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Gary
climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Feb 28, 2007 - 10:27am PT
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I came off Stichter Quits 3" out from the first bolt. That's my longest lead fall.
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G_Gnome
Boulder climber
Sick Midget Land
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Feb 28, 2007 - 12:51pm PT
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No really big falls in my 34 years of climbing. Longest was probably 25' but the worst was when I decked leading The Pirate at Suicide. While reaching for the black knob to finish the first hard section I came unglued from the crack and fired myself straight out from the rock pulling my top piece with me. My second piece was an RP and it sheered on both sides and pulled. My last piece sort of caught me as I hit the ground. Somewhere in there I slammed back into the wall hard enough to rip the rubber off the bottom of my shoe and blow my big toe flexor tendon clear to the back of my knee. Had to walk down from Suicide backwards. I think that toe is my only injury that still bothers me most of the time. Not bad considering.
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carrbro
climber
Rockies
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Feb 28, 2007 - 01:03pm PT
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Decko - you need to tell the whole story and the damage....
For me - about 40 feet when hooks popped hand drilling on the lead on a 11d/12a route in the SPlatte. Then about 1500 feet with my brother in Peru - used all 9 lives up at once.
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L
climber
The City of Lost Angels
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Feb 28, 2007 - 01:38pm PT
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Jeez, after carrbro's 1500'-used-all-9-lives in Peru, my measly little 35 footer on China Wall seems, well, measly. But since it was only my 3rd or 4th lead climb, it didn't feel measly!
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G_Gnome
Boulder climber
Sick Midget Land
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Feb 28, 2007 - 01:56pm PT
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Ok L, how the hell did you fall 35' on a sport route?!
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L
climber
The City of Lost Angels
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Feb 28, 2007 - 02:26pm PT
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G-gnome--
It was my third lead, 5.9 Child of Light--long way between bolts anyway--but as a nubie trying an onsite, I wandered off route just enough to skip the one bolt that would've made it a much shorter fall. Needless to say, I was 3 feet from the anchors and whipped off the thing.
Man oh man, that was fun!!!
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Feb 28, 2007 - 03:33pm PT
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This one, on the second pitch during the FA of Flying Circus on Tahquitz...
The actual fall was taken with my right foot on that left handhold, all the way onto the two 1/4" Rawls that Ricky was belaying on. On a Whillans harness, no less.
(I have a vivid memory, while falling, of watching Ricky pull in some rapidly-accumulating slack.) That appears to be at least 40 feet, maybe more.
Uniform consensus was that a second fall like that was right out!
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Largo
Sport climber
Venice, Ca
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Feb 28, 2007 - 04:26pm PT
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50 feet on a new aid line on The Watchtower, Sequoia, Southern Sierras, with Richard Harrison, around 1976. Next biggest was in the 30 foot range and I took a stack of those, mostly on slabs, often off route (on new routes).
JL
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Erik of Oakland
Gym climber
Oakland
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Feb 28, 2007 - 05:39pm PT
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10 feet, maybe more with rope stretch, in the gym, 5.11 range
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Feb 28, 2007 - 06:14pm PT
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Whillans harness Robs? That sounds more painful than anything else mentioned on this thread.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Feb 28, 2007 - 06:57pm PT
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1977:45 feet over roof. "Tight Rope", GPA, Yosemite. Just touched the ledge with my feet.
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Darnell
Big Wall climber
Chicago
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Feb 28, 2007 - 07:03pm PT
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70 ft. while soloing Zenith
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Feb 28, 2007 - 07:13pm PT
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stevep said, "Whillans harness Robs? That sounds more painful than anything..."
Yeah, one of those all-white Whillans chastity belts... Since that puppy helped save my life quite a few times (including a near-death 300' slide
down some fixed 3/8" polypropylene on Mt. Foraker), I'm inclined to suggest that those harnesses are somewhat underrated!
On that fall on Flying Circus, I had several coins in the pocket of my dress whites. After the whipper, Rick, Gib and I did bag the route. But down at Humber,
while changing out at the car, I noticed I had two perfect quarter-sized bruises on my right thigh. (...pretty sure there was a likeness of George Washington
in that bruise.)
Like I said, pretty underrated... I did go on to have two healthy sons, thereafter. ;-)
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I'm hurtin . . .
Ice climber
land of cheese and beer
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Feb 28, 2007 - 08:04pm PT
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50-60 feet off Direct Southeast (.11d thin fingers), Devils Tower. I'd been giving partners crap about putting in too much pro, so I was showing off, running it out. I was cruisin' putting in med/small stoppers now and then until it got easy about 2/3's of the way up the pitch, so then I ran it out 15-20' before I put in a small stopper. It looked easy above so off I went, but I pumped out quick. After considerable whining I finally get a stopper half way in but by then I've got total sewing-machine body going and my fingers are sliding out of the crack. The first time I try to clip I'm almost there when I let go of the rope in order to get more fingers in the crack. The second time I had the gate open when I dropped it. I holler at my belayer to 'watch me' as I give it another go, but it's no use, I'm coming off but just as I start to slide I notice the rope is going behind my right leg. So I start crying like a baby trying to get the rope right so it doesn't flip me upside down. I didn't make it. Ripped the small stopper and then I did this INCREDIBLE back summersault as the rope went tight. My belayer said it was one of the most amazing things he ever saw. You should have seen the bruise . . .
