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Gcshelto
Trad climber
riverside
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May 14, 2012 - 04:21pm PT
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Hey Will, it's Graham. I was there on Saturday, we briefly spoke as you were rapelling down the first pitch of the Trough. I cleaned all gear and left it with Bree (spelling*) at Nomad's in Idyllwild. She said she'll have it for you when you come by.
I'm glad to hear Wendy is doing okay. I did hear that Barry's climbing partner did make it and will be okay as well.
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valeraxy
Trad climber
L.A.
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May 14, 2012 - 04:29pm PT
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Happy to hear the good news, Will! Thanks for the update and all the details. I had some things totally screwed up in my mind. I thought Wendy and Barry were together on the first belay station. Shows you how useful eye witnesses are.
Keep on keeping on Wendy & other guy!
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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May 14, 2012 - 04:45pm PT
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Glad everyone is recovering, hearing the details makes me think this could have easily been a fatality. Bummer it was the other guys first trip!
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maratumba
Sport climber
la ca
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May 14, 2012 - 05:58pm PT
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Really really glad that everyone turned out to be in recovery. When I saw that giant chunk of rock rolling down, I was sure that worse things were going to happen. So happy that I was wrong.
Btw, Valeraxy said that Barry's partner leaned back and looked up when he heard people yelling "rock!". I guess that's why he didn't get hit on the helmet but only in the chest. Considering the huge distance the rocks fell, he is very very lucky.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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May 14, 2012 - 08:07pm PT
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I've had too many experiences over the years with falling rocks to care if I look cool in a helmet. Really glad to hear that everyone from this accident is faring well enough, as it obviously could've been so much worse.
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Topic Author's Reply - May 14, 2012 - 08:15pm PT
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I find at Tahquitz, barring this incident, its better to climb with no parties above than to line up for the same one and wear a helmet.
Again, this is an isolated incident... but far too many people are Q'ing up right behind each other on these routes. Of course you are free to make your own decisions, but there are great routes up there that NEVER get done when Fingertrip has a conga line all weekend long. Next weekend, bring the helmet and pick a route that is safe for you, either difficulty wise or objective hazard.
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maratumba
Sport climber
la ca
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May 14, 2012 - 10:49pm PT
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I don't know if this is what's in "how-to-climb" books but in the event of a rock fall, standard procedure should be putting a piece in (or setting up an anchor) until the rope is confirmed to be not damaged.
Would you agree?
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Captain...or Skully
climber
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May 14, 2012 - 11:36pm PT
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Freeze thaw, man. It's The World. Glad it turned out ok, sorta.
Best one could hope for.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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May 14, 2012 - 11:45pm PT
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Reference, please.
t is a classic crag where you can sit on top and listen to the traffic in town a mile below and gaze out thru the smog over the pacific while yr partner epics fifty feet below.
despite the friendly social warm temps. t is pretty alpine partly because it's the first thing over five thousand feet the onshores hit in socal. there isn't a simple wiki-friendly acoustic science model to click here.
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gstock
climber
Yosemite Valley
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May 15, 2012 - 08:28pm PT
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Glad to hear that everyone seems to be ok. Spontaneous rockfall is spooky for sure, but probably a lot more common than most climbers realize. Freeze-thaw can destabilize rocks, but its importance is often overstated. Other, more subtle processes such as thermal stresses or sub-critical crack propagation may prove more effective, at least in places like Yosemite or Tahquitz where a lot of rockfall occurs during prolonged periods of warm temperatures.
I'm not necessarily suggesting that thermal stresses triggered this rockfall at Tahquitz, but our research in Yosemite shows that rock flakes can deform a lot each day due to thermal stresses. A flake we are measuring in Yosemite Valley deforms outward as much as 1.5 cm over a day, with the maximum amount of deformation in the late afternoon. The outward deformation accumulates over the summer, so that the greatest amount of deformation (and greatest amount of stress at the crack tips) occurs on the hottest days of summer, typically in the late afternoon or evening. A majority of documented summertime rockfalls occur between noon and 6 pm.
