Scary Solo Stories

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ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Oct 31, 2017 - 11:35pm PT
Muir's FA of Mt. Ritter ...
I was suddenly brought to a dead stop, with arms outspread, clinging close to the face of the rock, unable to move hand or foot either up or down. My doom appeared fixed. I must fall. There would be a moment of bewilderment, and then a lifeless rumble down the one general precipice to the glacier below.
When this final danger flashed upon me, I became nerve-shaken for the first time since setting foot on the mountains, and my mind seemed to fill with a stifling smoke. But this terrible eclipse lasted only a moment, when life blazed forth again with preternatural clearness. I seemed suddenly to become possessed of a new sense. The other self, bygone experiences, Instinct, or Guardian Angel,--call it what you will,--came forward and assumed control. Then my trembling muscles became firm again, every rift and flaw in the rock was seen as through a microscope, and my limbs moved with a positiveness and precision with which I seemed to have nothing at all to do. Had I been borne aloft upon wings, my deliverance could not have been more complete.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Nov 1, 2017 - 07:56am PT
Back in 1987 Jeff, one of the local lads, was feeling good about his ice climbing skills so he decided to solo Polar Circus (grade 5) and the complete Weeping Wall (grade 6) in a day. Polar Circus went well and so did Weeping Wall until one of the last pitches.
The Upper Weeping Wall is known for having some vertical shitty ice.
At one point Jeff was standing on a mushroom while making an axe placement.
The mushroom cut loose leaving him hanging from the other axe.
The axe tip ripped through 6 inches of shitty ice before stopping.
Jeff quickly fired in the other axe, regained his composure, then climbed to the top.
For the next few weeks he would wake up with nightmares about that incident.

I was in Squamish with Bruce and Jacquie in 1990. We decided to do some simusoloing on a slabby cliff. I was on a 5.9+, Bruce was on a 10a 10 feet to the right and Jacquie was on a 10b 10 feet to the right of Bruce. We were all engaged in crux moves 25 or 30 feet up when Jacquie blows. Bruce and I see her falling and landing in a big bush.
She yells up "I'm OK"
Now Bruce and I have to finesse our crux moves thinking of Jacquie. We finished off our routes and spent the rest of the day climbing with ropes.
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Nov 1, 2017 - 10:07am PT
Scott Cole wrote:
When my feet touched the bottom of the bridge I used my momentum to tilt up and sunk both tools into the ice on the other side as chunks of the bridge disappeared into the giant hole that opened up beneath me.
Never heard that story from you. Thanks for the write up. World-class adventure!
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jan 20, 2018 - 07:42pm PT
Bump for the High Lonesome...
mynameismud

climber
backseat
Jan 20, 2018 - 08:15pm PT
I was free soling 5.10 at the Pinnacles...
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Jan 20, 2018 - 08:24pm PT
I was free soling 5.10 at the Pinnacles...

No doubt something was loose.
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