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Loco de Pedra
Mountain climber
Around the World
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 30, 2013 - 08:31am PT
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This weekend I spent leading multi pitch climbs all day, no problem. On the exit, after all climbing was done, harness was off, I went to pee, did not see a huge boulder roof and walked right into it, opening a gash in my head and feeling stupid as hell, on top of feeling dizzy and not sure what was going on. If there were spikes on that rock roof, I could be way worse off. Anyways, all is well and it ended up being just a very ugly wound on my head that I am now taking my time to heal and reflect.
I think this type of incident is related on being so focused and “on the zone” while in the vertical, that after climb was done I relaxed. As a result, I got scalped by mother rock. Lesson: Be alert when you go pee after climbing. Better, be alert AFTER you done climbing as well. (Not trying to create excuses, just to learn from my mistakes and grow from it).
Could this be related to climbers focus to be low after they “survive” their epic, and put their guards down on the exit? Like “Now that the danger is over...”
Have you been on very stupid (and sometimes serious) accidents while NOT climbing?
Thank you
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Dec 30, 2013 - 09:39am PT
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hey there say, Loco de Pedra... have you been here before? if not
welcome to the supertopo... (had not remembered seeing your name, but i do get to hit all the post, i am on dial up)
as to this part:
Could this be related to climbers focus to be low after they “survive” their epic, and put their guards down on the exit? Like “Now that the danger is over...”
in general, folks can be this way, in as to many situations:
driving... (off the freeway, wheww, worse is over?)
kids... (put things of danger, up in cabitets, worse is over? you relax, being a new parent, and the kids nearly fall out a window, etc)
sports... (game is done, wheww... the player goof around with buddies and slips in the locker room, or chokes on food, while laughing)
and just around the home... (think your home is in order, as to older folks, company, etc, and they slip on a loose rug)
after a few such odd accidents, as one grows older, the 'honed skill of'
BE ON GUARD... can kick in and should!...
but, sadly, human nature, into the OLDER YEARS, then will CHANGE AGAIN, due to THAT:
'being on guard' having WORKED, AS once again, you've 'survived' changes in life: 'complacency' arises--and one MUST be on guard in NEW ways...
we are just fragile humans, :)
that LOVE THE GREATOUTDOORS... :)
AND adventure, our home, or travel, or just sitting in the ol' garden...
or eating a sandwich...
our days change and our body changes with them:
such as, things we took for granted, that our eyes used to see, and our ears used to be alert to, and our bodies USED to balance well too...
well, i said all this, as:
as you well know: look what happened to you...
thanks to god, it was a 'good wake-up call' as to attention and
you will have the new trail of building SKILLS for a 'wider zone' of care...
last note, for future examples:
:)
eyes do NOT SEE THE same, once you are older and for example:
you may see a rock that looks sturdy to grab on to, when it is well ready to fall, and the eyes see only a soft blurr around the edges instead of the sharp 'crack' that show it is loose...
i shared that, as to climbing, having gleaned odd little examples, learned from the homefront:
mine, by being off an 1/8 an inch, or so, when reaching for things, DUE to far-sightedness that 'grabs us' in later year... and there things drop, fall, or 'we walk into corners... (i do not DO that anymore, well, unless i let my guard down, and get in a hurry to feed to cats) ;)
so good for you--build your skills as to more alertness as to surroundings now, of course, without going into being paranoid about it all...
you will do fine, as you grow...
good share...
hope the climbesr here see your story!
they can ALL RELATE, :))
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Dec 30, 2013 - 09:41am PT
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hey there say, wow! a dingus share, :)
hey there and good morning, to you dingus...
i hope the folks share a lot here, i can imagine all kinds of things GONE wrong...
AND:
one DOES learn a LOT from all this...
as i shared, main thing is...
slow down... ;)
recheck the old 'field of vision'...
and adjust the brain to:
will not do THAT again... :O
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MisterE
climber
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Dec 30, 2013 - 10:35am PT
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Descending from working on a 2-pitch 5.11 FA on a remote tower in Sedona with The Doctor. Exhausted from hiking in with a ton of gear, cleaning and bolting all day.
Got down the scree slope without incident, then relaxed a little as I neared the trail. My foot caught a round rock, and instead of going backwards, I weirdly got pitched FORWARD...right into a Spanish Bayonet plant.
Everything slowed down, and I saw that one of the pointy leaves was going to put my right eye out if I didn't do something FAST. I cranked my head hard to the left as I went down, and drove the spear into my right ear in exact alignment with my eye. My assessment had been correct.
Many other puncture wounds, as well.
Close one.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Dec 30, 2013 - 10:51am PT
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While returning from Charlotte Dome after surviving post-holing in converse tennis shoes over the pass, loosing a shoe by stepping in mud bog, snow blindness from no sunglasses, psychopathic deer, a bear, a ledge falling off with both of us standing on it (nearly killing a party of German's on the ground), down climbing 5 pitches on manky goldline because our lead rope was cut in 4 places by the falling ledge, in sight of the car, my friend Tom Burke proclaimed "I can't believe we didn't die!".
He promptly rolled his ankle on a rock in the trail, went flying forward with a full pack and took a soil sample with his face.
It ain't over till it is over.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Dec 30, 2013 - 11:27am PT
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It ain't over till it is over.
