What's your longest fall climbing?

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Messages 1 - 150 of total 150 in this topic
malabarista

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 19, 2004 - 06:00pm PT
I took a 40 or 50 footer last weekend -not sure exactly, but it was too long. My first piece of gear below me ripped after absorbing most of the shock, and I went upside down, bounced on my right shoulder and until the second piece held. Thankfully, I was completely unharmed -not even a scratch. It got me thinking about how quickly it all can end and second guessing myself a bit. My longest lead fall previously was only about 15-20 feet.
Matt

Trad climber
SF Bay Area
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2004 - 06:19pm PT
details, DETAILS!!!

what climb were you on?
how far off the deck?
was it a factor 2? (past your belayer?)

dang...


50 feet on gear is decent
=)
funkness

Boulder climber
Ca.
Feb 19, 2004 - 08:14pm PT
"I took a 40 or 50 footer last weekend" don't you know your not supposed to fall when your last piece is 20' below you!!!!
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 19, 2004 - 08:31pm PT
30 feet, Footstool, Right Side, 5.8 my first leader fall.

I believe is must have been March of 1972. I remember leading up the lower part getting well off the ground. I clipped a fixed ring-angle that I thought must have been placed in ancient times (FA 1963 Clyde Deal, Steve Roper). As I moved up and in the corner it got harder and seemed more slick. I remember getting to a new, fixed, Chouinard angle, but I was so pumped out I couldn't clip it. I was sort of desparately pawing around, I even put my finger in the eye of the piton to try to get a better hold...

...at some point I remember sliding down the rock, the sound of the pitons clanging at my side, definitely a mind-dissociated-from-body experience. The tug of the rope, the gentle coming to a stop. I was head-up back-to-wall looking out over El Cap meadow. The birds were chirpping in the trees on the talus slope below, the sun was warm, a cool and gentle breeze blew. My partner was calling frantically, "Ed, are you ok?!" as I went through a mental check list of parts..."yeah I'm ok, can you lower me?" and down I went.

I probably was up 50' to 60' and fell 15' above that ancient old pin, the only one I had clipped. It held.

My partner had pretty badly burned hands and back. This was the day of "dynamic" hip belays. He was hurt a lot more then I. We packed everything up and went down to the clinic to get him cleaned up. I remember the young doe eyed nurse and my partner's compliance to her nursing...

Later that night after the evening libation, etc. durring a munchies run to the store I called my Mom, "... yeah it's great here... uh, you'll never guess what happened today, I took a 30' fall..." you have to be in quite a mental state to tell fess up to your Mom about something you'd normally understand is something she wouldn't want to hear about...
dufas

Trad climber
san francisco
Feb 19, 2004 - 08:44pm PT
I took a 60 foot fall on a 5.8 over in the Five Open Books (Caverens) after 14 months of no climbing rust build up and lack of sleep after my kid was born. Thought I'd be right where I was when I left off so was running it out a bit, plus had a piece pop --- uh oh. I listen to the gut a lot more closely now. Hard to really say how far, but I was over half way done with the second pitch and landed a little below the belay.

A piton backed up with a perfectly set #1 metolius broke the fall, which was on a smooth steep wall. I broke my rib though on the harness buckle and was out another 8 months.
Clayman

Trad climber
CA
Feb 19, 2004 - 09:55pm PT
40 footer off of Course And Buggy. Ripped 2 pieces. Unscathed thankfully. kinda of a rush.
Dave

Mountain climber
Fresno
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2004 - 10:10pm PT
~40 feet ice climbing on the Rigid Designator. First hard lead of the season, flamed out at the top and greased out of my leash while placing a screw. Luckily I had reset my last screw placement back in a recessed pocket in the ice and the sling took most of the brunt of the fall. Screw held. Adze took a chunk out of my nose. No other damage. Hell of a scary ride with shart pointy things flying around. Re-led the pitch 30 minutes later to get my other tool back.
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
Feb 20, 2004 - 01:00am PT
My long ones clock in at about 30-35 feet. It's about as hard to estimate fall distance as length of fish once caught or the length of your....

Well, just say it's easy to exaggerate.

The aid falls were clean. Fell on the groove pitch on the shield over 10 years ago and was caught by a rurp. Fell in 1981 trying to clean climb the stigma at the cookie and fell from above where the new anchor went in recently until 8 feet about the ground. One more ripped piece and I would be RIP too.

Upside down and backwards a few times on Middle Cathedral, DON'T climb to the side of your pieces with the rope between your legs!

PEace

karl
dufas

Trad climber
san francisco
Feb 20, 2004 - 01:58am PT
agree that it's hard to tell how far, why sometimes it seems that my fall was closer to 100, no with 4-5 BEERs in me, maybe it was 200 feet. it is freaky to look up and see loops of rope uncoiling before they become taut . . . or maybe it's just freaky to think about it now.

As John Long said in some article i read, you don't see jesus when you fall, "that's a bunch of crap" I think was his line.
Hardman Knott

Gym climber
Marin Hot Tub Country
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 20, 2004 - 02:47am PT
It has been said that if you reduce the length of all falls and
run-outs described by campfire-spraying climbers by 50%,
you have a fairly accurate idea of what really went down...

Hardman Knott
macgyver

Social climber
Oregon
Feb 20, 2004 - 05:25am PT
I may be the single person in the history of Snake Dike to go really off route. I followed the wrong dike before the "friction crux", went to a manky old 1/4" bolt, thought I should turn left towards the dike and starting friction climbing some god awful (5.11 friction maybe? maybe worse?) smooth granite.

I get to within 5 feet of the dike, realize I am way off route when i see a single bolt 10 feet below me on the dike...and then the optional belay further down. Lots of rope, me in my 5 year old Boreal Ballets with hockey pucks for rubber, and a nasty fall to take.

A foot away from the dike, balancing on crystals, I stem out to the dike when my other foot skates. I take a huge cheesegrader fall, passing my belayer, leaving blood on the rock, and shredding my left side and hands.

I used to say it was a 40 foot fall. After returning last fall and climbing snake dike I realized that in fact the fall was on the order of 65 feet. My partner and I somehow missed the bolt that protects the traverse. Donīt ask me how we did it...wwe just did. Anyhow...a big fall...no big air....lots of lost skin.

Rock on
mac

ps my fingerprints have littel blank spots because of this...
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 20, 2004 - 07:26am PT
I'm kind of locally famous for my whippers. The longest was around 100 feet. Conservatively. It was on a very run out slab route and it took all the skin off the pads of my hands and burned through the toes of a pair of EB's. I was airborne after that and finally bounced on my right thigh and ass cheek, removing most of the skin there. Duane Raleigh was belaying me and saved my ass by reeling in armloads of slack; preventing me from impacting a sea of big knobs which have since broken at least one leg.

What I was doing up there I have no idea. I had just started firing 5.10's. Duane had this sort of innocent idea that everyone was as good as him, and I thought I could do anything at the time. I was 19 or 20.

I seemed to take whippers on A1 and A2 as well. Just bookin' and jivin', backcleaning and not testing. I've taken a couple of funny ones like that. I never fell on a harder aid pitch.
can't say

Social climber
Pasadena CA
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 20, 2004 - 08:17am PT
My longest one was around 35 or 40 feet, but it should have only been like 15 feet max, but due to the fact I am a big dude..6'4" and like 210 lbs and my belayer weighed in at a soaking wet 145lbs or so, and like Ed the only method used to belay back then was the hip belay, well he sorta let me go the rest of the distance. I had just gotten out of the army, where I had learned how to climb Euro style, meaning chest harness only. It was on the Left Ski Track at Tahquitz at the step around move. This was in 76' and I really was a gumby of sorts. When I stopped falling I got back on the Right Ski Track and went back up and finished the route.
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
Feb 20, 2004 - 09:48am PT
Mac- I've talked to at least 6 parties who got lost on Snake Dike right where you did.

Slab falls, I would have taken some 30-35 footers on the lower pitches of Hall of Mirrors on the apron but it's so low angle (lowest angle 5.11 in the world!) that I was able to (stupidly) grab the slings on my pro on the way down and turn a 35 footer into a 15 footer. The falls weren't too scary but the rubber lost got expensive.

Peace

karl
scooter

climber
B loop site 15
Feb 20, 2004 - 10:47am PT
I am not exactly sure how long the fall was but I went from about 10 feet below the top of the front of trash can rock to the ground. I blew a foot while I was clipping with a big arm load of rope out depite the fact I was 12 or so feet above my last piece. I went unhurt, but I smashed my belayer. Another good set of whippers was on Lost in America, I must have taken three 30 footers while trying to free climb, But it was so steep it was more fun than scary.
pinkpoint

Social climber
Nevada
Feb 20, 2004 - 11:09am PT
maybe 30 feet. with a nice swing too. but i took that fall over and over again. it was only scary the first couple of times.
Michael Golden

climber
Mountain View, CA
Feb 20, 2004 - 12:05pm PT
My only significant fall was maybe 8 or 10 feet -- just long enough for me to have time to realize I was falling, look down at the ground, and realize I wasn't stopping quite as soon as I hoped I would.

I screamed rather loudly once that realization hit. I'm not really all that bold, I guess. Then the rope caught me and I whacked into the rock because the fall was a slight pendulum.

Afterwards I thought about the one cam that was keeping me off the ground, placed in nice soft Castle Rock State Park (CA) sandstone. I went back up to try and finish the climb -- this time placing a second cam next to the one that caught me, for a backup. It didn't help -- I still couldn't pull the crux move.

Drats.

On the other hand, the bruises I collected that day from my fall were very manly.

-Michael
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Feb 20, 2004 - 12:13pm PT
Hey Hardman...this sound familiar?

From the Snake Dike:
"My partner and I somehow missed the bolt that protects the traverse. Donīt ask me how we did it...wwe just did. Anyhow...a big fall...no big air...."

My longest are a 40 footer (aid pitch, Black Peeler Direct, pulled about 7 pieces and a bolt) and a 45 footer (west desert near Notch Peak, resulted in surgery but I didn't deck...).

Homey don't like fallin' no mo...only had a short daisy chain fall last year...knock on wood...

Brian in SLC
Hardman Knott

Gym climber
Marin Hot Tub Country
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 20, 2004 - 01:23pm PT
Brian in SLC wrote:

Hey Hardman...this sound familiar?

From the Snake Dike:
"My partner and I somehow missed the bolt that protects the traverse. Donīt ask me how we did it...wwe just did. Anyhow...a big fall...no big air...."



You b*a*s*t*a*r*d!! Are you tryin' to FUCC-up my reputation as a heroic hardman?

I think you should tell the story. It would be interesting to hear it from your perspective.
Don't forget the rope diameter, the fact that it had never been fallen on,
the 2 arm-loads of slack taken in during my sprint--on the Munter-Hitch belay, ect

It was AT LEAST 40 feet! Was it Knott?

Hardman Knott
Rhodo-Router

Trad climber
Otto, NC
Feb 20, 2004 - 02:01pm PT
Hiking by myself in the Escalante somewhere, I saw an alcove high on the sunny side that looked like it might have some ruins in it. The easiest climbing had some grim consequences, so I figured on a slightly harder line that would at least keep me from taking a really bad one. After about 40 feet of this sandstone slab soloing in my wet tevas, a foot slipped and I cheese-gratered down into a dish that saved me from a grounder 30' below. I was fine, except for ripping off a couple toenails and bloodying my finger pads trying to slow myself down. I got to finish my multiday hike through cowflop runoff with oozing, pussy (!) feet that hurt too much to put real shoes on.

Compared to this, the headfirst backdive off the Trip was nuthin'.
clustiere

Trad climber
phoenix ,az
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 20, 2004 - 02:11pm PT
45 ft while soloing a volcanic pile of crap (with my hiking boots) in ochoco ntl forest oregon the rock broke I fell slid and abraided, next day pulled a soft ball sized block on my head while bouldering, but I was 16 and good for it.

Lunar X 35 ftr on to a offset nut while trying to hook on the amoeba.

Ventilator slab 30ftr while missing a bolt and trying to clip the next one, I was 17 and too proud to grab the bolt, This scenerio still occurs at least two times a year I just get in the zone and forget about the gear, good for sending bad for failing.

yo

Sport climber
Fresno, CA
Feb 20, 2004 - 02:20pm PT
Damn, kids. I love these horror stories.

