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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Topic Author's Original Post - Nov 3, 2013 - 05:19am PT
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Best wishes for Tommy Caldwell for recovering from the sting of a mishap up there recently
http://gripped.com/2013/11/sections/news/el-cap-bites-back/
El Cap Bites Back
November 2, 2013
By Brandon Pullan
On the evening of Friday, Nov 1st, Kevin Jorgeson wrote this on his facebook page: “El Cap bites back.” Hours later Tommy Caldwell wrote this on his facebook page: “Disaster strikes! Haul bag took a 200-foot plunge while clipped to the back of my harness. Hauling hook fail. It was a bit jarring. Looks like a Costochondral Seperation. I am headed home to try and heal as quickly as possable.”
Costochondral Seperation is a separation of a rib from the sternum.
Caldwell was climbing on El Cap at the time of the accident, attempting to free climb the Dawn Wall. He has been working, with various partners, on freeing the Dawn Wall for years. This year Kevin Jorgeson, Chris Sharma and Jonathan Siegrist were working on the project with Caldwell.
The team got a late start after the Federal Government shut-down forced the closure of Yosemite and other National Parks. Whether or not the team will continue working on the climb is unknown. “I’ve had to break through barriers and have created this life that is incredibly engaging and exciting and gets me psyched year-round to continue training,” Caldwell said, “I always have a goal that I’m working toward. I just love it. I’m going to keep going back.”
“This obsession is a curious thing,” he says. “Sometimes I wonder about the merits of devoting so much of myself to a singular climbing objective. Much of the time it beats me down, leaves me hanging my head in despair. But then there are the moments that bring me to life. When excitement wells up inside my chest in a way that doesn’t happen in every day life…It’s a crazy roller coaster and I owe my family and partners a great deal for encouraging me through it all.”
From everyone at Gripped Magazine, heal up quick Tommy, the entire climbing community is rooting for you guys on the Dawn Wall.
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Karl Baba note:
It's gotta be an experience watching a haul bag fall 200 feet knowing it's tied to you.
Probably a good lesson to use old dynamic ropes for hauling rather than static lines. A haul bag will cause a world of hurt after a 200 foot fall tied to your harness, (and even a dynamic line is going to hurt) Don’t know what Tommy was using but guessing dynamic.
Amazing those guys do so much falling up there and it took a flying haul bag to take a bite. I ruptured my achilles falling down a practically smooth vertical stone on El Cap once.
Peace
Karl
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, karl... oh my, thanks for posting...
i been hoping and praying for the guys on el cap, back during all
the bits of snow that came in...
TOMMY--a heart get well soon, and thankful that nothing worse
happened, salute to you!
so very sorry the haul bag situation went so wrong... :(
glad you are still here and able to still follow your dreams...
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ElCapPirate
Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
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Hoping for a speedy recovery, Tommy
I used to use this technique when speed soloing if I back cleaned sections that I didn't need to go down to clean gear. The bags would sit on the hook and I would just pull up the bag when ready and saved a ton of time.
It always scared me of the possibility of this happening. For better peace of mind I made a quickdraw with 80lb breaker cord instead of webbing and clipped that to my harness and haul line. That way the cord would break and go to the ground instead if acting like a giant funkness to your body,
Cheers!
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Norwegian
Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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tommy has extensive stock
in the fortitude market.
cash in, man!
exchange that currency for some amino acids
or other healing agents.
that's terror, right there.
it had to be a dynamic rope.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Yikes!
Glad he's OK. Hoping for another speedy recovery.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Ouch!
Fortunately, it probably hurts only when he breathes.
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whitemeat
Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo, CA
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take notes tommy!
mark has got it down:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
hope you have a good recovery and back up there crushing in no time!!!!!
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HighDesertDJ
Trad climber
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He is a lucky dude. Glad its only a separated rib and not something worse.
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Uuuugh. Always worried about that exact possibility. Really glad the outcome wasn't worse.
Very annoying type of injury. Certainly shuts down high end climbing effort.
Heal up stong!
I am curious about details of the accident considering the fairly good outcome all things considered. Static haul line?, while on lead? How was the bag dislodged?
Course I'd not blame him for not sharing. Folks do have a tendency to go all RC.n00b over stuff like that. But I am curious.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Heal up fast, Tommy!
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NA_Kid
Big Wall climber
The Bear State
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Sucks for the injury. Best of luck healing.
With a 4 person team, why were they using this technique? You would think they would just have a person at the lower belay to release the bags...
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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I'd really like to hear the details of this. In my experience, it's very hard to dislodge a haul bag hanging from a hook on a bolt.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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I suffered this sort of injury after a short fall on a short rope with a too tight swami belt which caught under my ribcage and pulled three lower left ribs off my sternum. At the time the only treatment was to wear a very tight warp to pull the ribs closer to the sternum to promote healing. That was so painful, I took it off. As a consequence, the injury took several years to completely heal, and those ribs still stick out.
Treatment aims to relieve pain while the injury heals, which can take up to 12 weeks or more.
If I were climbing now, I would want to talk a surgeon into opening me up and attaching the loose ends of the bone and the cartilage together with new fangled, screwed in place brackets to promote fast and accurate healing. However, my guess is that only a high-end sports medicine surgeon would even consider it, and might refuse on the basis that lots of rest and pain killers will do the trick just fine.
Heal fast and well, Tommy.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1954729&tn=3020
@ Post #17, a song for Tommy by Moon & Company...