Ain't that the truth. I spent a couple of weeks in the Canadian Rockies ice climbing with a friend a few years back. He was a strong climber, but new to ice. He took to it really well, led a few of the easier pitches, and then decided he was ready for the real thing, and took the lead on a pitch that featured a vertical hanging curtain. It was the last pitch of a five-pitch rig and he pulled it off. Barely. Took everything he had, and rewarded him accordingly
He was just leaning back to start the first rappel when I just happened to glance down at his harness.
I screamed at him, he grabbed the anchor, and we both stood there shaking for a good long time.
He'd been so psyched by the lead, and so full of adrenaline and endorphins and whatever else that he'd only threaded one of the ropes.
Yeah, it ain't over til it's over.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Dec 30, 2013 - 12:04pm PT
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Yeah, it ain't over til it's over.
And that's why I NEVER go climbing with a fat lady.
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Eclipze
Trad climber
Morris Plains / Givat Haim Ichud Israel
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Dec 30, 2013 - 12:25pm PT
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I've nearly walked off a cliff several times by zoning in (or out as it were) banged into rocks tripped on air. Yet I have really good balance somehow???
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curt wohlgemuth
Social climber
Bay Area, California
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Dec 30, 2013 - 12:34pm PT
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Oh my eff'ing god, aside from being eaten by a great white shark while kayaking, one of my greatest fears has been falling into a yucca plant. I can't imagine what it must have been like with a full pack on. Jesus...
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Magic Ed
Trad climber
Nuevo Leon, Mexico
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Dec 30, 2013 - 12:39pm PT
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After a full day of leading and soloing at Devil's Lake I was stepping over the bench on a picnic table to sit down when I stubbed my toe and broke it. No climbing for a month.
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MisterE
climber
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Dec 30, 2013 - 01:11pm PT
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^^Haha! Yes indeed, Dingus.
Oh my eff'ing god, aside from being eaten by a great white shark while kayaking, one of my greatest fears has been falling into a yucca plant. I can't imagine what it must have been like with a full pack on. Jesus...
Edit: I was thinking agave, which I mistakenly interpreted as "yucca" - sorry for the error.
VVVV
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curt wohlgemuth
Social climber
Bay Area, California
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Dec 30, 2013 - 05:20pm PT
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not a Yucca. It would have been really bad if it was a yucca.
Hmm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_bayonet has 4 listings for Spanish Bayonet, all of which are yuccas. But not to quibble, it must have been painful by any other name!
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thebravecowboy
Social climber
Colorado Plateau
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Dec 30, 2013 - 05:57pm PT
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Racing down from Tiara Rado, my buddy stupidly followed my downhill run on the loose and steep trail. I nearly slipped on the ballbearings atop bedrock underfoot at the worst point - just above the hairiest, spiniest, most viciously accoutrement-ed prickly pear I've yet seen. I kept running, laughing aloud. I heard a slip, and a swat and "OHF*#K!"
I stopped, turned to see my buddy with his whole right forearm and hand intimately entwined in said cactus. He had spines buried over an inch and half deep in places, with a nice light even coat of the finest red-hair devil spikes over the majority of his forearm. It took weeks for the last of the spines to work its' way out.
Don't run with scissors, turn your head if the bayonet points for your eyes, and do not swat the cactus.
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Floyd Hayes
Trad climber
Hidden Valley Lake, CA
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Dec 30, 2013 - 05:58pm PT
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In addition to a few possible fractures never x-rayed:
* Hernia while working in garden (2009)
* Sprained wrist while playing baseball (2006)
* Punctured foot from tripping on forceps (1998)
* Broken tarsal in foot while running on beach with son (1998)
* Ruptured disc in neck while carrying son in church (1995)
* Broken carpal in hand while scuba diving (1993)
* Broken scaphoid in wrist defending self from friends unsuccessfully attempting to give me a wedgie (1977)
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TradEddie
Trad climber
Philadelphia, PA
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Dec 30, 2013 - 07:03pm PT
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I maintain that I've never been hurt doing dangerous activities, but while that's not quite true, it's very close:
As a kid:
Fell/slipped off 8 inch high curb - broken tibia.
Fell off chair at kitchen sink - broken collarbone.
Fell from top of a haybarn, landed on rotting vegetables - no broken bones.
Fell ~70ft from top of a tree, landed in brush - no broken bones.
As an adult:
Lost my balance while stopped on a bunny ski slope - fractured tibia.
Waiting on side of a ski slope, I was hit by an out of control skier - dislocated thumb.
Accidentally skied off small cliff at full speed, landing in mogul field - terrible crash landing, full yard-sale effect - no injury.
TE
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Dec 30, 2013 - 07:14pm PT
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My story would be too embarrassing for me to tell on this forum.
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Dec 30, 2013 - 08:04pm PT
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Don't get me started.
It's a long list.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Dec 30, 2013 - 08:11pm PT
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Ass vs. metal trashcan.
Trashcan-1
Ass-0
..or should I post this to the butthurt thread?
This was only 2 days in... it got much worse looking.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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Dec 30, 2013 - 10:26pm PT
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I think Floyd Hayes is leading on points, by far.
I broke one of my toes yesterday in a Stupid mishap which caused my foot to jam up really really hard onto the inside of my stiff slippers. Very painful, very stupid.
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kaholatingtong
Trad climber
Nevada City
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Dec 30, 2013 - 10:43pm PT
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long story short, i blacked out while driving on the freeway. it didnt end well, but i lived. it was pretty stupid.
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