Mine was 40ish, which seems to be the popular number. (I wonder if it has something to do with the storytelling, like 50 seems like too much of a stretch but 30 is too pissant?) It may not have been that, but it sure felt like I jugged back up to my high point FOREVER.

Just one of those aid stories where you think you're hot stuff, backclean a couple pieces, then a natty fixed head, then a hook move, then you squeeze in a two-cammed blue alien and it's somehow a surprise when you go for a ride.


Just curious: anybody ever do some serious zippering?
scabang

climber
Feb 20, 2004 - 02:55pm PT
Jacob's Ladder is to Table Mt., South Africa what Nutcracker is to Yosemite. Ultra classic mid grade route. In a nutshell (sic) i led the last pitch on this 5 pitch route. While taking in the slack the rope get's caught around a bollard. Gunther Zeppel has already detached himself from the anchor and is ready to follow (it had started to rain). He slips, taking the 50 feet of so of slack with him. Rope snaps ,11mm Edelrid and he lands in a Blister bush 300ft below. Result: broken femur and a gammy back. No long term injuries.
BrentA

Gym climber
estes park
Feb 20, 2004 - 03:06pm PT
Surprised with all the wall trash around here noone has the 200 footer story.

Running a winter push on Smash the State on the Diamond. Crux pitch, bad beaks, 60 footer clean and scary.

Far enough. Probably have a couple 30-40 footer free climbing falls.

Good stories, keep em coming
HalHammer

Trad climber
CA
Feb 20, 2004 - 04:16pm PT
30ft on a sport route,

That AC Devil Dog at the Grotto. I skipped a bolt and went to clip the next one and foot popped as I was pulling up slack. Was fun. So far still too chicken to run it out enough take more than 15-20 footers on tougher trad routes.
David

Trad climber
San Rafael, CA
Feb 20, 2004 - 04:21pm PT
25-30 feet on 5.9 slab at Donner Summit(first lead ever) but it didn't resemble falling so much as it did sliding down a cheese grater. It took a few weeks to regrow finger tips. I've never really liked slab climbing since.
Demented

climber
Feb 20, 2004 - 04:34pm PT
not my longest.. but ... extra points for 2 whippers back-to-back?

’79? So I’d been climbing only 2 years..a gumbie.. Diamond Dogs in JT.. you know.. the cool undercling, then face climb off to past 2 bolts.. . I had already led the thing no prob… so I go back with Larry Loads for another go ‘round, but whip off the mantle before the first bolt? 25’ onto friend plugged underneath the undercling. Go back up and freakin’ pop off the mantle again. Two 25 footers in the span of 5 minutes. I shoulda sacked it up finished it, but I said screw this music.. I was blown.. .
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Feb 20, 2004 - 05:10pm PT
Hardman exclaimed:

I think you should tell the story. It would be interesting to hear it from your perspective.
Don't forget the rope diameter, the fact that it had never been fallen on, the 2 arm-loads of slack taken in during my sprint--on the Munter-Hitch belay, ect.

It was AT LEAST 40 feet! Was it Knott?


It was on this trip that I discovered my climbing partner, underneath that Hardman exterior, was, in fact, a potato(e) connoisseur...

I wanted to do climb Snake Dike. The problem was, how to find a suitable partner? Most the folks in the bay area had either done it, or it seemed way below their ability. In what must have been a Russian River induced haze, Hardman Knott agreed to partner me up this fine route.

Since I was on a business trip, and I like to climb on my own gear, I offered to bring the stuff, and mindful of the newer baggage restrictions, I made sure it was, ahem, lightweight. A smallish rack of a couple of stoppers, a scant few cams, a few light draws and slings and the coup de grace: a nice light rope, this being my BD 8.1mm ice line.

We dropped Dave's car off at my hotel in Vallejo, and as we pulled out, I felt the ESD glow of multi plug-in electrical devices and soon we were GPS'd, CD playered, and goodness knows what else. A quick stop at the grocery store for some food and beverages, and we were off. We arrived late, and lucked into a spot with another group in the upper pines when the feller mistakingly asked if we had a reservation...(I think it went, "no, but we'll bunk with you"). We set up camp and a racoon set a land speed record raidin' the tent. Ahhh...restful sleep...only interrupted every few minutes by partying campers, car stereos, slamming doors, rangers chasing bears...

Up early, quick jaunt up the Muir trail. Tactical error by me for not refilling empty water bottles in the creek, and waiting too long for the water at Lost Lake, which didn't materialize (passed on trying to strain the mud thru a hanky). Thankfully, after a footrace to the base of the route, some overloaded fellers off'd some of their water on us. By the time we arrived, two parties were already started. Dave discovered he was missing his belay device (probably in the gym bag, but, a gri gri wouldn't a worked on that skinny cord anyhoo). I convinced him I knew how to belay on a munter hitch and he kindly offered to use my ATC. We got in line, and, after a short wait, I dialed in the first pitch, stretching the rope out to the bolted belay station. Sweet. Dave got the second pitch, and quickly traversed over to the right, plugged in some iffy gear at the small roof, clipped the bolt then stepped up and headed to the belay anchor. He was moving pretty quickly, gym shoes slappin' granite as he shuffled confidently up the dike. Clipping into the belay anchor, Hardman heroically decided to extend the pitch to the next belay station on the other side of the far dike separated by the frictiony traverse to the left. Off he went, hoppin' and a skippin', not a care in the world: this was no Mission Cliffs or Ironworks crimp fest and a gym full of hardman worshippers weren't gawking in silence or cheerin' him on.

He must have have been dreamin' about all the betties who'd tossed their room keys at his feet following yet another of his proud plastic leads or bouldering sesh's, because, all of a sudden, he pops off. I'm kinda payin' attention. We are in the valley, you know, and, even though some idiot plans a controlled burn on MY weekend in the valley, the scenery is pretty ok. But, one eye on the prize, the other on the view, and I see the movement, which couldn't hardly be Dave payin' a social call. He comes unhitched kinda fast, then, like one of them snowmobiler's tryin' to outrun an avalanche, turns around, faces straight downhill, and starts his feet a movin'. Pretty cool to watch, especially the look of focused determination on his face. I'm not sure what was going thru his head, but, I'm thinkin', watchin' him come down and all that rope boil up, this is a goin' to be a rope stretcher. Even belayin' off a munter, as Dave sort of jogged by, I was able to reel in two full armloads of slack before the rope started to s-s-s-s-s-stretch tight. During the downward plummet, Dave did a nice bunny hop over a little dike, but, when finally coming to a full stop, had still managed to ding his foot on the rock which caused him to limp back up to his high point at the belay station.

There wasn't any thing leakin' out of him, or his shorts, and I didn't see any bad swelling, besides the usual increased hat size associated with roping up in the presence of greatness. I offered to lead thru, but, Hardman would have none of it. I says, "I think you missed the clip on that traverse". "There's a bolt up there?" "Yeah, just before where you fell". "Oh...shit". A haughty laugh and he leads thru without further incident. On the way down, Dave scared the tourists (me included) by waltzing down the cables no hands. With his bad foot, I was almost able to keep up on the way to the car.

Man, that rope stretched. He kept going and going...and that 8.1mm looked a might skinnier and skinnier. I'd think around a 45 footer, at least, maybe 50 feet. Lookin' at the topo, fell just to the left of the bolt (which he'd failed to clip) between the two sets of belay anchors on the second pitch, well past me at the first belay anchors. Geez, add'n in the inebriated campfire factor, maybe was closer to 100 feet...

Hey, fun day...

Brian in SLC
Brian H.

climber
San Francisco
Feb 20, 2004 - 06:49pm PT
Brian -
Good story. I paired you description of Hardman running DOWN the dike route with his picture/post from the "Cop" thread earlier.....makes for a hilarious visual.
-Brian
Apocalypsenow

Trad climber
Cali
Feb 20, 2004 - 07:18pm PT
Longest fall...hmm...I guess that would be off Petch's deck after too many green labels.

Great weekend to all!
(enjoy your green labels)
Hardman Knott

Gym climber
Marin Hot Tub Country
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 20, 2004 - 08:35pm PT
Fine piece of writing there, Brian...

It was on this trip that I discovered my climbing partner, underneath that Hardman exterior, was, in fact, a potato(e) connoisseur...

I brought along a Webber propane BBQ and some apple-wood chips to smoke the roasted potatoes with.
They are unbelievable! You haven't lived until you've had smoked roasted potatoes...

We dropped Dave's car off at my hotel in Vallejo, and as we pulled out, I felt the ESD glow of multi plug-in electrical devices and soon we were GPS'd, CD playered, and goodness knows what else.

The radar detector, of course! (we avoided a ticket on the way back--it saved us for sure)

I have to share a couple more tidbits of this story: One of the 2 parties that started before us was a couple
of Englishmen in their late 50's. They were very pleasant, and we talked with them for a bit before they
started up. One of them told of how a couple of American climbers had been "pressurizing" them
by following too closely on some route and vibing them. I laughed and said something like:
"Well, you better not climb too slowly or you might find us nipping at your heels"...

After they set off, Brian started up the first pitch, and as he neared the belay, 3 guys arrived
breathlessly at the base. So this pretty-boy with bleach-blond hair says to me:

"So you guys really need to climb fast".

I said: "Oh?"

He says:

"We're going fast and light"...

At that point I noticed that the 3 of them were all wearing T-shirts and shorts,
with no packs and no extra clothing, not even hats. Keep in mind this was late October (!)

Anyway when I slipped, I turned and sprinted down the slab as fast as I could, holding the rope off to the side.
Afterward, Brian said he couldn't believe how fast I was moving. I finally had to jump over a dike,
and I kept waiting and waiting for the rope to pull tight. I slammed my heel so hard that I was
sure it was broken. It hurt so bad I just immediately started climbing again after about 15 seconds.
There was only one way to go at this point: up. I wasn't about to let a mere broken heel ruin the day!

So after I finished this pitch, Brian led the next. My next lead was the 4th--the one with no pro.
I remember reading on Supertopo that it had huge jugs everywhere. I didn't find a single one.
It was pretty much all slopey polished divets and greasy "holds"--as I remember it.
As I neared the top of the pitch, one of the Englishmen was standing on what looked like
the best hold on the pitch. Anxious to grab a solid hold after the heroic (and scary) run-out, I asked the
guy if he wouldn't mind moving his heel. So I ended up literally "nipping at their heels" indeed.
While I was at it, I just reached up and grabbed his slings on the belay to pull myself up and clip-in.
Since I had already "blown the on-sight" of Half Dome, a little French-Freeing wasn't going to hurt! ;-)

Looking down we could see Blondie (who Brian nicknamed "Johnny Wonderstud") leading and bringing
his partners up two-at-a-time. They seemed to be moving at a reasonable pace, but were certainly
not closing in on us by any means. As we finished the 5th pitch, the wind started coming up and
the temperature dropped markedly. I put on my wind pants, wind jacket, fleece sweater and hat,
and was still a bit cold. I was wondering how Johnny Wonderstud and his 2 charges were enjoying the
sudden change in weather. After this pitch we never saw them again. We got to the top and we met
a very attractive and friendly ranger named Laurie. She was packing a Glock semi-auto.
Since I wasn't sure if I would be able walk the 9 miles to the Valley floor,
I (only half) jokingly asked about the feasibility of getting a chopper ride down.
She laughed and said I would have to be a lot worse off than I was. She did say I could get a donkey-ride
down if I couldn't walk, but that it would take several hours for them to up get there.
Suddenly, the pain didn't seem so bad. We ended up hanging out with Laurie and we all shared our food
in a little impromptu picnic, chatting for about an hour. So much for the rangers being "tools", eh?

After a while a guy came up and asked if we had seen a party of 3 on the route.
I asked if one of them had bleach-blond hair. He nodded. I said they had been right behind us,
but had apparently fallen back for some reason. (I felt no need to heckle, especially after being possibly
the only person in recorded history to suffer the indignity of taking a fall on Snake Dike)
This guy had hiked all the way up to the top of Half Dome with a bunch of ice cream
to meet Johnny Wonderstud and his yearlings. We never found out what happened to them,
but I seriously don't think they made it. Anyway, I had to walk/run all the way back to the car
on my instep, since I couldn't put any weight on my heel. It was sore for a month.
We made it back just as it got dark at our heroic pace.

