Dropped

Post by **Huggybone** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:10 pm

Funny story.

Last summer, while still getting back into the game, I went to the stadium with alexis, my buddy brad, and four people from michigan (fist sign of trouble...). Anyway, two were pretty cool, a couple that brad knew pretty well, and the other two...were some trash talking poser dudes. Anyway, we go to do 'ed.' I am the chosen leader, so I go up to check things out. Aside from looking like a mediocre line, the botom 15 feet is total choss. So I go up, looking for some gear, and looking throughly. The dudes on the ground are like 'hey, look in this pocket, you can place gear here, at least it looks like it from here...' ad nauseum. So these dudes are starting to make me crack cause they want me place gear in these places that woudn't hold a toothpick in a gumdrop. I place a piece in a solid horizontal and climb back down to clear my head.

Dudes are like "why did you come back down..." and other stuff not worth repeating. Anyway, the negative energy builds, and I decide to go back up. The second I get above my piece, they pipe up...'you can get great gear...over there...just put in a piece...'

Finally, I decide I've had enough, and decide to bail. So I downclimb. I ask for a spot. There are 6 people at the base of the climb. I ripped a hold, and come flying down, and land flat on my ass. They just looked at me. "uh, sorry dude..."

So we decide to leave them and go do some sport climbing.
Well, the funny part is, dudes end up getting spanked on some other route, and on their way back to michigan, start talking trash about me and my buddy!

Anyway, I've gotton off track now, but I thought the story was kinda funny. 6 people spotting, not one even moved to catch me.

Ever been dropped?

Post by **overhung** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:19 pm

Morehead climbers are notoriously bad spotters... at least in my case. I've bottomed out so many times with these guys my arese has lost all padding.

Post by **strum** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 2:21 pm

Man I was Ice Climbing up in Ontario, had led the pitch, and come back down, the other two people I was with had never ice climbed before. So they foght up the flow. Then it was my turn to clean so I hop about 50' up the climb when I remember I left my daisy in the bag. So I ask to be lowered, pull my tools out.... and fall, 50 feet onto ice.
Turns out that the woman belaying me had been keeping a loose belay one my, not wanting to get in my way, not realizing that we had 400' of dynamic rope between her and me. So although technically she locked off and was "ready to lower" Rope stretch sent me to the deck. Given, some of the force must have been absorbed by the rope. But I still couldn't sit comfortably for days.

I am now engaged to the aformentioned woman

(please no jokes about love at first drop, I've heard them all)

Post by **marathonmedic** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:15 pm

I was belaying lead routes at a junior's comp last year on a route that kept spitting people off before they made the first clip. Pretty much everybody came down feet first and my job as a spotter was more to watch than get involved with many of the falls. One kid was about 14 or 15 and fell from the usual move and landed upright on both of his feet just like we've all seen hundreds of people do. I could have sworn he had his balance but he just kind of teetered back and landed on his back right in front of all the parents, never moved his feet or anything. I felt more than a little dumb. I could have sworn that he wasn't going to need me to even touch him! To this day I have to wonder how much of that fall was drama.

Post by **meetVA** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:29 pm

strum. personally i think she sounds like quite the catch!

Post by **pawilkes** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 9:01 pm

i was belaying at a comp in January and this girl fell twice on the route and somehow took a huge fall both times. i felt pretty dumb cause i felt like i must have not been paying attention or something but when it happened the second time (when i know i was being very attentive to excess slack) i figured she must have somehow got more slack up by her. anyhow, when she was getting ready for finals she asked me if could belay for her, evidently she liked taking those big falls!

Post by **ReachHigh** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 9:20 pm

overhung wrote:Morehead climbers are notoriously bad spotters... at least in my case. I've bottomed out so many times with these guys my arese has lost all padding.

Its not just your case. A good morehead spot makes every problem feel like a highball.

Post by **J-Rock** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 9:53 pm

A couple years ago I was climbing at one of the gyms in Indy and as I was nearing the finishing hold I greased off and fell. Suddenly I was on the ground (landed on my feet REALLY hard and then rolled to the side). I was okay (the walls weren't very tall). I jumped up and asked my belayer what had happened.

His reply, "Dude, I didn't think you were going to fall!"

Post by **marathonmedic** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 4:42 am

Every time I start to wonder about people lead belaying with a grigri I remember a day at the n00b wall at Roadside. Twice I saw relatively experienced climbers whip while playing rope gun. Both times the belayer was completely unprepared for the fall and would have dropped them on an ATC. The best was a guy who said "Falling!" His belayer responded, "Are you ser--[flying up and chin first into the wall]--ious?"

Post by **strum** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 4:45 am

he he, ok, I shouldn;y laugh, those people are going to get us in trouble some day