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spidey
Trad climber
Berkeley/El Cerrito
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Mar 31, 2005 - 01:32am PT
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Short version: 40-50 footer on an 8.5 mil rope.
Long version:
Jer and I were on a route called Rocktology (5.10+) on the Elephant Head, in the Southern Arizona backcountry. It had probably had less than 5 ascents at the time, and I doubt it has had many more by now (5 years later). Middle of nowhere, nobody knew we were out there, nobody else around for miles. This is one of the last big backcountry routes I wanted to climb before leaving Tucson for the bay area. Jer and I had climbed lots of classic backcountry routes together over the past 3 years, working up through the grades, getting stronger and more experienced.
Jer leads the first pitch 10b chimney/corner through a roof in fine style to a hanging belay below a right leaning, right facing roof/dihedral. I lead out left over the roof, place a crappy tricam in a pocket, and then clip a nice shiny 3/8" bolt 20 feet left of the anchor and maybe 10 feet up. From there the guidebook says to move up and right using pockets and gashes for pro until you reach a large hole/alcove. I never reached the alcove.
I climbed up 15 feet or so on 9+ face climbing to a nice looking gash, quickly placed a purple camalot jr., and then realized that it was too small, I should have used the green one. In addition, the gash had sharp and slippery quartz crystals all over the inside of it. I knew that cam was crap, but my stance sucked so I moved up to what I thought would be a better stance to get a better piece in. Unfortunately, there were no other gear placements; I was going to have to remove that piece to place a better one, and I was having a hard time getting up the nerve to take it out.
Now my feet are in the gash, and I'm leaning out right with my right hand on a nice incut edge/jug, reaching down to my feet, futzing with the cam, trying to decided if I should just keep climbing (another 10 feet of 5.10 climbing to the next gash/possible gear) or if I should try to replace it, and risk falling in the process.
As fate would have it, the decision was out of my hands. The incut hold i was leaning on came off and I went flying sideways/backwards. I had enough airtime to think about it, and yell both "FVCK" and "Falling". The cam ripped without even a whimper, and my skinny double rope clipped to the bolt caught me after 40 feet of air, but slammed me into the lip of the roof, badly bruising my thigh. As his reward for catching me, Jeremy got his head slammed into the roof (10 feet above me and maybe 20 feet to my right). Glad we had a policy of wearing helmets on backcountry climbs.
After making sure nothing is broken or bleeding, and waiting for the worst of the heebies to subside, I climb back up to the bolt and consider finishing the pitch. By this point my thigh is really starting to ache/throb/stiffen, and leading 5.10 face (near my limit at the time), followed by 4 more pitches of 5.10ish climbing starts to seem like a bad idea. Shaken, but happy to be intact, we bail, and I hobble/bushwack back to the car, as adrenaline is gradually replaced by pain and swelling.
Always meant to go back to that one, never did. I will, someday...
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DE
Mountain climber
Tustin, Calif.
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Mar 31, 2005 - 12:25pm PT
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Rock Climbing-40' on Ten Carrot Gold circa 1975. First pitch, one inch from the jug at the end of the crux. 40' on a 5.6 slab at the Potash (1990), slipped on a sandy spot, very embarrassing, hundreds of people there!
Mountaineering- 1000+ footer, N. face of San Jack, 1979.
Big Wall- 30-40' on POW when a rivet broke, 1989.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Mar 31, 2005 - 02:53pm PT
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"Mountaineering- 1000+ footer, N. face of San Jack, 1979. "
I think we'd all probably like you to elaborate and embellish this one...
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DE
Mountain climber
Tustin, Calif.