A fine day indeed!

Hardman Knott
Brock

Trad climber
LA, CA
Feb 20, 2004 - 09:27pm PT
HEAD FIRST, 38 Feet, on "The Good Book" 5.10d, Yosemite, while laybacking up the crux pitch. The route was still wet. The route also still had a fresh fine granite powder from a recent huge rockfall. No, cuts or anything, but damn I literally felt my guts move around when I came to a sudden stop just a few feet above my belayer. Needless to say I didn't attempt to run it out again, gear was placed every five feet.

My buddy made Accidents of N. America when he fell 70+ feet and dislocated and fractured his shoulders on El Capitan and had to be helicoptered out, but that's another story.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 20, 2004 - 09:55pm PT
This thread is jogging my memory... unfortunately....

Another time, in the 'Gunks, after a long layoff from rock climbing I went out, for the first time, with a new climbing friend Naoto. He was Japenese, and a very aggressive and driven climber. He wanted to lead everything, and I was fine by that, not really being in shape to do anything.

We decided to do a classic, "Shockley's Ceiling" which is a 5.6, well loved, often climbed and the scene of the infamous Williams FNA picture ("First Naked Ascent"). We opted for clothes... it must have been the early nineties.

Anyway, the memorable pitch is the pull through the roof, which is not all that hard and then steep climbing to the top. For some reason I always found that steep section harder then the roof section, all those pull ups on horizontal cracks or something. Well my gravity was high that day as I huffed up the roof onto the steep. At some point I was really tired so I sort of called up "tension" and leaned back off the cliff... as I did this I realized the rope wasn't coming tight, I started moving down the cliff, sort of running, and spotting a ledge coming up quick. Just as I was about to hop over the ledge and continue running on the down hill side the rope came up tight. I don't know how long it was, must not have been too long given I was still "on my feet" running down the cliff. But it was annoyingly too long for a second to fall.

My rapid, adrenaline fueled ascent to the top brought me onto the scene of Naoto with burned hands. He had learned to belay through a 'biner, pulling rope in and using the slightly less then half wrap as a friction device. Apparently he was "in between" pulls when I weighted the rope and quickly lost control. He told me he stepped on the loose end of the rope, got it slowed down enough to grab, and brought me to a stop before coming up on the end. I am not sure if he was tied in at that point!

Well that was the end of the day, Naoto was in no condition to climb, nor was I. Somehow I suppressed all memory of this until reading through this thread. Part of it, no doubt, was the embarassment of nearly buying the farm on an easy 5.6.

Naoto seemed to be similarly unimpressed with this near disaster. Later that year he was pressing me to go do the Bonington route on Shivling... I didn't think that that would have been a good idea.
Clayman

Trad climber
CA
Feb 20, 2004 - 10:49pm PT
I watched my older brother (clay) take a 40 footer of of course and buggy (11b/c)in josh last christmas. 2 cams poped, was crazy, a number 1 camalot caught him. The two that poped, he said was pumped and not really looking when he shot them in. He fell from the top crux, near the topout of the route, fell to about near, mid-route. I went flying up 4 feet off the ground while muttering loudly a few explitives when he took the whip. It was pretty cool, it only stoked him for me to run to the car grab a few headlamps and for him to do it again. I think experiences like these can either get a person to fully stop climbing, or it drives them to push the limits more... as for my brother it acted positively on him...
-corbin.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 21, 2004 - 03:49am PT
Last bad memory... also in the 'Gunks...
my partner this time was Mike who was climbing strong this particular season. I don't know what year, it was the 80's though. We had been climbing quite a lot and decided to knock off "Anguish" a 5.7 in the Traps. The only note I have in my guide book is the word "crux" written next to the third pitch description "Climb face leading to corner in overhangs. Move up left and pass overhangs onto the face above, then up to the top (50 feet)." The first and second pitches were not memorable in any way... I had the second pitch, I got to a ledge and put a sling around a flake... loosely, clipped it and shouted "on belay". Mike wasn't going to fall and I wasn't going to need an anchor, really. Up he came, we reracked and exchanged gear and off Mike went into the corner up to the overhang. I had watched Mike climb a lot of overhangs that year, he seemed solid as usual, but he was not working the problem through very quickly. I was a little worried at this observation but I had no thoughts that Mike would fall off.

He had a number 2 stopper in between me and him, and he was out 20 to 30 feet.

I lowered my head from watching him work the overhang and was looking at the nice view along the Traps, and beyond to the Near Traps and Millbrook distanced by the summer morning's haze, when my eye caught the motion of a black object moving through the sky towards me, Mike.

The rope came tight through my belay device (a Stitch plate) cranking on the lone number 2 and pulling Mike to a stop just as he hit the ledge next to me... instant sore feet. But the number 2 held! I remember staring at the sling anchor around the bogus flake and asking Mike, without looking up, if he was ok. He was standing right next to me, "I'm ok, my feet hurt".

I promised myself right there and then never ever ever to make an anchor like that again. If the number 2 popped I don't think the sling or the flake would have held...

We traversed off to the right onto either "Simple Ceilings" or "Three Pines", I think we left that wonderful number 2 welded in the crack. Whenever I place one I always think of "Anguish" and a certain little good feeling wells up inside before I'm onto the business of climbing again.
Dragon with Matches

climber
Bamboo Grove
Feb 21, 2004 - 07:48am PT
I can't stop laughing about Blondie Wunderbuff and his ice cream and his cold hike in the dark. Great stuff, HK.

All my rides have grown to mammoth proportions in my mind, but I don't think I've surpassed 20 feet more than once or twice. It is pretty cool how time really seems to slow down when you're airing - those are some value-packed moments.

My biggest may even have been a grounder - about 25 feet to a bad landing - from above the crux roof on Touch & Go in Eldo. New to leading, I was hoping to practice placing pro on a moderate classic (and too eager to heed the December cold weather forecast). I started up the route but was too cold to stop moving, so I never placed gear, just climbed up through the roof, then realized my entire body was numb with cold. I decided to retreat to the base and wait for the sun. Downclimbing, my frozen paws skated off jugs and I sailed forever, thinking I was gonna die. Landed in boulders and bounced down frozen mud slope until my belayer caught me. Too cold/shocked to feel really hurt, I wanted to give it another go, but my belayer (my date, actually) was already packing up and heading for her car and, presumably, other dudes who could put together a better date. I got away with a few broken bones in my foot/ankle and a cheap lesson (in climbing if not in chasing the fairer sex). Much later I went back and got big laughs at the sight of the obvious tunnel-thread (placeable at a no-hands rest) that would have caught me had I known what I was doing.
PT

Trad climber
CO
Feb 21, 2004 - 02:43pm PT
I took a 130 foot ground fall at lumpy ridge. Broke both ankles, hurt my back, and my hip and had to be carried out by search and rescue. I fell while leading the second pitch of a route up on batman rock. My partner was using a figure 8 to belay but he had a bite of rope through the large hole and then clipped into his locker without the rope going around the neck of the device. This configuration does not offer much in the way of friction to hold a fall, especially since he was dicking around with something else when I fell and he didn't even have his break hand on the rope! I fell until the rope came tight at my partners tie in knot. Luckily we had a good belay anchor and my partner was not pulled off to his death. The standard rope length at the time was 150 ft.(20 years ago)so with tie in knots and the belay anchor I figure there must have been around 130 ft of rope left. The rope did decelerate me a bit before I hit the ground, otherwise, the injuries would have been a little worse. Oh yeah, I got to meet Billy Westbay because he helped with the rescue!
can't say

Social climber
Pasadena CA
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 22, 2004 - 01:04am PT
just a wee bit off thread, but since a few of these were about Snake Dike, I'm curious to know whats the fastest anyone here has done it car to car? Four of us did it in two parties of two back in 82 I think, in 7 hours and change.
TW#T

Gym climber
san diego, ca
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 23, 2004 - 11:39am PT
fell off some finger crack about a year back. Too drunk to tie in, so i soloed the badboy. Fell about 10 feet to the deck. Dont worry about the 2 heinkens in my chalkbag, they were unscathed.
Brian Biega

climber
Rocklin, CA
Mar 25, 2005 - 05:12pm PT
80' on the Cobra. Approx. 14 years ago. For me, at the time, it was pretty big air. Nothing compared to "PTs" fall above. Or Dean's base fall in the cave down south.
AndyG

climber
San Diego, CA
Mar 25, 2005 - 06:42pm PT
"just a wee bit off thread, but since a few of these were about Snake Dike, I'm curious to know whats the fastest anyone here has done it car to car? Four of us did it in two parties of two back in 82 I think, in 7 hours and change."


Brent and I did it in 6 hours 40 min a few years ago. I'm sure it's been done a lot faster. We're a couple of slowpokes.

Andy
Melissa

Big Wall climber
oakland, ca
Mar 25, 2005 - 06:46pm PT
I'm pretty sure that the RNWF has been done C2C in less than 7 hours on the big route link ups. It would be kinda funny if it had been done faster than the fastest Snake Dike round trip just 'cause people were trying harder for it.

Edit...I just looked at Hans' speed records page. He's got Dean Potter listed at 3h C2C on Snake Dike in '98.
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Mar 25, 2005 - 07:19pm PT
Longest
The second pitch of, Ephemeral Clogdance? or chiropidist's shop? something like that on the apron, early Fire days. I got way off route going left instead of right. I knew I was in trouble when I saw a bolt many feet off to the side. I tried to keep going, but soon I was off. I turned around and ran toward the belay, Will yarded in rope as best he could, I did okay till I tripped over a six inch roof and my glasses fell off, I caught them, but lost my footing, slammed my left shoulder into the wall and slid past the belay.
maybe 40 feet.

Scariest
circa 78, EB's. Agean stables (incorrectly refered to as hesitation blues in guidebooks) 11b lieback in Vedauwoo. Leading at my limit, i placed an early model friend at what must have been about one foot above halfway as my forearms pumped beyond belief. I kept climbing because I could not let go to place more pro. I reached the top and grabbed the bombproof ledge ... and watched my cramping hands melt off the top.
As I sailed down, the image of Wes the belayer, frantically trying to yard in rope grew at a terrifying rate. The peice held, but with rope stretch my feet brushed the rocky turf. I came to rest dangling about a foot or so above the ground.
25'? factor two for sure!

Longest ground fall
While attempting to clip first first bolt on Knobulator, East Cottage dome touloumne. Had a cold, balance was off, hairline pelvic fracture (@ age 44, with no insurance) insued, it got better on it's own.
20'?

Longest catch
Mescalito.
5a.m., or so, no Coffee, Frank (the Colonel) Saunders was above me leading the Seagull pitch, out of sight from the belay. I thought he was almost to the anchor when slack rope fell like a waterfall into my lap. It was my turn to try to yard in rope. I like to think i got a couple of arm spans in when Frank shot into view.
"JEEZUS," he yelled and came to a stop only acouple of feet above me.
50+ feet ,

Nate D

Trad climber
San Francisco
Mar 25, 2005 - 09:23pm PT
5, maybe 6 ft. Gym route. Red tape (can't remember the name - probably blocked it out of my memory.) Rope burned my leg, and almost hit two big jugs on the way down. (whew!) Pride shattered...

Oh wait... uh, wrong forum.


Sorry. Great stories all - fun reading!!
jonstark

Trad climber
Los Angeles
Mar 25, 2005 - 11:06pm PT
Two come to mind...

25 to 30 footer... Dalkey quarry in Dublin, Ireland. I had been climbing untutored for a month and was there all the time during weekdays by myself. I had heard of this prussic thing and decided it would be a good way to do some solo climbing. I hung a 9mm over the edge of a likely looking slab with a few features and started to work it. I had been all over it and was now following a very thin edgey crack waaaay out to the left when my footing blew. I started to penji back to the center of the slab and grabbed the rope just above the prussic. That's when I really started to ziz down the rope skidding on my butt and just missing several fixed pins. I remember looking down to the area of likely impact thinking how the gourse would cushion my fall but how long it would take to get the splinters out. Doh! Let go of the rope fool! I got a nasty burn on my left fingers that stung for a long time and I never told anybody about that one. It was about 30 feet from sketch to stop.

