a groundfall, there are routes where a fall from Ns bolt would make you hit your head on the roof, the ledge, etc. etc. etc.