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Mar 31, 2005 - 06:06pm PT
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Here's the short version. My cousin, a friend and I went to climb the North face of San Jacinto with no beta or bivvy gear, no rope, crampons or ice axes.We thought the ridge up the center of the face looked proud so off we went, we had no idea people climbed the gully. While climbing a 5th class rock band about 6000 feet up my friend fell (to his death, we thought)but was miraculously stopped by a small tree (after a 80-100' airball). My cousin and I pulled him onto a ledge and discovered he had some broken ribs and other injuries. It was decided that I would go for help while they waited. Thinking we were pretty near the top, I started off to try to climb up, down and out to Idyllwild for help. As I neared the peak at about sunset I was forced to try and cross the top of the icy couloir to gain the summit ridge. I was most of the way across when the thin crust I was edging on gave way and I shot off down the couloir at mach speed. It seemed that nothing could stop me before splattering on the rocks 7000+ feet below. As I rocketed down I could see a large rock outcropping directly in my path and approaching fast.I thought "that is where I die" as I hit, but, lo and behold, the rock had a perfect bmx jump shaped lip. It shot me straight up in the air where I stalled and dropped right back down to punch through the crust and stop dead! My shoulder was dislocated but considering the situation I figured out how to pop it back in on the spot. I was able to crawl away from the spot and bivvied in a cave a couple hundred feet above. The next morning I carried on and at about 10pm came out the Black Mtn. road to the highway. I hitched to the Sheriff's office and reported the incident. The next morning we met the Riv. Search and Rescue at Snow Creek and flew up (helicopter) and plucked my cousin and friend from high on the N. Face.
I estimated the fall to be 800-1200+ feet while groveling to the summit ridge after the bivvy.
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DE
Mountain climber
Tustin, Calif.
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Mar 31, 2005 - 06:07pm PT
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ps. Since then I've been living on borrowed time!
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kevsteele
climber
Santa Barbara, CA
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Is it still a "fall" if you jump?
Longest was full 165 rope length into big air.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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DE - that's one of the more amazing stories I've ever heard someone walk away from...
=
"Longest was full 165 rope length into big air."
Ditto - you probably need to elaborate and embellish this one as well...
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kevsteele
climber
Santa Barbara, CA
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"Ditto - you probably need to elaborate and embellish this one as well... "
-----------------------------------------------------
It was 1990 and the week before my wedding - As a "bachelor party" a few friends (Rob Raker, Kevin Brown, Johnny Woodward) led me, at night, blindfolded to an unnamed bridge spanning a canyon behind SB. We climbed the girders to reach the center from underneath then fixed the 11 mil rope (and backup) to the steel beams. At night you can't see the rope swaying in the air going down 80 feet from your harness and then back up again 80 feet to the anchor. Step 20 feet back along the beams from the tie-off point (to make the impact a softer arc). Then jump.
Dan Osman unfortunately met his end doing this - under different circumstances. As far as the load on the gear it's about as soft as it gets: Fall Factor of 1.
-Kevin
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Jedi
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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It was early morning at Red Rocks and we headed to the Dog wall for some warming up... actually it was the coldest wall there. Grabbed my brand new rope and jumped on some .11c. I was making the clip at the forth bolt (an awkward clip) and my foot popped as the rope was at the biner. I held my breath, grabbed the rope and dropped like sh#t into a toilet. 25' later with my legs bend I opened my eyes to see that I was about 2" off the ground with my belayer yanked up. thank god I bent my legs.
I let out a scream then finished the route. That made my balls shrink for a few months.
-Jedi
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lad
Trad climber
near Fresno, CA
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DE - hell of an adventure and reminiscent of those impetuous days where friends and I grew up climbing those same ridges and couloirs. Your story brings back to my mind's eye the vision of one of my best friends barn-dooring, pitching off, then grabing ahold of a stout manzanita branch as if that burning bush was extending, reaching out to save him from a long X fall whilst along side one of the many waterfalls to be had. LOL, those were the days before we knew how to short rope/short pitch 4th and 5th class terrain ;) cheers...
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Timmc
climber
East Kootenays
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Feb 27, 2007 - 05:15pm PT
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On Friday I took a 400 footer onto a .5 camalot while alpine climbing. Two hundred feet of rag-dolling and then two hundred feet of pure air. My partner caught me on a Munter as I neared the deck. Stretch gently put me 25 feet from the wall upside down on a steep snow-cone.