40-50 footer... It was on was Cheap Way to Die in JT. Not often travelled but worthy. 10d steep face with fine edges and rugosities. The bolts were and are probably still 1/4 rivets with Leper hangers fairly evenly spaced. I cruised up to where you make a right turn to the first anchors but decided that a deviation over the roof above to a set of anchors for another route looked more challenging. I climbed 15 feet above the last bolt and got a #2 camalot into a rotten incipient crack under the overhang. Made my way over the overlap and got another 10 feet past that. The rock had turned to rotten choss and I was having to dust the ball bearings off my feet with each move. I saw the anchors and knew if I could make this last move I would mantle over the bulge onto a good ledge and be done. I delicately pinched a tiny chicken wing and it pulled off sending me giant stepping my way backwards over the overhang. I landed on both feet (breaking both heels) and felt the cam let go with little resistance. I then turned around to face the bottom of the cliff thinking about dinner plating the 1/4 incher. "don't dinner plate, don't dinner plate, don't dinner plate..." My belayer later said the rope raining down in loops was his key that something had gone wrong. I was almost in freefall but was bouncing and skidding from time to time just enough to add some abrasions to the broken bones. I figure I was about 20 to 25 feet above the last bolt and the rope was brand new and stretchy, (thank goodness!). Ten years ago this month.
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Mar 25, 2005 - 11:47pm PT
Now that's a 'proud' mishap.
There is a lurker here who took a 75(?) footer free solo ground fall. Was hellicoptered out and I think, was on live TV over it. He is inches shorter now, still climbs, hard, but has limited ankle mobility. Maybe he will share with us.
poop*ghost

Trad climber
Berkeley
Mar 26, 2005 - 12:16am PT
wow, proud and miserable falls from the whole lot of ya!

luckily I've taken nothing longer than 30' myself.

As I've gotten more and more back into skateboarding at the Denver Skatepark on my lunch breaks, I've learned what knee pain is all about.


repeated repeated repeated falls from 10 feet onto concrete is not helping.

jason
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Mar 26, 2005 - 12:54am PT
I used to drive by this place all the time when I was playing hooky from work and wasting time to go to REI.
It begs the question; if we can have all of thesse municpal, gov-funded skate parks, with all the inherent liability issues they must carry , why not community climbing walls? There is a slight trend toward this already, but I really only know of two; one in Chinatown in San Francisco and one in Walnut Creek. Surely there are more; Public skate parks, after all, are everywhere.
poop*ghost

Trad climber
Berkeley
Mar 26, 2005 - 12:56am PT
Yeah, they spent $2.5 million making this park too. I'd much rather have a muni climbing park.
akclimber

Trad climber
Eagle River, AK
Mar 27, 2005 - 01:50am PT
About 200 ft. on a glacier on Shasta.
Largo

Sport climber
Venice, Ca
Mar 27, 2005 - 12:05pm PT
50 footer. Pulled out a bunch of heads and stuff on a new wall in the Sierras. Bad part was that I had to again go up and hammer all the shite back in and hope it didn't rip a second time.

JL
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Mar 27, 2005 - 12:49pm PT
malab,
Where was that fall, anyway? Run out? Pro pop?
jonstark

Trad climber
Los Angeles
Mar 27, 2005 - 12:49pm PT
I don't guess they count but most of us have taken some pretty wild rides while cleaning traversing pitches. Wooohooo!
akclimber

Trad climber
Eagle River, AK
Mar 27, 2005 - 12:56pm PT
Oh, they count. I saw a chick take about a 50-60 pendulum fall on Cryin' Time Again in Tuolomne after her bad ass leader got off route on the first pitch. Scraped her breasts off.
euphoria

Trad climber
Slippery Rock, PA
Mar 28, 2005 - 08:46am PT
Hey Ed Hartouni_

Great "Anguish" story. I attempted to climb that too, a few years back. I bashed my nipple ring on the arete just below the roof and we decided to rap off. Bad, bad day. (except for the good climbing before Anguish) That route is so stout for 5.7.
Frank Sanders

Trad climber
Devils Tower. Wyoming
Mar 28, 2005 - 03:09pm PT
Longest catch
Mescalito.
5a.m., or so, no Coffee, Frank (the Colonel) Saunders was above me leading the Seagull pitch, out of sight from the belay. I thought he was almost to the anchor when slack rope fell like a waterfall into my lap. It was my turn to try to yard in rope. I like to think i got a couple of arm spans in when Frank shot into view.
"JEEZUS," he yelled and came to a stop only acouple of feet above me.
50+ feet ,

Jaybro and I had been climbing partners since the mid 70's, climbing together in Wyoming. In the Spring of 1979 we cruised our first Yosemite walls, together, doing 3 Grade V's in a short time period; Leaning Tower, Lost Arrow Direct and THE PROW on Washington's Column !!! We felt studly, but were still very humbled when even looking at El Cap. Our Grade V's had only kept us "in the air" for 3 days and 2 nights, each. We both knew that we were headed for the Captain, but that we needed to grow, a lot before we could get there !!!!

Our first real El Cap wall was AQUARIUS (aka Aquarian Wall), in 1981. It kept us up there 5 days, and even treated us to a rain storm, some A4 nailing (mine, blissfully all mine) and some "way-hanging" porta-ledge bivvies. Later, in 1983 we found our way up THE SHIELD, the NOSE and WEST FACE, on El Cap.

Jay and I had a "link" or "connection" since the first time that we met. We were the same size; pants, climbing shoes, height, weight...and all of the rest. We could even wear each others glasses !! We are still, both in Love with Offwidth ( Jay put up the 1st 5.13 Offwidth in the country; LUCILLE, at Veedavoo, WY). Jay was always the better free climber and I was always the better aid climber ( which worked really well on the Walls)....we were also, quite critically, attracted to the same women, which inevitably led to some amount of friction...

In 1985, I was very much enjoying a year, in residence in Yosemite's Camp 4, and (against all odds) employed on the Valley Search and Rescue Team. I was living out my Dreams and working with the Rock Gods; John Middendorf, Werner Braun, Walt Shipley, Russ the Fish, Susy Harrington (1st woman to solo El Cap), Mike Corbett, Scott Cosgrove, Charles Cole, Tucker Tech and the like.....I was the "Mortal Amongst Rock Gods", which made me constantly try harder. When Jay appeared in the Valley that Year, in June. I'd already been up El Cap 4 times that season. I heard that Jay was around, but hadn't seen him...it was one of the Times in our partnership that we were on the "outs" and I really don't even remember what the issue was....so I hunted him down one night. As we poured down some beers, the ruffled feathers all got smoothed and we agreed to get on Mescalito, ASAP, together !!!

Although Mescalito had been established a decade before, it was still a fearful, infrequently done route to us. It had a nasty reputation of many "expando flakes"..."miles of hook moves"...the notorious "Space Pitches", pitches 15,16,&17, where the climbing was blank beyond belief, and retreat to the ground was impossible, and of course the certain fact that it was a long route with 26 pitches. The original ascent party, the all-star team of Charlie Porter, Steve Sutton and Hugh Burton had originally named it "END-ALL WALL"....'nuff said.

Jay let me know that he had come prepared !!! He had 1) a newly acquired camera, 2) a newly required drill and bit (just in case), 3)his newly repaired porta-ledge and 4) for once he even brought a newly acquired water bottle ( a plastic gallon jug that at one time contained bulk pancake syrup for restaurant use ....it was usually my chore to line up heavy duty water bottles to securely carry the most vital commodity in the haul bag!!!).....so we set about hauling some loads and fixing some pitches (4 pitches to be exact). The climbing was steep and exhilarating from the very start.

The day came to "blast off", so we jugged our fixed lines, hauled our bag of supplies and dropped our ropes to friends waiting on the ground, late one afternoon. We spent the night, happily on a nice ledge at the top of Pitch 5....I slept dreaming of leading the Notorious Seagull Pitch, which would be the first order of business the next morning....

Anxious, as ever we got up early and got on with it. At this point we discovered that Jay's "newly acquired camera" had quit working...I was still thrilled at the chance to lead the Seagull, feeling that I was leading a true piece of history !! The pitch is named the Seagull as it climbs through a feature that looks like a seagull, in flight, from the ground ( up close it looked like something else entirely...). The pitch started with 2 rightward pendulums ( with hook moves in-between...NOT too reassuring) which landed me in a seam that led up to the seagull's belly. The seam was shitty and insecure, and the bolts that the topo promised were not there....It was a stretch of very insecure placements and in-place mank that was NOT too reassuring. This got me to the seagull's wing that was a notorious expando flake. All of Your pieces go straight-up, behind the flake, and every time that I weighted a new piece, I could see and feel the flake flex. NOT too reassuring, as I knew if any of my placements failed that I would surely rip out anything that was under the wing and rip out anything that was in the seam as well, resulting in a significant piece of air time. The wall was sooo steep that I really didn't fear hitting anything (its not the fall, its the sudden stop), but it could be a very long fall.

...Each new piece got me further out the seagulls wing ....and closer to a bolt ladder that started where the wing ended and extended across blank rock (the first "real pieces" in the whole pitch, which by that time was getting a little long and wearing on the nerves). With mixed emotions I clipped the first bolt, depressed that the "hard stuff" was over, and NOT too reassured as the 1st bolts were only rivets and the "hanger" was only "plumbers tape"; perforated metal strap that looked like cheap Erektor Set stuff and was NOT too reassuring. The following rivets had similar hangers and the first real 1/4" bolt had no hanger, so I looped the thin cable of a small wired stopper over it....I also noticed that most of the straps had cracks in them....Finally, one metal strap "hanger" gave way, and the resulting fall broke the other hangers, the thin cable from the small wired stopper sheared (cut clean) that bolt , pieces started pulling out of the Seagulls wing and finally the Home made, half size friend caught....The stem is still bent and the cams severely mashed as I hold it in my hand right, right now....Although I suffered no injury, surely due in part to Jays prompt yarding in of the rope, I had the somewhat challenging task of re-doing the seagulls wing, and then figuring out what to do with the rivets and shared bolt...

Re doing the Wing, was great; nice and very dicey one more time. But when I hauled up Jay's newly acquired drill, I found that the bit was sooo dull, it would NOT drill even a single hole !!! I eventually found a way to pendulum across the blank rock, to the next crack, avoiding the drilling altogether ( and I guess that subsequent parties have done the same ( or perhaps they re-drilled....I have no idea)...

The following days were full of great climbing, many airy passages and the simple Joy of climbing with Jay. He has a very dry sense of Humor and a Wonderful Way of making a Wall real FUN, even when its a little "hairball". We greatly enjoyed the thin pitches where our route coincided with the Notorious Wall of the Early Morning Light route. I got the in incredibly airy "Molar Traverse" pitch and Jay simply Glided up the notorious off width of pitch 14, miles off of the deck. I led the first of the Space Pitches and we settled down for the night, in a way-hanging bivvy, about 1,500 ft off the ground. We first set up my porta ledge and both of us sat on it, sharing a couple cans of Mandarin oranges (a staple and a treat on all of our walls). Before addressing the chore of getting totally set up for the night we entertained ourselves by dropping the cans and watching them fall free, for a disturbingly long amount of time, before they finally struck the wall, very near the base. This climb is STEEP......

Later, while setting up his newly repaired porta-ledge, Jay was pulling the side tubes apart, to get the head piece tube in (its just like a cot) and his hand slipped. This LAUNCHED the head tube into space (in repairing his ledge, Jay had neglected to re-wire all of the pieces back together) . I heard his OOOPS!!! and looked around in time to see the tube flying through the air...and we both watched, as it arced outward and seemed to take years before it hit the ground....Fortunately we did have a belay seat, made of a wooden board that we could tentatively tape into place to make his ledge "work" again.

The next night we were graced with a real ledge, which Jay slept on, at the Bismarck formation. The next night found us just a pitch and a half from the top, with a large sloping ledge to set up on for the night. We had it "in the bag" !!! Just 1.5 pitches of easy climbing the next day. We had plenty of food and a Full gallon of water (in the newly acquired Maple Syrup jug)!!!....A celebration was called for so we pulled out that last water bottle for a chug....It was then that we found out the jug had a mixed history...and at one time it must have been employed as a gasoline container...and that 5 days of soaking had coaxed out all of the gas that had been absorbed in the plastic. My liver screamed and kidneys roared when I swallowed.....We tried boiling it to vaporize the gas, but to little effect...we eventually dissolved lemon drops into it to disguise the flavor....but it was no use....we couldn't hardly swallow it, and I believe that we became dehydrated drinking it....it was a long night.