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K. Fosburg
Sport climber
park city, ut
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Feb 28, 2007 - 08:28pm PT
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I took about a 50 ft. fall off the Bismark while soloing Mescalito.
Near the top of the pitch it turns into a widening flare with no pro (the biggest piece I had was a #4 friend. The yellow Myers guide had this pitch labeled 5.9 3-4" which probably should have been 3-9"). I dicked around forever metering out slack for my clove-hitch self belay and then re-adjusting trying to give myself just enough rope to mantle on to the ledge. My first attempt was not so good. I pimped up to where it got seemingly harder than 5.9 and then ratcheted back down to my #4 friend for more stressful deliberation and knot adjustment. Second time up I was feeling better and got higher, close to where the ledge seemed almost within reach. Then I pitched out, inverting almost immediately because of the goon rack and kept sailing (I certainly would have had enough slack to finish the pitch). I slammed backward upside down against the wall with a hard blow to my head. Lost my glasses.
I spent a miserable night on Bismark Ledge full of big-time dread of going back up there. The next morning I jugged up and it occurred to me for the first time that perhaps one could just lay it back as an alternative. Four moves later my nightmare ended.
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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Feb 28, 2007 - 08:59pm PT
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WOW!! Hardman Knott that's pretty good. Good thingg you're still here with us and not dead, or worse in a wheelchiar pull your meals from a straw and having your colostomy bag emptied every 5 hours by a Nurse who doesn't speak english!
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TradIsGood
Happy and Healthy climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Feb 28, 2007 - 09:08pm PT
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After I take two more, I will have a longest.
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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Feb 28, 2007 - 09:16pm PT
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I took what was estimated by witnesses as a 60-70 footer 2 weeks ago.
Good thing I was deep water soloing! But, I landed flat on my side, and that ended my day. Couldn't breathe for a minute, couldn't fully inflate my lungs for several hours, and my back hurt for a couple days. Covered in bruises.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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How about a brief pause to recalculate a couple of fall factors in old posts, amidst all the scary stories:
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Mar 25, 2005
Author: Jaybro]
[1 of 4 falls described]
Scariest circa 78, EB's. Agean stables (incorrectly refered to as hesitation blues in guidebooks) 11b lieback in Vedauwoo.
Leading at my limit, i placed an early model friend at what must have been about one foot above halfway as my forearms pumped beyond belief.
I kept climbing because I could not let go to place more pro.
I reached the top and grabbed the bombproof ledge ... and watched my cramping hands melt off the top.
As I sailed down, the image of Wes the belayer, frantically trying to yard in rope grew at a terrifying rate.
The peice held, but with rope stretch my feet brushed the rocky turf. I came to rest dangling about a foot or so above the ground.
25'? factor two for sure!
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Thanks for sharing and, to Wes for coming through as the belay hero (vs. some of the botched belays in other posts!)
The Fall Factor has to be less than 2, though. Say the Friend was at 13' and when you fell your feet were at 25':
(fall distance)/(amount of rope used to absorb fall) = 25/(13+9?) = 1.1 . (A very "full value" 1.1, though, nearly an
infinite one (25/0 if Wes didn't deliver).
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Apr 1, 2005
Author: kevsteele
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.
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The Fall Facor of 1 is correct. But it's not as soft as it gets (in terms of leader or toprope falls).
As soft as it gets would be something more like 5/190 = 0.026 .
(For example, taking a short 5' slip, onto pro at your waist, 190' out; more likely the rope will stretch a bit more and make a longer fall, but even 0.04 is a lot smaller than 1).
We now return to your regularly scheduled airtime....
I took a 35-footer in the Gunks (Apoplexy) when trying to climb too soon after it rained. I discovered even an incut horizontal is hard to hold onto when it's full of slippery mud. So I gave my belayer plenty of warning and then jumped off. Perfect catch in midair; the fixed 1" angle piton held. After that he designated that end of his rope as "Clint's end".
I also took a 40' "semi-grounder" over an overhang, into an icy slab while ice climbing. The only pro was a piton level with the belay, so I slid another 60' or so. That did not end so well - broken vertebra, spinal cord injury, broken leg. But I was lucky and (with much medical assistance) recovered back to near normal. When my partner rapped off the belay anchor (single piton), it pulled and he rode down the slab on his side, narrowly missing trees below. His injury: pierced his side with Terrordactyl, a couple of stitches. It was my only fall ice climbing, and my last ice climb. It was on an attempted FA on Whitehorse Ledge, NH, later done as "Alchemist's Dream"(?) (near "Mistaken Identity").
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