This is how it unfolded:
My partner led the first 60m pitch of steep ice. I grabbed the rack, put on my pack and started the second pitch, stopping 20 feet above the belay to place the only piece (.5) of the pitch. Steep snow climbing with no gear to the end of the rope. As I was placing a piece a 'bolt from the blue' aireborn snow mushroom knocked me off and down. Glad I had unclipped from my Quarks (plunged into unconsolidated snow) before the whip.
Other than an injured knee and crampon point stabs all over my legs, I was fine. Really fine.
Before that, I haven't fallen more than 10 feet in 22 years of climbing.
No chit!
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John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
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Feb 27, 2007 - 05:26pm PT
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70 foot ground fall onto a sandy beach. Landed between two large rocks. Took me about a year to recover.
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sketchyy
Trad climber
Vagrant
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Feb 27, 2007 - 05:55pm PT
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DAMN Timmyc, glad your still with us.
personell best(worst?) 35'+-
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Clayman
Trad climber
CA, now Flagstaff
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Feb 27, 2007 - 06:03pm PT
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Whats the biggest rope jump you guys have whipped?
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Wes Allen
Boulder climber
KY
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Feb 27, 2007 - 06:12pm PT
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Sport, ~67 feet on a 75 foot route. Broke a hold with two arms of rope out to clip the (runout) chains. New RRG routes are *exciting* sometimes. Have taken several around 50 feet or so going to the chains on a couple routes, or from letting go and taking the ride at the chains.
Gear, maybe 20-25 or so feet on a couple routes at the creek ad red.
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James
climber
A tent in the redwoods
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Feb 27, 2007 - 06:19pm PT
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Seventy feet to a ledge, thirty feet to the ground- a soloing fall. Logged a few 40 footers including a really scary upside down fall out of pipeline in Squamish.
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Decko
Ice climber
Colorado
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Feb 27, 2007 - 06:26pm PT
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85-100 feet to the ground........
BOOM ouch that hurt
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Nick
climber
portland, Oregon
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Feb 27, 2007 - 09:59pm PT
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80-100? on Wrinkle in Time, TM 76'
Tried to do the second on the route. Finished the crux and was right below the belay that the route shares with Cibola. Thought I was all done and liebacked on a big crystal that stuck out the edge of the crack. As I was reaching up for the ledge, snap goes the nubin. Can you say stupid! . I tried to dance on some footholds, but that was a no go and I was airborne. Because I was off to the side of the bolt I could watch the big loop of slack develop then it was the big swing across the face like a sack of potatoes. The only damage was a flayed nose spewing blood all over my only clean shirt. I think that's the only one more than 20.
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RRK
Trad climber
Talladega, Al
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Feb 28, 2007 - 09:32am PT
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I doubt that anybody'll beat this one. It wasn't me (my max-air is only a measley 40 feet) but rather my regular partner for the past 30 years. I won't name him but some of the older NC guys know who I'm talking about. He was climbing a route called Free Man in Paris at Looking Glass and fell with a full rope out. (the alternate name for that route is now "Dead Man In Pisgah") It was a 165' rope and he had one small wire just past the belay so the best guess is about 300 feet total airtime. His belayer took the slack out of the rope and lowered him to the ground (then off to the hospital) - it couldn't have been much closer than that. That fall had just happened when we started climbing 30 years ago. His belayer mentioned it to me several times - I guess while trying to work through that Post-traumatic stress thing - but I never really pressed him for the details (what details could there be - I climbed way up there and fell off?) We had a 50th birthday party for another partner a few years back and started telling falling stories and somebody (Harrison Shull I think) dragged the substance of it out of him. He also had a 100 footer at Tablerock on a route called Fresh Garbage - but that too was many years ago. For him the past 30 years have been relatively incident-free until he grounded at New River from about 15-20 feet last spring and was helped out of the gorge and on to the hospital by Mal Daley (thanks Mal). Injuries from the grounder and the big fall were basically the same. Lesson here? Maybe that the big rides are not necessarily the most dangerous.
RRK
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Feb 28, 2007 - 09:43am PT
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Rope jump (Clayman)-600 + change footer with DanO. Foresthill.
Longest coulda been real bad: 45' on a 50' route. Broke some RPs (cables ripped on the side of the crack)...+ belayer was standing out from cliff. Very lucky with that one.
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