First thing in the morning we vaulted, wordlessly, to the top; tongues so swollen that speech was NOT worth the effort. We just left our haul bag and gear there. Taking only the stove and a pan we started the down hill walk to Horsetail Creek that was both known for its water and Guardia. Reaching the creek we set a pan full of water on the stove to boil....and the stove promptly ran out of fuel. Having seen the results of drinking Guardia laden water, we hiked back up to our bags, and hauled them with another fuel canister back to the creek, where we gorged ourselves with water, before finding the East Ledges raps and returning to the Valley floor.

Although subsequent years found both of us doing more and harder and longer walls, I will always most Cherish our time on Mescalito. My memory is full to overflowing with memorable passages and moments from hanging and Living on that tall wall for 5 days....and honestly the Flight from the Seagull is just another "blip" on a Blessedly crowded radar screen. Joyously doing "Walls with Jay", twenty years ago, is still bright in my memory...and I know that we will be Friends throughout this Life and most likely, in to the next one, too !!!...If You think that all that happens on a Wall, has to do with Climbing, You are missing the point of the exercise !!

Thanks for hanging-in through that one.. Pray that You found it entertaining and educational !!!....and THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR PROMPTING ALL OF THAT AS I NEVER WOULD HAVE SEEN JAY'S POSTING !!!!

John F. Kerry

Social climber
Boston, MA
Mar 28, 2005 - 06:07pm PT
OMG Frank, fantastic story. Thanks!
Strider

Big Wall climber
Yosemite NP, Ca
Mar 28, 2005 - 06:23pm PT
The best trip report that I have read in a LONG time. Thank you so much for sharing it Col. Sanders! =)

My longest fall was on some practice aid. I was aiding Lena's Lieback at Swan Slabs and the sun was setting so I was trying to move fast. Guess I back cleaned too much though... I was standing on a red alien that I had hastily placed and I reached back to grab another red alien to place higher, but when I reached back the alien popped and I slid down the wall to the ground. Right as my feet touched the ground the rope came tight, saving me from sore feet. My forearms however where swiss cheese. So I rolled my sleeves down over my arms and started yading up the rope, back to the high point. It was at this point that my belayer told me she would not allow me to finish the pitch and that I had scared the crap out of her. Not being so stupid as to leave a $50 cam for someone else to take I proceed to calm her down and 15 minutes later I was back at the high point and I finshed the pitch. She then cleaned it and mock led it on top-rope, finishing by headlamp.

At the time this was my first real fall so it was kinda of a momentous occasion. I had had other falls but nothing of any good distance. This one was close to 30' or 40' from the HP and it was a grounder no less. I thought I took it well at the time, though it may have been more of lack of experience than courage that made me finish the pitch, too stupid to stop as the case may be. Eh, good times.

-n
Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Mar 29, 2005 - 05:16pm PT
Frank, why the hell don't you write more? Glad we fianlly had this point counterpoint deal.
Only one point, I remember the 'gas bottle' being one of yours, the only one from the gas station.
Namaste, 'bro.
Jay
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 29, 2005 - 09:04pm PT
I've taken lots of falls in the 20-30' range over the years with a few 30-50' here and there. But my partner once ('78-79???) took one on the order of 110' one on Metamorphosis in Eldorado - the route goes right up a steep ramp around an overhanging section that (being roof-inclined) he went over and got one-wayed high up on the wall above. Tried to down climb a few times and finally turned sideways and just stepped off. He had run it out from, if I remember correctly, a Lost Arrow/angle at the base of the ramp far below. He is an ex-gymnast (rings) and it truly was one of the more dramatic displays of calm and reserve I've ever seen. He didn't get hurt other than scratching his thumb on the way back up rebounding from all the rope stretch, but came within feet of the quite large ramp below...
spidey

Trad climber
Berkeley/El Cerrito
Mar 31, 2005 - 01:32am PT
Short version: 40-50 footer on an 8.5 mil rope.


Long version:

Jer and I were on a route called Rocktology (5.10+) on the Elephant Head, in the Southern Arizona backcountry. It had probably had less than 5 ascents at the time, and I doubt it has had many more by now (5 years later). Middle of nowhere, nobody knew we were out there, nobody else around for miles. This is one of the last big backcountry routes I wanted to climb before leaving Tucson for the bay area. Jer and I had climbed lots of classic backcountry routes together over the past 3 years, working up through the grades, getting stronger and more experienced.

Jer leads the first pitch 10b chimney/corner through a roof in fine style to a hanging belay below a right leaning, right facing roof/dihedral. I lead out left over the roof, place a crappy tricam in a pocket, and then clip a nice shiny 3/8" bolt 20 feet left of the anchor and maybe 10 feet up. From there the guidebook says to move up and right using pockets and gashes for pro until you reach a large hole/alcove. I never reached the alcove.

I climbed up 15 feet or so on 9+ face climbing to a nice looking gash, quickly placed a purple camalot jr., and then realized that it was too small, I should have used the green one. In addition, the gash had sharp and slippery quartz crystals all over the inside of it. I knew that cam was crap, but my stance sucked so I moved up to what I thought would be a better stance to get a better piece in. Unfortunately, there were no other gear placements; I was going to have to remove that piece to place a better one, and I was having a hard time getting up the nerve to take it out.

Now my feet are in the gash, and I'm leaning out right with my right hand on a nice incut edge/jug, reaching down to my feet, futzing with the cam, trying to decided if I should just keep climbing (another 10 feet of 5.10 climbing to the next gash/possible gear) or if I should try to replace it, and risk falling in the process.

As fate would have it, the decision was out of my hands. The incut hold i was leaning on came off and I went flying sideways/backwards. I had enough airtime to think about it, and yell both "FVCK" and "Falling". The cam ripped without even a whimper, and my skinny double rope clipped to the bolt caught me after 40 feet of air, but slammed me into the lip of the roof, badly bruising my thigh. As his reward for catching me, Jeremy got his head slammed into the roof (10 feet above me and maybe 20 feet to my right). Glad we had a policy of wearing helmets on backcountry climbs.

After making sure nothing is broken or bleeding, and waiting for the worst of the heebies to subside, I climb back up to the bolt and consider finishing the pitch. By this point my thigh is really starting to ache/throb/stiffen, and leading 5.10 face (near my limit at the time), followed by 4 more pitches of 5.10ish climbing starts to seem like a bad idea. Shaken, but happy to be intact, we bail, and I hobble/bushwack back to the car, as adrenaline is gradually replaced by pain and swelling.

Always meant to go back to that one, never did. I will, someday...


DE

Mountain climber
Tustin, Calif.
Mar 31, 2005 - 12:25pm PT
Rock Climbing-40' on Ten Carrot Gold circa 1975. First pitch, one inch from the jug at the end of the crux. 40' on a 5.6 slab at the Potash (1990), slipped on a sandy spot, very embarrassing, hundreds of people there!
Mountaineering- 1000+ footer, N. face of San Jack, 1979.
Big Wall- 30-40' on POW when a rivet broke, 1989.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Mar 31, 2005 - 02:53pm PT
"Mountaineering- 1000+ footer, N. face of San Jack, 1979. "

I think we'd all probably like you to elaborate and embellish this one...
DE

Mountain climber
Tustin, Calif.
Mar 31, 2005 - 06:06pm PT
Here's the short version. My cousin, a friend and I went to climb the North face of San Jacinto with no beta or bivvy gear, no rope, crampons or ice axes.We thought the ridge up the center of the face looked proud so off we went, we had no idea people climbed the gully. While climbing a 5th class rock band about 6000 feet up my friend fell (to his death, we thought)but was miraculously stopped by a small tree (after a 80-100' airball). My cousin and I pulled him onto a ledge and discovered he had some broken ribs and other injuries. It was decided that I would go for help while they waited. Thinking we were pretty near the top, I started off to try to climb up, down and out to Idyllwild for help. As I neared the peak at about sunset I was forced to try and cross the top of the icy couloir to gain the summit ridge. I was most of the way across when the thin crust I was edging on gave way and I shot off down the couloir at mach speed. It seemed that nothing could stop me before splattering on the rocks 7000+ feet below. As I rocketed down I could see a large rock outcropping directly in my path and approaching fast.I thought "that is where I die" as I hit, but, lo and behold, the rock had a perfect bmx jump shaped lip. It shot me straight up in the air where I stalled and dropped right back down to punch through the crust and stop dead! My shoulder was dislocated but considering the situation I figured out how to pop it back in on the spot. I was able to crawl away from the spot and bivvied in a cave a couple hundred feet above. The next morning I carried on and at about 10pm came out the Black Mtn. road to the highway. I hitched to the Sheriff's office and reported the incident. The next morning we met the Riv. Search and Rescue at Snow Creek and flew up (helicopter) and plucked my cousin and friend from high on the N. Face.
I estimated the fall to be 800-1200+ feet while groveling to the summit ridge after the bivvy.
DE

Mountain climber
Tustin, Calif.
Mar 31, 2005 - 06:07pm PT
ps. Since then I've been living on borrowed time!
kevsteele

climber
Santa Barbara, CA
Apr 1, 2005 - 12:02am PT
Is it still a "fall" if you jump?

Longest was full 165 rope length into big air.
healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Apr 1, 2005 - 12:53am PT
DE - that's one of the more amazing stories I've ever heard someone walk away from...

=

"Longest was full 165 rope length into big air."

Ditto - you probably need to elaborate and embellish this one as well...
kevsteele

climber
Santa Barbara, CA
Apr 1, 2005 - 11:26am PT
"Ditto - you probably need to elaborate and embellish this one as well... "
-----------------------------------------------------


It was 1990 and the week before my wedding - As a "bachelor party" a few friends (Rob Raker, Kevin Brown, Johnny Woodward) led me, at night, blindfolded to an unnamed bridge spanning a canyon behind SB. We climbed the girders to reach the center from underneath then fixed the 11 mil rope (and backup) to the steel beams. At night you can't see the rope swaying in the air going down 80 feet from your harness and then back up again 80 feet to the anchor. Step 20 feet back along the beams from the tie-off point (to make the impact a softer arc). Then jump.

Dan Osman unfortunately met his end doing this - under different circumstances. As far as the load on the gear it's about as soft as it gets: Fall Factor of 1.

-Kevin
Jedi

Trad climber
Upland, CA
Apr 1, 2005 - 01:18pm PT
It was early morning at Red Rocks and we headed to the Dog wall for some warming up... actually it was the coldest wall there. Grabbed my brand new rope and jumped on some .11c. I was making the clip at the forth bolt (an awkward clip) and my foot popped as the rope was at the biner. I held my breath, grabbed the rope and dropped like sh#t into a toilet. 25' later with my legs bend I opened my eyes to see that I was about 2" off the ground with my belayer yanked up. thank god I bent my legs.
I let out a scream then finished the route. That made my balls shrink for a few months.
-Jedi
lad

Trad climber
near Fresno, CA
Apr 1, 2005 - 01:31pm PT
DE - hell of an adventure and reminiscent of those impetuous days where friends and I grew up climbing those same ridges and couloirs. Your story brings back to my mind's eye the vision of one of my best friends barn-dooring, pitching off, then grabing ahold of a stout manzanita branch as if that burning bush was extending, reaching out to save him from a long X fall whilst along side one of the many waterfalls to be had. LOL, those were the days before we knew how to short rope/short pitch 4th and 5th class terrain ;) cheers...
Timmc

climber
East Kootenays
Feb 27, 2007 - 05:15pm PT
On Friday I took a 400 footer onto a .5 camalot while alpine climbing. Two hundred feet of rag-dolling and then two hundred feet of pure air. My partner caught me on a Munter as I neared the deck. Stretch gently put me 25 feet from the wall upside down on a steep snow-cone.

This is how it unfolded:

My partner led the first 60m pitch of steep ice. I grabbed the rack, put on my pack and started the second pitch, stopping 20 feet above the belay to place the only piece (.5) of the pitch. Steep snow climbing with no gear to the end of the rope. As I was placing a piece a 'bolt from the blue' aireborn snow mushroom knocked me off and down. Glad I had unclipped from my Quarks (plunged into unconsolidated snow) before the whip.

