RRC Archives

Not too long ago there was this guy in Boulder who, feeling pretty solid on 10s and 11s in the gym, decided it was time he picked out a nice easy route in Eldorado canyon for his first lead. Ruper looked about right at 5.8, so up he went. Part way up the first pitch, he slipped, zippered his gear and died at his partners feet, five minutes into his trad climbing career.

There's a lesson or two here somewhere.

That's pretty damn terrifying... a couple of people I know actually almost had a similar experience last year when they decided to try out their new trad gear without really knowing what they were getting into. They were lucky to have made it and subsequently got a lot more training before trying it again.

scary stuff, Larry. Very tragic.

On one of my early leads I had all my gear oriented in the wrong direction (diagonally, toward the belayer, instead of for downward pull. DOH!). This even after years of following and cleaning routes. Then I figured it out. There's an art to trad, I don't care what anyone says. You have to understand forces and gear behavior. Paying attention to more experienced trad leaders is very important - find a good mentor. Death is NOT the objective here.

Not that it makes that much difference, but the route was actually Touch 'N' Go. Beautiful climb with very good, if not completely straightforward, protection.

Not that it makes that much difference, but the route was actually Touch 'N' Go. Beautiful climb with very good, if not completely straightforward, protection.

I take it he was using passive gear? I wouldn't think cams would unzip so easy.

Ive done touch and go and your right larry it is fairly straight forward for gear compared to some red river gorge routes.

A similar story with a better outcome-
A guy here in Lexington back in the early 90s got interested in climbing, bought a really nice rack and went up to do Autumn. He slipped on one of those layback moves, fell, pulled out gear, and decked. He had a gear sale the very next day. I still have two of the quad cams from the windfall (no pun intended).
Looking back on my own toddler steps at leading I don't know how I didn't get hurt. Probably by being yella and back off so much.

It's great when you learn how to back off without losing gear. Down-climb-aiding is my specialty.

I bailed on a leaver piece a couple times,and had someone else finish a couple times.You know when you are in over your head,why get killed?On another day you can go do right.