Lurking Fear C2F 5.7

Currently 4.0/5

El Capitan

Yosemite Valley, California USA

Trip Report

Lurking Fear TR

Friday June 15, 2007 3:00pm

Just a few pics of a trip up Lurking Fear last fall.
Juli leading the 2nd pitch.

Juli leading the 13th pitch.

Juli on Thanksgiving Ledge 1 hour after accidentally amputating the tip of her pinky finger. How did this happen you might be wondering? Just be careful of your Protraxion when hauling, and keep your sh#t together.

Nice sunset picture from the top of El Cap.

After spending the night on top, I finally got Juli to the emergency room in Modesto and had her finger surgically repaired 28 hours after it happened. She is one strong person. Turns out she almost lost the next finger in line and ended up with a deep laceration to the bone, we had hardly noticed it when taping her up. I will never forget the vision of her finger tip hanging out of the protraxion. Brutal.

Trip Report Views: 8,159

Rudyj2

About the Author
Rudyj2 is a trad climber from UT.

Comments

Russ Walling

Social climber

from Poofters Froth, Wyoming

Jun 15, 2007 - 03:03pm PT

WOW! Way to suck it up!

steelmnkey

climber

Vision man...ya gotta have vision...

Jun 15, 2007 - 03:05pm PT

Man, between this one and the girl who had her teeth ripped, some of you dudes are climbing with some flippin' HARD wimmen!!! Nice job!

Crimpergirl

Sport climber

Boulder, Colorado!

Jun 15, 2007 - 03:09pm PT

Holy moly! When you wrote that she amputated the tip of her pinky, I envisioned skin removal. NOT THE END OF HER FINGER! Yikes.

Rudyj2

Sport climber

Author's Reply

Jun 15, 2007 - 03:14pm PT

Cam was engaged, it was what pulled her finger tip off. When the bags are stuck don't try to pull on the load side, if they come free and you are space hauling on the other end, watch out. It was a simple mistake with a painful lesson for her and a humiliating and regretful experience for me.

imnotclever

Sport climber

Jun 15, 2007 - 03:22pm PT

Wow! Just wow. Amazed.

Anybody else remembering Fly'n Bryan (IIRC, it was somebody with Ammon) and the beak to the hand?

salad

Big Wall climber

Jun 15, 2007 - 04:32pm PT

i like to pick my nose with my pinky.

hardcore stuff! good show juli!

Melissa

Gym climber

berkeley, ca

Jun 15, 2007 - 04:33pm PT

Holy day-um. I ever loose part of a finger in a piece of climbing gear, I hope I've got the good graces to tape it up, show it off, and smile for a picture. I hope it's all working OK now. I too thought you meant that she cut a chunk of flesh off...not bone.

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

Nothing creative to say

Jun 15, 2007 - 04:40pm PT

I am humbled.

wow! is right Juli.

Rudyj2

Sport climber

Author's Reply

Jun 15, 2007 - 04:46pm PT

Thanks everyone, best day at work ever.

Yeah, once we got past the Trauma/Drama we realized that what radical said "F*#k Pinkies!! They are useless anyway...
What the hell do we need those thing for??" was pretty true. Amputated right above the distal knuckle, she can still flex the knuckle, and she was climbing again before her stitches were out.

The rock is sweet! After all the comments we heard about Lurking Fear not even being an El Cap route, I felt like I got the full value experience.

Melissa

Gym climber

berkeley, ca

Jun 15, 2007 - 04:49pm PT

"After all the comments we heard about Lurking Fear not even being an El Cap route"

I've never heard that!

Congrats on your summit too. It's hard to get past the pinky thing, but I'm sure the rest of your trip was quite and experience too.

N0_ONE

Social climber

Utah

Jun 15, 2007 - 05:27pm PT

Ouch!!!!

Way to suck it up!!

Good job guys!

Gunkie

Trad climber

Valles Marineris

Jun 15, 2007 - 06:58pm PT

Holy crap! I almost puked when I saw that. You guys are a lot tougher than me.

Nice job pushing on and finishing the route... and not calling for Werner & co.

M.Tea

Trad climber

Utah

Jun 15, 2007 - 07:50pm PT

seriously....way to see it through. proud!

john hansen

climber

Jun 15, 2007 - 10:53pm PT

Maybe she got better at climbing after that .It worked for Tommy Caldwell...

murcy

Gym climber

sanfrancisco

Jun 16, 2007 - 12:27am PT

yeah, not hauling around all that extra fingertip weight and all...

valygrl

climber

Boulder, CO

Jun 16, 2007 - 12:28am PT

Juliieeeeeee! I don't know you, but I feel your pain! I hacked the tip off my right pinky on uh... oh this is soooo embarassing.... um... the approach.... in spires gully. Wiht self-inflicted rockfall.

And no, we didn't do the climb. I went straight to the e-room and begged for morhpine.

You are a stud!

Only reason to really miss that fingertip: Backspace

:)

nick d

Trad climber

Jun 16, 2007 - 01:30am PT

Welcome to the land of nine fingered people! As someone else alluded, one of the prime uses of your new "feature" is jamming the stump in your nose. It can make some people very uncomfortable. Never know how "handy" that can be! Sorry for your loss, but you are a total stud for carrying onward and upward.

ps...I did all the hardest climbs I have done post amputation. Get used to tinc'ing and taping it and you can use the tape job to great advantage.

Michael

Rudyj2

Sport climber

Author's Reply

Jun 17, 2007 - 03:33pm PT

Bump, because I am bored.

Can you imagine calling for a rescue for a little accidental pinky amputation? I figured we would be ridiculed forever, besides Juli wouldn't have anything to do with a rescue.