Other than an injured knee and crampon point stabs all over my legs, I was fine. Really fine.

Before that, I haven't fallen more than 10 feet in 22 years of climbing.

No chit!
John Mac

Trad climber
Littleton, CO
Feb 27, 2007 - 05:26pm PT
70 foot ground fall onto a sandy beach. Landed between two large rocks. Took me about a year to recover.
sketchyy

Trad climber
Vagrant
Feb 27, 2007 - 05:55pm PT
DAMN Timmyc, glad your still with us.

personell best(worst?) 35'+-
Clayman

Trad climber
CA, now Flagstaff
Feb 27, 2007 - 06:03pm PT
Whats the biggest rope jump you guys have whipped?
Wes Allen

Boulder climber
KY
Feb 27, 2007 - 06:12pm PT
Sport, ~67 feet on a 75 foot route. Broke a hold with two arms of rope out to clip the (runout) chains. New RRG routes are *exciting* sometimes. Have taken several around 50 feet or so going to the chains on a couple routes, or from letting go and taking the ride at the chains.

Gear, maybe 20-25 or so feet on a couple routes at the creek ad red.
James

climber
A tent in the redwoods
Feb 27, 2007 - 06:19pm PT
Seventy feet to a ledge, thirty feet to the ground- a soloing fall. Logged a few 40 footers including a really scary upside down fall out of pipeline in Squamish.
Decko

Ice climber
Colorado
Feb 27, 2007 - 06:26pm PT
85-100 feet to the ground........

BOOM ouch that hurt
Nick

climber
portland, Oregon
Feb 27, 2007 - 09:59pm PT
80-100? on Wrinkle in Time, TM 76'
Tried to do the second on the route. Finished the crux and was right below the belay that the route shares with Cibola. Thought I was all done and liebacked on a big crystal that stuck out the edge of the crack. As I was reaching up for the ledge, snap goes the nubin. Can you say stupid! . I tried to dance on some footholds, but that was a no go and I was airborne. Because I was off to the side of the bolt I could watch the big loop of slack develop then it was the big swing across the face like a sack of potatoes. The only damage was a flayed nose spewing blood all over my only clean shirt. I think that's the only one more than 20.
RRK

Trad climber
Talladega, Al
Feb 28, 2007 - 09:32am PT
I doubt that anybody'll beat this one. It wasn't me (my max-air is only a measley 40 feet) but rather my regular partner for the past 30 years. I won't name him but some of the older NC guys know who I'm talking about. He was climbing a route called Free Man in Paris at Looking Glass and fell with a full rope out. (the alternate name for that route is now "Dead Man In Pisgah") It was a 165' rope and he had one small wire just past the belay so the best guess is about 300 feet total airtime. His belayer took the slack out of the rope and lowered him to the ground (then off to the hospital) - it couldn't have been much closer than that. That fall had just happened when we started climbing 30 years ago. His belayer mentioned it to me several times - I guess while trying to work through that Post-traumatic stress thing - but I never really pressed him for the details (what details could there be - I climbed way up there and fell off?) We had a 50th birthday party for another partner a few years back and started telling falling stories and somebody (Harrison Shull I think) dragged the substance of it out of him. He also had a 100 footer at Tablerock on a route called Fresh Garbage - but that too was many years ago. For him the past 30 years have been relatively incident-free until he grounded at New River from about 15-20 feet last spring and was helped out of the gorge and on to the hospital by Mal Daley (thanks Mal). Injuries from the grounder and the big fall were basically the same. Lesson here? Maybe that the big rides are not necessarily the most dangerous.

RRK
426

Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
Feb 28, 2007 - 09:43am PT
Rope jump (Clayman)-600 + change footer with DanO. Foresthill.

Longest coulda been real bad: 45' on a 50' route. Broke some RPs (cables ripped on the side of the crack)...+ belayer was standing out from cliff. Very lucky with that one.



Gary

climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
Feb 28, 2007 - 10:27am PT
I came off Stichter Quits 3" out from the first bolt. That's my longest lead fall.
Chris McNamara

SuperTopo staff member
Feb 28, 2007 - 10:34am PT
ammon, where are you!? he needs to comment on this thread. seems like every wall i climbing with him he takes at least a 30-footer.... and i know he has taken a BUNCH of 50+ falls
G_Gnome

Boulder climber
Sick Midget Land
Feb 28, 2007 - 12:51pm PT
No really big falls in my 34 years of climbing. Longest was probably 25' but the worst was when I decked leading The Pirate at Suicide. While reaching for the black knob to finish the first hard section I came unglued from the crack and fired myself straight out from the rock pulling my top piece with me. My second piece was an RP and it sheered on both sides and pulled. My last piece sort of caught me as I hit the ground. Somewhere in there I slammed back into the wall hard enough to rip the rubber off the bottom of my shoe and blow my big toe flexor tendon clear to the back of my knee. Had to walk down from Suicide backwards. I think that toe is my only injury that still bothers me most of the time. Not bad considering.
carrbro

climber
Rockies
Feb 28, 2007 - 01:03pm PT
Decko - you need to tell the whole story and the damage....
For me - about 40 feet when hooks popped hand drilling on the lead on a 11d/12a route in the SPlatte. Then about 1500 feet with my brother in Peru - used all 9 lives up at once.
L

climber
The City of Lost Angels
Feb 28, 2007 - 01:38pm PT
Jeez, after carrbro's 1500'-used-all-9-lives in Peru, my measly little 35 footer on China Wall seems, well, measly. But since it was only my 3rd or 4th lead climb, it didn't feel measly!
G_Gnome

Boulder climber
Sick Midget Land
Feb 28, 2007 - 01:56pm PT
Ok L, how the hell did you fall 35' on a sport route?!
L

climber
The City of Lost Angels
Feb 28, 2007 - 02:26pm PT
G-gnome--

It was my third lead, 5.9 Child of Light--long way between bolts anyway--but as a nubie trying an onsite, I wandered off route just enough to skip the one bolt that would've made it a much shorter fall. Needless to say, I was 3 feet from the anchors and whipped off the thing.

Man oh man, that was fun!!!
rmuir

Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
Feb 28, 2007 - 03:33pm PT
This one, on the second pitch during the FA of Flying Circus on Tahquitz...


The actual fall was taken with my right foot on that left handhold, all the way onto the two 1/4" Rawls that Ricky was belaying on. On a Whillans harness, no less.
(I have a vivid memory, while falling, of watching Ricky pull in some rapidly-accumulating slack.) That appears to be at least 40 feet, maybe more.

Uniform consensus was that a second fall like that was right out!
Largo

Sport climber
Venice, Ca
Feb 28, 2007 - 04:26pm PT
50 feet on a new aid line on The Watchtower, Sequoia, Southern Sierras, with Richard Harrison, around 1976. Next biggest was in the 30 foot range and I took a stack of those, mostly on slabs, often off route (on new routes).

JL
Erik of Oakland

Gym climber
Oakland
Feb 28, 2007 - 05:39pm PT
10 feet, maybe more with rope stretch, in the gym, 5.11 range
stevep

Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
Feb 28, 2007 - 06:14pm PT
Whillans harness Robs? That sounds more painful than anything else mentioned on this thread.
Bruce Morris

Social climber
Belmont, California
Feb 28, 2007 - 06:57pm PT
1977:45 feet over roof. "Tight Rope", GPA, Yosemite. Just touched the ledge with my feet.
Darnell

Big Wall climber
Chicago
Feb 28, 2007 - 07:03pm PT
70 ft. while soloing Zenith
rmuir

Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
Feb 28, 2007 - 07:13pm PT
stevep said, "Whillans harness Robs? That sounds more painful than anything..."

Yeah, one of those all-white Whillans chastity belts... Since that puppy helped save my life quite a few times (including a near-death 300' slide
down some fixed 3/8" polypropylene on Mt. Foraker), I'm inclined to suggest that those harnesses are somewhat underrated!

On that fall on Flying Circus, I had several coins in the pocket of my dress whites. After the whipper, Rick, Gib and I did bag the route. But down at Humber,
while changing out at the car, I noticed I had two perfect quarter-sized bruises on my right thigh. (...pretty sure there was a likeness of George Washington
in that bruise.)

Like I said, pretty underrated... I did go on to have two healthy sons, thereafter. ;-)
I'm hurtin . . .

Ice climber
land of cheese and beer
Feb 28, 2007 - 08:04pm PT
50-60 feet off Direct Southeast (.11d thin fingers), Devils Tower. I'd been giving partners crap about putting in too much pro, so I was showing off, running it out. I was cruisin' putting in med/small stoppers now and then until it got easy about 2/3's of the way up the pitch, so then I ran it out 15-20' before I put in a small stopper. It looked easy above so off I went, but I pumped out quick. After considerable whining I finally get a stopper half way in but by then I've got total sewing-machine body going and my fingers are sliding out of the crack. The first time I try to clip I'm almost there when I let go of the rope in order to get more fingers in the crack. The second time I had the gate open when I dropped it. I holler at my belayer to 'watch me' as I give it another go, but it's no use, I'm coming off but just as I start to slide I notice the rope is going behind my right leg. So I start crying like a baby trying to get the rope right so it doesn't flip me upside down. I didn't make it. Ripped the small stopper and then I did this INCREDIBLE back summersault as the rope went tight. My belayer said it was one of the most amazing things he ever saw. You should have seen the bruise . . .
K. Fosburg

Sport climber
park city, ut
Feb 28, 2007 - 08:28pm PT
I took about a 50 ft. fall off the Bismark while soloing Mescalito.
Near the top of the pitch it turns into a widening flare with no pro (the biggest piece I had was a #4 friend. The yellow Myers guide had this pitch labeled 5.9 3-4" which probably should have been 3-9"). I dicked around forever metering out slack for my clove-hitch self belay and then re-adjusting trying to give myself just enough rope to mantle on to the ledge. My first attempt was not so good. I pimped up to where it got seemingly harder than 5.9 and then ratcheted back down to my #4 friend for more stressful deliberation and knot adjustment. Second time up I was feeling better and got higher, close to where the ledge seemed almost within reach. Then I pitched out, inverting almost immediately because of the goon rack and kept sailing (I certainly would have had enough slack to finish the pitch). I slammed backward upside down against the wall with a hard blow to my head. Lost my glasses.
I spent a miserable night on Bismark Ledge full of big-time dread of going back up there. The next morning I jugged up and it occurred to me for the first time that perhaps one could just lay it back as an alternative. Four moves later my nightmare ended.
Jingy

Social climber
Flatland, Ca
Feb 28, 2007 - 08:59pm PT
WOW!! Hardman Knott that's pretty good. Good thingg you're still here with us and not dead, or worse in a wheelchiar pull your meals from a straw and having your colostomy bag emptied every 5 hours by a Nurse who doesn't speak english!
TradIsGood

Happy and Healthy climber
the Gunks end of the country
Feb 28, 2007 - 09:08pm PT
After I take two more, I will have a longest.
caughtinside

Social climber
Davis, CA
Feb 28, 2007 - 09:16pm PT
I took what was estimated by witnesses as a 60-70 footer 2 weeks ago.

Good thing I was deep water soloing! But, I landed flat on my side, and that ended my day. Couldn't breathe for a minute, couldn't fully inflate my lungs for several hours, and my back hurt for a couple days. Covered in bruises.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Mar 1, 2007 - 02:16am PT
How about a brief pause to recalculate a couple of fall factors in old posts, amidst all the scary stories:

----

Mar 25, 2005
Author: Jaybro]
[1 of 4 falls described]
Scariest circa 78, EB's. Agean stables (incorrectly refered to as hesitation blues in guidebooks) 11b lieback in Vedauwoo.
Leading at my limit, i placed an early model friend at what must have been about one foot above halfway as my forearms pumped beyond belief.
I kept climbing because I could not let go to place more pro.
I reached the top and grabbed the bombproof ledge ... and watched my cramping hands melt off the top.
As I sailed down, the image of Wes the belayer, frantically trying to yard in rope grew at a terrifying rate.
The peice held, but with rope stretch my feet brushed the rocky turf. I came to rest dangling about a foot or so above the ground.
25'? factor two for sure!
----

Thanks for sharing and, to Wes for coming through as the belay hero (vs. some of the botched belays in other posts!)