Here's a recent abstract on our findings: http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2012/EGU2012-13223.pdf
and here's a Supertopo thread on the same topic:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1189611/Measuring-rock-flake-deformation
Greg
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Peter Astroman
Big Wall climber
Orange County, CA
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May 16, 2012 - 06:27pm PT
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I'm glad both he and she will be okay. I was there and glad to be wearing a helmet. The three best points to learn from this report are;
1. Wear a helmet.
2. Climb on a route less traveled or wait.
3. Set pieces as fast as you can if your rope may have been damaged by rock fall. verify the integrity of your rope before you trust it.
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buttgravy
climber
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May 16, 2012 - 10:36pm PT
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Maratumba - definitely agree on checking the rope after any rock or ice fall in the area. I was pretty lucky that my girlfriend was close to a bomber piece and able to fire in another one to secure herself. It allowed me to check it right away before using it to get to her, and to eventually bail out on. I can see a lot of other scenarios though, where it would not work out so easily.
I'm glad everyone is taking away (or taking more seriously) things to consider when, where, or how to climb from incidents like this one. Shitty things happen so we can all learn and climb safer from them.
Wendy is doing much better today and will hopefully be back to everyday activities next week. I hope the other guy is recovering well too.
Graham, thanks again for picking up my gear and dropping it off at Nomad's!
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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May 17, 2012 - 12:16am PT
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Greg, that is great stuff!
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Hamburger
Trad climber
Victorville
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May 18, 2012 - 02:40pm PT
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Hi everyone, my name is Wendy. I am one of the climbers that was injured on 5/12 in Tahqquitz. I'm feeling better everyday and recovering quickly. I want to express my great appreciation to everyone involved with the rescue. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, you guys are AWESOME! Thank you to my amazing Boyfriend Will for handling everything the way he did that day and for always making me wear my helmet, it saved my life! God bless you all.
 Wendy
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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May 18, 2012 - 02:43pm PT
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Glad to hear you are recovering quickly and feeling better.
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JonathanTyrosisMaximus
Gym climber
San Diego, CA
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May 19, 2012 - 01:57am PT
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I climbed the Trough on Sunday and recovered gear. Some of the gear was near the blood and there was an anchor maybe 30 - 40 feet above that. I read earlier that someone had allegedly already recovered the gear. So whose gear do I have? I got a couple of camming devices, a locking biner, a few regular biners, a wired and a sling. I'd be happy to return the gear to the rightful owners. I plan to be at Idyllwild in a week for a few days.
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saintfeeder
Trad climber
Los Angeles, California
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May 20, 2012 - 12:49pm PT
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Once more gravity reminds us the fate of every mountain and climbing rock (and climber) is to become soil.
In the same area there was a detached flake, several inches thick and larger than a door, sitting upright on Pine Tree Ledge (north of the pine) for some years in the 1980s.
Whether it finally was pushed off by human hand I don't know, but it left the ledge behind at some point.
As we remember from Mountaineering 101, rockfall likes couloirs (e.g. The Trough), thawing times of day, and spring.
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buttgravy
climber
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May 22, 2012 - 05:33pm PT
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Hi Jonathan, that sounds like you recovered my upper bail anchor, and maybe some of Maratumba missing gear? PM sent.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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May 22, 2012 - 08:10pm PT
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Ever placed gear in the shade and your partner finds it stuck when the sun warms up the stone?
Thermal expansion at work.
Good to know everybody is going to be fine.
...... BUTTGRAVY.... WTF sort of name is that?
you really want to be known by that handle? Really?
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JonathanTyrosisMaximus
Gym climber
San Diego, CA
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May 26, 2012 - 06:38pm PT
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Hi Will/Buttgravy,
I got your email and responded. Repeating, I dropped your gear off at Nomad's in Idyllwild. My friend still has a cam of your's, but could not come to Idyllwild this weekend.
Jonathan
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