Wonder what the worst reason for a rescue has been?

Rudyj2

Sport climber

Author's Reply

Jun 17, 2007 - 05:44pm PT

"he was to tired to walk back up"

I guess that is about what I was expecting. It seems to happen around here once a season or so. Someone called for a rescue a couple summers ago due to being stuck in the scrub oak, just didn't want to bushwack anymore.

Have fun up there Riley.

couchmaster

climber

Nov 18, 2008 - 10:16pm PT

Wow, what a total badass your lady is.

As far as the worst reason for a rescue, a group of Koreans called for a a rescue on Denali because they didn't like the weather as it later turned out. I think the full story is that they called for a rescue, and the rescue happened. Later, the Park Service learned the reason and was pretty burned about it, but the Koreans we all no-compas, like meh... we paid for rescue insurance in advance- WTF?

Think of the poor bastards heading up in that sh#t weather while the Koreans huddled in their tents...inside their thick fluffy sleeping bags....

Roxy

Trad climber

CA Central Coast

Nov 18, 2008 - 10:24pm PT

bump...Juli is a badass

ZeHardcore

Trad climber

San Diego, California

Nov 18, 2008 - 10:29pm PT

WOahhhh! BUMPPPPP!!!!!

Now, that is ze hardcore! Brutal! What a badass

east side underground

climber

paul linaweaver hilton crk ca

Nov 18, 2008 - 11:05pm PT

way to hang in there! I think lurking fear is a cool route, good work

Lambone

Big Wall climber

Ashland, Or

Nov 19, 2008 - 12:27pm PT

man, f*#k the pro-trax! Kong Block Roll all the way! Props for soldiering through a shitty injury.

the Fet

climber

Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

Nov 19, 2008 - 01:28pm PT

Wow, missed this first time around.

"I ever loose part of a finger in a piece of climbing gear, I hope I've got the good graces to tape it up, show it off, and smile for a picture." Yeah, what a good sport.

As Tommy says in Dosage Part 99, "high four and a half!"

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Nov 19, 2008 - 01:41pm PT

Dang! Way to finish and not bail!

Another great report I missed the first time round while up on the wall....

climber

Mudcat Spire

Feb 25, 2009 - 12:36pm PT

Oh no she didn't! bump

Rudyj2

Sport climber

Author's Reply

Feb 25, 2009 - 01:06pm PT

Wow, what's this doin back on the front page?

Thanks for all the kind words.

And to the Fet, how did you get your screen name. Somewhat unusual and yet it is what we call Juli's brother.

drljefe

climber

El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson

Feb 25, 2009 - 01:13pm PT

If Tommy Caldwell isn't proof/inspiration enough....
Remember my main man Jerry Garcia!

Jordan Ramey

Big Wall climber

Calgary, Alberta

May 8, 2009 - 09:27pm PT

bump cause that's hardcore

Lambone

Big Wall climber

Ashland, Or

May 10, 2009 - 02:21am PT

nice bump!

good reminder to becareful with a protrax!

Garcia is the king of the Jamband genre for sure too...

instert:
...no pete we don't need to hear how bad the pro is again.

Jaybro

Social climber

Wolf City, Wyoming

May 10, 2009 - 02:38am PT

Though I hesitate to put Jim Waugh with Jerry and Frodo, and the rest, ya gotta hand it to him...

drljefe

climber

El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson

May 10, 2009 - 02:42am PT

you gotta "hand" it to him!!!

Tahoe climber

climber

Davis these days

Sep 17, 2009 - 12:04pm PT

That's proud. Nice work. -TC

Rudyj2

Sport climber

Author's Reply

Sep 26, 2009 - 11:17am PT

shameless self promotional thread bump.

At least it is climbing related......and it has a Garcia reference. Makes me proud.

As the 3 year anniversary of Chubbs(yes, her stubb has a name) gets closer , I realize I have failed once again in my resolve to climb in the Valley more often. Oh well, at least I am still climbing. As for Juli, she is still a bad ass...nothing is gonna keep her down.

Cheers.

hoipolloi

climber

A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi

Sep 26, 2009 - 02:30pm PT

thats funny, my partner was telling me about this in July while we did Lurking Fear in a shove.

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Sep 27, 2009 - 01:56am PT

hey there rudyi2, say, thanks for the:
"shameless self promotional thread bump."

hope you get more climbs in, too...

god bless... :)

shipoopoi

Big Wall climber

oakland

Sep 27, 2009 - 02:57am PT

Wow, that is proud stuff. funny, about 10 days ago or so i was at the same place with my wife heather, only two placements above the belay, when the fixed stopper i was hanging on blew. i had backcleaned a cam below, and was just about to move onto the a bomber cam above. i took a fall factor two onto the belay, sending heather sailing into the belay, hurting her knee in the process. luckily, she was belaying well below the anchor. as always, like everybody should, i had the top bolt on the belay clipped. i fell free about ten feet, spanked the slab right next to her, and went sailing past her another ten. i took the hit along the entire side of my left body...bloodied thigh, bruised ribs, left elbow, sufficiently evenly enough to not get seriously hurt. we licked our wounds and continued onwards, topping out in under 16 hours, but fried enough that we spent the night on top of the route, nursing a piddly fire with a few twigs all night to keep from freezing. but this was nothing to juli's epic, i feel like such a sissy now, shipoopoi

Climbingaggie03

Trad climber

The road

May 6, 2012 - 04:42pm PT

Damn! I thought I was tough for getting myself off the grack after breaking a bone in my hand. After I finished it, my buddy wanted to rap down with me on his harness. I was having none of it. I think if I'd lost a finger tip, I would have let him rap me down.