The Fall Factor has to be less than 2, though. Say the Friend was at 13' and when you fell your feet were at 25':
(fall distance)/(amount of rope used to absorb fall) = 25/(13+9?) = 1.1 . (A very "full value" 1.1, though, nearly an
infinite one (25/0 if Wes didn't deliver).

----

Apr 1, 2005
Author: kevsteele
It was 1990 and the week before my wedding - As a "bachelor party" a few friends (Rob Raker, Kevin Brown, Johnny Woodward)
led me, at night, blindfolded to an unnamed bridge spanning a canyon behind SB.
We climbed the girders to reach the center from underneath then fixed the 11 mil rope (and backup) to the steel beams.
At night you can't see the rope swaying in the air going down 80 feet from your harness and then back up again 80 feet to the anchor.
Step 20 feet back along the beams from the tie-off point (to make the impact a softer arc). Then jump.
Dan Osman unfortunately met his end doing this - under different circumstances.
As far as the load on the gear it's about as soft as it gets: Fall Factor of 1.
-----

The Fall Facor of 1 is correct. But it's not as soft as it gets (in terms of leader or toprope falls).
As soft as it gets would be something more like 5/190 = 0.026 .
(For example, taking a short 5' slip, onto pro at your waist, 190' out; more likely the rope will stretch a bit more and make a longer fall, but even 0.04 is a lot smaller than 1).

We now return to your regularly scheduled airtime....

I took a 35-footer in the Gunks (Apoplexy) when trying to climb too soon after it rained. I discovered even an incut horizontal is hard to hold onto when it's full of slippery mud. So I gave my belayer plenty of warning and then jumped off. Perfect catch in midair; the fixed 1" angle piton held. After that he designated that end of his rope as "Clint's end".

I also took a 40' "semi-grounder" over an overhang, into an icy slab while ice climbing. The only pro was a piton level with the belay, so I slid another 60' or so. That did not end so well - broken vertebra, spinal cord injury, broken leg. But I was lucky and (with much medical assistance) recovered back to near normal. When my partner rapped off the belay anchor (single piton), it pulled and he rode down the slab on his side, narrowly missing trees below. His injury: pierced his side with Terrordactyl, a couple of stitches. It was my only fall ice climbing, and my last ice climb. It was on an attempted FA on Whitehorse Ledge, NH, later done as "Alchemist's Dream"(?) (near "Mistaken Identity").
Flanders!

Trad climber
June Lake, CA
Mar 1, 2007 - 10:10am PT
70 footer !
On the Royal Arches of all places, back in the early 70's, trying to pass another party (or two). Went way right, it had just rained, the moss was slicker thatn all getout, ripped 5 pieces (no camming units back then), went fly'in over huge roof and had to prussik back up.
DN
Raydog

Trad climber
Boulder
Mar 3, 2007 - 12:26am PT
Repeated 20 to 25 footers out of this corner I was trying to do the FA of at Elephants Graveyard, Yosemite - 1988 - belayed by Tucker Tech - onto a solid 3/8" bolt I had personally Bosched-in. I recall a rope burn on my leg and Tucker saying something about me "partying wildly".

These whippers stand out as I was normally way too chicken to EVER risk air and generally preferred to overprotect or TR.
Raydog

Trad climber
Boulder
Mar 3, 2007 - 02:20am PT
One more, ok, 4 more...

1978 - doing a first ascent with Tom Vrooman in Deerhorn Valley - hanging off a hook drilling a bolt hole on this 10a called Face Lift - hook blows, or rather rips the flake off - I slide and grind - more curious than anything - straight to the deck - massive road rash on left leg.

Probably 1982 - Woodson - alone 3rd classing Jaws - near the top something goes wrong - no time for my mistake to register I go to the deck, or rather back slap cat-like onto the slab behind with an audience - young female no less - I get up without missing a beat,like nothing happened, get back on it and go to the top.

1992 - Temecula Boulders - alone one afternoon - this thing is kinda high, committing but not suicidal - nice crimpers - an edge tears off and I land with an audible thud on my ass, in the dirt. Surprised and mostly unhurt.

1997 - Joshua Tree, alone midsummer, not sure what the thing is called - if anything - I was down climbing - greasy lay backs, steep, something goes wrong - I'm mid air with time to contemplate that I'm going to get hurt - I hit the deck hard, my right ankle snags on this tiny slab - legs arms bleeding from cuts - can't walk. I crawl and hop 20 min. back to my car, then drive to camp - massive multicolor sprain. Lucky.

Trusty Rusty

Social climber
Tahoe area
Mar 3, 2007 - 03:20am PT
35' solo fall at Indian Caves CA. Vintage 1980. Gargantuan Poison Oak cushioned my Chevy Chase head over tea cup hoo ha. With fresh sprigs of P/oak broken off in my back, I went to bed for three weeks with a broken foot, scratching the most unmentionable outbreak that you've ever read about. Often considered drinking bleach to Carl Orff.
Gunkie

climber
East Coast US
Mar 3, 2007 - 09:24am PT
I'm a full-on baby and have no real good whipper stories.

1985, 20 footer on Ant's Line, Gunks. I placed a 2.5 Friend in the undercling, climbed out left around the block and up to good holds. I was pumped, but not desparate by any means. I was fishing around on the rack for a piece of gear when my foot simply popped off a hold and the next thing I knew, I was 10 feet below the block and had to reclimb the crux.

BFD.
ß Î Ø T Į H

Boulder climber
extraordinaire
Oct 13, 2014 - 09:33pm PT
Was descending the talus E of Blue Crag one time, and soon enough a huge snowfield was now right in front of me.
I should have gone back up to the right and stayed on terra firma, but I thought that by holding a sharp rock in my hands I could arrest any slide down the snow.
I found said rock and dumbly launched.
It was glaze ice.
The rock I was holding quickly ripped from my hands and a death fall ensued.
Slid like 100 feet at high speed, but there happened to be a thin layer of fresh snow dusted around the very bottom before you went into eternity.
Todd Eastman

climber
Bellingham, WA
Oct 13, 2014 - 10:00pm PT
Took 50 ft fall off a 75 ft route. Breakaway - 5.8 Rocks St. Park, MD 1974, well past crux protected with fixed angle, hold near top "brokeaway" and I briefly experienced flight. Came to a stop and my buddy that stopped the fall was suspended off the ground with the rock he was tied to, partly yanked up also.

Lucky!
rick sumner

Trad climber
reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska
Oct 13, 2014 - 10:14pm PT
Two fifty foot grounders from loss of control during increasingly fast "limb rappels" on fir trees in washington state as a grade schooler in the early sixties. Limbs broke the fall on both occaisions sparing serious injury.

Thirty foot groundfall while downclimbing unprotectable difficulties on volcanic rock outside Chico Ca. in first year of college. Landed flat on my feet on a level rock table. Walking on my tender feet was quite painful for several days.

Sixty footer from overhanging ground onto a sloping ramp due to a snapped hold and belayer failure during attempted second ascent of Wallflower at the Leap in 1976. Didn't walk away from that one.

Fifty foot somersaulting grounder while running the rope out sans pro at JT 1979. Walked away slightly broken.

None over 10 feet since.
jgill

Boulder climber
Colorado
Oct 13, 2014 - 10:23pm PT
Probably the fall of 1966 in western Kentucky. It seemed to last for months and I was able to get out most weekends. Other fall climbing seasons seemed shorter.



;>)
rick sumner

Trad climber
reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska
Oct 13, 2014 - 10:35pm PT
That's quite amusing JGill. Hey, did you ever visit the Leap, say in 1976?
Bushman

Social climber
The island of Tristan da Cunha
Oct 13, 2014 - 11:14pm PT
'Worst Fall not the Farthest'

1974 thereabouts, near the top of Tahquitz about a year after I started climbing, on Jonah after leaving a ledge, I clipped a bolt, then a fixed pin without checking it, then some 5.10, then after about 15 more feet the climbing eased, I was tired, I felt my fingertips rolling backwards in slow motion, then 'whoosh', and 'ping' the pin pulls. I saw Idylwild sorta upside down, banged the back of my head, yank, clang rattles the gear, I'm hanging there upright now after falling 50' feet, only five feet above the ledge and my partner, standing there with no shirt, rope around his back is holding me, he's pissed, huge look of disgust on his face tempered by pain, rope burn all up his back. Mild concussion I had wasn't as bad as the embarrassment I felt when the guys who saw it from lunch rock told me how stupid I was

Took a couple forty footers on the Apron in the Valley. Some thirty footers and twenty footers on other climbs. Got rope burned through all my fingers early on during a twenty foot fall at a 5.9 crack on Sunnyside Bench because I tried to catch myself with the rope as I fell, had holes in every finger, funny I still remember how it burned after forty years. Fell 15-20' ice climbing once but a screw held.

My worst rock climbing fall was about 35' on the easier first pitch of 'Kangaroo' on Flagpole peak at Tahoe, mid to late 1980s, stupidly ran out the pitch, 5.8 as I remember, and had one stopper in before slipping and falling fifteen feet above a ledge, pulled out the peice, bounced off the ledge, fell ten more feet bounced off a second ledge, fell ten more feet and slammed onto a third ledge on a rocking block with my knees. Looking down forty feet to the ground my partner stood with tons of slack in the rope since I stopped myself with only one more useless nut way below me. With two cracked ribs and a chipped shin bone my wounded pride wouldn't allow me to retreat so I lead the rest of the climb before my adrenalin crashed and I limped and hobbled all the way to the car after the descent.
johntp

Trad climber
socal
Oct 14, 2014 - 01:28am PT
Took a 30 off a bad rurp. I knew it was gonna blow. Was caught by a rusty spinner I put a no 2 wired stopper on or I would have decked. Good times. That no 2 still hangs on my key chain.

BASE104 is a legend for whippers.
kaholatingtong

Trad climber
Nevada City
Oct 14, 2014 - 06:43am PT
30-35 from the very very very top of super slide. i was gassed before i started leading the pitch, but in my defense, i calculated that falling on that pitch, after my partner said he didnt want to lead it, would be very benign as long as i placed good pro. got to the cruxey part, crack traversed right and then narrowed down to shitty rattly fingers for me and i was just so gassed i decided to gun for the top and not try to place any pro, and i got damn close. A very benign slider, but I did surprise myself by all the noise I made. First time for everything I guess.
Dropline

Mountain climber
Somewhere Up There
Oct 14, 2014 - 06:51am PT
50' on ice. Broke my right wrist, had a concussion, and was generally just banged up pretty good.

The route? Dropline.
Magic Ed

Trad climber
Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Oct 14, 2014 - 08:37am PT
About 60 feet. Broke my collarbone, scapula, 3 ribs, punctured lung, smashed the fingers on my right hand, my right thumb is now 1/2 inch shorter than my left, pulled every muscle on the right side of my body.
Spent 3 months sitting on the couch--too painful to lie down. No climbing for a year.
John Christie