Obsession often is accompanied by depression as a characteristic of the creative process...and sometimes rib injury.
This is nature's way of telling you:
Take your time and heal properly, Tommy.
You don't want to get in the shape old Roger's in. :0)
Good post, Mr. Be Love.
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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One would not expect this kind of incident to involve such an experienced climber as Tommy C. . . . "It goes to show you don't ever know, watch each card you play and please play it slow."
Good vibes to you TC.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
sawatch choss
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Nightmare! it finally happened to someone. I am amazed that the rib separation is the worst consequence.
Will be curious to hear details eventually.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2013 - 01:13pm PT
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Ammon wrote
I used to use this technique when speed soloing if I back cleaned sections that I didn't need to go down to clean gear. The bags would sit on the hook and I would just pull up the bag when ready and saved a ton of time.
It always scared me of the possibility of this happening. For better peace of mind I made a quickdraw with 80lb breaker cord instead of webbing and clipped that to my harness and haul line. That way the cord would break and go to the ground instead if acting like a giant funkness to your body,
That's the best solution, particularly if you're going to haul static. It's also tempting to use the bag on a hook technique when you're soloing and have some pitches fixed from your bivy
Peace
karl
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fluffy
Trad climber
Colorado
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It's gotta be an experience watching a haul bag fall 200 feet knowing it's tied to you.
no no no no NO NO NOOOO
good advice in this thread thanks
heal up quick TC
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
moving thru
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Best Wishes and Prayers for healing. Peace, Lynne
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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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Best wishes for a speedy recovery. You have a lot of climbs ahead of you.
Warning : do not read too much ST during down time. Brain will be injured, prolonging recovery.
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shipoopoi
Big Wall climber
oakland
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ouch, sorry that happened to tommy. as if the project ins't hard enough without government shutdowns and haulbag injuries. wishing tommy the best of luck in recovery and hope that he sends this rig someday as it is the greatest rock climbing project EVER concieved IMHO. SS
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A5scott
Trad climber
Chicago
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Sorry to see this!Please heal fast Tommy!
all the best,
scott
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ncskains
Ice climber
Alaska
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Damn Tommy... Get well and heal up quick! Was enjoying watching you guys crush it this year!
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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I think the Group is going to need X-rays on this…….what a painful looking injury!
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cuvvy
Sport climber
arkansas
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If a haul bag goes to the ground after a cord breaks, couldn't it possibly hurt someone? Wouldn't it be better to take the extra time and do it more safely?
Looking to do an el cap route next year. Maybe I'll have a better understanding when I'm actually doing it.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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best wishes for a speedy recovery going out to Tommy...
be careful out there!
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landcruiserbob
Trad climber
PUAKO, BIG ISLAND Kohala Coast
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I had that same injury New Years 2013 on some huge swells paddle surfing. I still feel it to this day not as bad but it's there. I climbed less this year but never felt the injury but cross body paddle surfing while setting an edge on your rocker while dragging the paddle hurts like hell.
Speedy recovery
Rg
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i'm gumby dammit
Sport climber
da ow
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if anyone checking out this thread found my Tahoe supertopo at Sugarloaf yesterday, send me a pm please.
Sorry for the thread drift but we were talking about this incident with some people climbing where I left the book and they said they were gonna check out this thread.
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Nkane
Trad climber
San Francisco, USA
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Hey, my buddy might have your book. I sent him this thread.
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Nkane
Trad climber
San Francisco, USA
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And, heal quick, Tommy!
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i'm gumby dammit
Sport climber
da ow
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Hey, my buddy might have your book. I sent him this thread. Thanks!
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Terribly sorry to hear this, Tommy. Prayers and best wishes for a complete recovery, and please give you father my best as well.
Oh, and I would ignore that advice about not reading SuperTopo. Sorting the noise from the signal sharpens the mind.
;-)
John
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Is the team continuing or did they all come down?
Does anyone know any real details of the accident? Did the hook just break, did it's anchor fail, user error?
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Nov 12, 2013 - 11:49pm PT
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Nov 13, 2013 - 12:54am PT
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I had breakfast next to Jorgeson at the caf on Saturday - after trying valiantly to resist being that guy, I couldn't and went full fanboy. He refused to sign my right pectoral, but he did shake my hand.
"You don't get it." I told wife after she made fun of me for being that guy, and for interrupting the man's breakfast. "That hand has climbed 5.14 on El Cap, and I just inherited some of the juju into my own hand." Staring at hand.
He was going back up that afternoon, he said.
Postscript is that I later got shut down on everything I tried at the Cookie. But I did feel a tickle in the palm while doing it, I did.
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Nov 13, 2013 - 01:13am PT
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Le_Bruce, that tickle probably came from the time last winter when you were on The Pizza Deck, saw me from afar, went all fanboy and came up and shook my hand. I must've transfered some of my weak sauce into your arm. I'll wear off in a week.
And I would've signed your pec by the way. We'll miss you at Balch Fest. Maybe next year.
Scott
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tinker b
climber
the commonwealth
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Dec 13, 2013 - 10:13am PT
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from facebook....i don't know how to make the fancy screen shots...but good luck up there tommy...bad ass...
Tommy Caldwell
December 5
Well, I decided to make the drive back to yosemite. My ribs are feeling better and I cant seem to keep this climb out of my mind. My first day back on the wall was spent dodging ice chunks and trying to climb despite the bitterly cold wind. Yosemite sure is breathtaking when blanketed with snow.
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