Trad climber
Boulder,Colorado
Oct 14, 2014 - 11:28am PT
Chamonix – June 1985.
Where to start….let’s see – the length of fall? 1,400 feet perhaps? Maybe a bit more – maybe a bit less, to be honest I did not measure it in terms of length but felt it viscerally in the impacts that happened along the way, and the strange feeling of internal calm that came over me as I plunged head over heels down the Col de l’Aiguille Verte couloir. A few minutes before, we were down soloing the 50 - 55 degree slope with my partner Martin leading in 12 plus inches of fresh, soft snow. We had been kicking steps through to the ice below and were not belayed, although we were trailing ropes from the last rappel that we had made a few hundred feet above. We had made the fateful decision that speed was more of the essence than trying to dig out belays as we completed the last part of our descent to the Agentiere glacier.
I was totally strung out - having not eaten or drunk anything in more than 12 hours. The storm had abated somewhat, but had dropped well over a foot of snow in the 18 hours since it had begun. We had spent a cold night out in bivvy bags, on the summit of Les Droites after an almost routine ascent, in good weather and great conditions, of the Ginat route on the North Face. The most difficult thing we had dealt with the prior day was the end of my Charlet Moser ice axe pick snapping off, leaving a blunt, but still functional tool that the second person then used for the rest of the day. Being young and invincible we were not carrying a spare. We had the entire North Face to ourselves as we soloed the first 3,000 feet of the face, with snow and ice up 75+ degrees in places. We then roped up and climbed 14 steep pitches to the summit of the mountain where we watched, with some anxiety, the storm clouds building as the night came on. As we had left gear in the Argentiere refuge we had made the decision to avoid the shorter, more usual descent to the Couvercle Refuge on the Mer De Glace and descend instead to the couloir between Les Droites and the l’Auiguille Verte. We had reasoned that we could quickly down solo this couloir to the glacier and hence return to the Argentiere refuge. However the complexity of the upper part of this face and the fresh snow made the descent an all-day affair.
The afternoon light was beginning to fade as we descended in thick cloud, with visibility of no more than 20 feet. A sudden feeling that something had happened made me look over my shoulder and Martin was gone! A second later I felt my feet slip from under me, and I started to slide in a small slough of snow. As I picked up speed I flipped on to my back and tried to swim and stay on the surface of the mini avalanche that I was riding. The next thing that happened was my crampons tripped me and I was tumbling head first. Instinct made me tuck into a ball and the first impact was on my head, with my jaw slamming shut so hard that I felt molar teeth break; then I was airborne again. The second impact was again on my head, this time my jaw was shut, and pain exploded in my upper back. I was thrown into the air again. A feeling of resignation that I was going to die came over me. I had seen two days before the 20 foot wide bergschrund of unknown depth that awaited us at the base of the face. I had no illusions that we would clear this obstacle.
The third and final impact was in a tucked, fetal position and I stopped sitting upright with the wind knocked out of me. I still had an ice axe in each hand, and the rope was wrapped around me in multiple coils. In disbelief at my luck, I shook off the coils, and looked up to see Martin sitting less than 10 feet away. He calmly told me that he had broken his leg. We had cleared the bergschrund, and apart from a sore back and some broken teeth I had survived! The last thing that I wanted to do was walk across the crevasse covered Argentiere glacier on my own to try and get help.
Epilogue: Some French guides staying at the Argentiere hut carried Martin the mile back to the hut where he spent the night and the next day waiting for a chopper to fly him to hospital. It was early season and the radio room in the hut was locked so I descended the glacier in a whiteout with an American climber to alert the rescue service. The helicopter pilots got a short, clear weather window at 3:45 PM the next day and Martin was flown to the valley where his ankle injury was repaired.
Three weeks later, after considerable soul searching, I went to Mount Kenya – but that is a story for another time.
martygarrison

Trad climber
Washington DC
Oct 14, 2014 - 11:46am PT
35 feet, head first on Uncle Fanny in 72 I think. Landed just above the ground upside down. An early lead climb for me and I had a piece at my waist that didn't pull. Belayer error.
kaholatingtong

Trad climber
Nevada City
Oct 14, 2014 - 12:38pm PT
holy balls john christie! that sounds pretty outrageous.
jgill

Boulder climber
Colorado
Oct 14, 2014 - 03:33pm PT
Hey, did you ever visit the Leap, say in 1976? (RS)

What's the Leap? I left KY in 1967 to move to Colorado and haven't returned. I climbed in Pennyrile Forest and drove to S. Illinois for climbing, but mostly at Dixon Springs.
paul roehl

Boulder climber
california
Oct 14, 2014 - 04:13pm PT
Remember falling on the Apron on the Grack Marginal when it began to rain and the whole thing was like a slip and slide and the most curious thing is I could smell my jacket burning as it slid along the rock.
dogtown

Trad climber
Cheyenne, Wyoming and Marshall Islands atoll.
Oct 14, 2014 - 05:37pm PT
Forty foot or so maybe? over and over and over agian as I layed Siege to Something You're Not. Suicide Rock. Maybe not the longest ever but for sure the most falls.
dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Oct 14, 2014 - 05:39pm PT
Not my fall but you might enjoy this.

THE GUILLOTINE

I was 16 or 17 (1974) and still in high school when this took place. We were up at Suicide, I was there with Randy V. and Spencer L, We were over on the North side and somehow Randy ended up belaying this guy "Bill" on the Guillotine. I'm not sure how they hooked up but back then we would just troll around and get belays from anyone and everyone at the crags. The scene was small and we knew most everyone .Anywho, Bill was on the lead with RV belaying. Bill was not solid but he was driven to advance his climbing skills. It could have been the first time we met Bill.
Spencer and I were sitting down and to the right slightly from the belay ledge which is a bit above the talus, as you guys know. Bill was shaky but kept advancing up the climb in spurts. He was having trouble placing pro and a couple pieces were placed blindly from a lieback position. At some point he started running it out, he was a ways up at that point. We watched with increasing nervousness as he got farther and farther out there. At one point he came to a fixed pin and was so sketched that he put his finger through the eye while trying to compose himself. By now, those of us on the ground were starting to freak out a bit. Randy was standing in the most ready hip belay position possible and Bill had everyone’s attention for 50 yards in both direction with his panicked moans, whimpering and yelps.

RV [He had a hex or other piece of gear about 15 feet below the roof (deep behind the "flake"). The fall Bill was facing would be long and likely cause him to swing into the flake, risking (at least it seemed to me) being sliced by the flake. Fortunately(?!), this piece pulled when he fell and he headed pretty much down the clean slab to the right of the flake. The next piece -- the one you mention next...]

It was clear that his last piece was dangerously near his halfway point, rendering a ground fall a distinct probability or worse. Spencer and I moved over to Randy’s position to assist with the belay if possible. The plan was to fling off the ledge and run downhill if Bill blew. It seemed like the only way to prevent the catastrophic event which seemed inevitable. Bill couldn’t clip the pin and just decided to go for it. You know how there are some sucker flakes that tempt the leader to abandon the main flake and go right? Well, that’s what he did, he launched out right into no-man’s land.

He made a several completely desperate undercling moves and BOOM, he was off! I looked up to see his body silhouetted against the sky and lazy coils of rope drifting down with him. Randy was yarding in rope like a madman, like someone’s life depended on it because, well…….it did! I can’t remember if they went with the fling and run, Randy would.
The sound was horrendous. He screamed and he hit the rock several times emptying his lungs. There were the ugly sounds of an accelerating mass ripping through the air like a rock falling and people screaming in the background. I might have been one of them.

(RV- he screamed and fell, stopped screaming and realized he was still falling and screamed again)
RV- (We all later joked that Bill had fallen so far, he had time to scream twice -- funny, yet true).

When he stopped he was inches from the ground.

RV-(absolutely true -- but it may have been 18-24 inches. What was amazing was that his fall line and where he stopped were free of ledges and boulders at the base).

The Riverside Mtn. Rescue Group was there practicing and before we knew it they had him strapped into the Stokes litter and he was out of there.

RV-(I recall that we may have quipped -- probably before the fall (MHU), but I'd like to think that it was after -- that Bill had picked the perfect day to die in complete safety).

He was basically unhurt and I think he was even back in Humber that evening.

RV-(Absolutely true -- and drank more than a couple beers too).

He went on to have several more famous big ones. Years later he told me about soloing the East Face of
Whitney and getting off route on 5.9 and almost dying again. The sad thing was he died soloing the Nose in bad conditions years later. He dropped the bag with his bivvy gear, sleeping bag etc. from near El Cap Tower but continued anyway. A bad storm came in and he died of hypothermia just below the top.

My memory of the famous day may not be 100% accurate but it’s pretty close. Randy and I reminisced about it fairly recently.

Footnote: When I soloed the South Face of the Column later the same year the only rope I could find around Camp 4 to borrow was the rope Bill fell on. Due to a mistake I made high on the South Face at one point I was facing a 300 foot fall with Bill’s rope clipped to the back of my harness! I was linking two pitches and was trying to stretch the rope to the stance, I untied the backup knot and unbeknownst to me it slipped through my Robbin’s style self belay setup. I was climbing the last 15-20 feet to the stance and looked down to see no lead rope, just a few lonely pieces of pro and the haul rope dangling below me. I was very careful on those last moves to the stance.

rmuir

Social climber
From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
Oct 15, 2014 - 06:55am PT

The "omitted" photo from up-thread taken during the first ascent of The Muir Trail on Flying Circus.
hashbro

Trad climber
Mental Physics........
Dec 2, 2014 - 10:16pm PT
Dave, I'm kinda wondering how your memory is doing or how history get's reshaped through the years (consider Figures on a Landscape)?

As I corrected in another recent thread, I (Not RV) was belaying Acapulco Bill (Houghton) after the Emerson's drove us all out to the crags. Randy showed up at the base and sat with me during the increasingly nervewracking belay.


Bill was obviously confused, scared and disoriented during his epic lead and ended up grabbing several pieces of gear while completely failing to clip them. He was moving further and further off route.

Predictibly Bill skidded into space while Randy and I urgently yarded huge amounts of rope around my hip belay. By the time bill had stopped, RV and I had pulled at least 50 feet around my back, and Bill had taken only a meager 120 footer (before stopping inches above an ugly ledge).


Luckily the Riverside Search and Rescue team were practicing nearby and immediately came up, cut his rope and ambulatad him to the hospital.

RV and went off to climb another route.

I guess you were there too Dave (according to your earlier post).


My longest fall: 40 footer, pulling all three pieces between myself and the belayer and both of us ended up hanging on only two fixed pins (the only pieces we had left).....on Pinky Paralysis in Yosemite
covelocos

Trad climber
Dec 2, 2014 - 10:30pm PT
I took a 30' upside down, eyes wide open ride from the last half move of the elephants butt on Illusion Dweller. New leader, nothing in the roof (a shiny #3 that I was told 'would go in somewhere...'out right of the jug) and my brother belaying and unable to see. He thought I was clipping and yarded out two armloads of rope!
MikeL

Social climber
Seattle, WA
Dec 2, 2014 - 10:36pm PT
I suppose you have to be alive to answer this question.
mcreel

climber
Barcelona
Dec 2, 2014 - 11:18pm PT
Once upon a time, my partner and I decided that fear of falling was a limiting factor to our climbing, so we decided to do practice falls using a top rope anchored to a tree branch. We got out our oldest, most trashed rope, and started jumping. We worked up to some pretty good falls. It's a pretty effective exercise, IMO.

The funny part was that some of my longest falls were taken intentionally on the worst rope I could find. The were low impact, though.

Longest fall on a route must have been around 20 feet. No problemo, it was into the air.
GDavis

Social climber
SOL CAL
Dec 2, 2014 - 11:58pm PT
Ugh - probably a sport climbing fall gunning for chainz, lol.


Actually, real talk, I fell almost the whole distance at Mesa Rim early on using a thin rope. So yeah, my longest fall is probably 25-30 feet in a gym. bwahaha.
Gary

Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
Dec 3, 2014 - 05:48am PT
On MC-1 on Dali Dome at Christmas Tree Pass. I was past the second bolt some good distance, all those slabs are run out there. I came off and started sliding down. Watched the second bolt go by, which was expected, then saw the first bolt go by. Oh, oh. Something had gone wrong on the belay. Somehow the belay came under control again. It was 30-40 feet.

That started the downward spiral in my climbing.
fear

Ice climber
hartford, ct
Dec 3, 2014 - 06:05am PT
30ish feet on the crux of Nosedive in the Gunks. Wacked my heel hard on the ledge on rope stretch.

Critical piece - a blue Alien with a Yates screamer which blew about 1/2 of it. Apparently a "good" Alien(not the headless variety that was en vogue at the time)...

steveA

Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
Dec 3, 2014 - 08:35am PT
Perhaps 150 ft. on an early ascent of the Prow-solo, April, 1971.
I thought it was he 2nd ascent, but perhaps not.

I zippered an entire A4 pitch, to the single 1/4 belay bolt, Robbins placed.
It was a very steep section which was lucky for me, since I didn't hit anything.
John Dill, ( before becoming involved with Yosar),), was watching me in a spotting scope, and when I fell, he yelled to others, and Donini and Mark Clemens came running over to take a look.

The reason I fell so far was due to my stupidity. I had tied many nest of stacked pitons off with nylon shoe-lace cord. I wanted to reduce the leverage, by tying them off real close, but wasn't thinking of the shoe-lace cord limited strength.
When I pulled a pin, in an expanding flake, (stupid me),
just before reaching the bolted belay, all the shoe-lace cord failed, leaving most of the stacked pins behind.
When I went back up, most of the nested pitons were still in place. I still remember that fall, 43 years ago.
Fogarty

climber
BITD
Dec 3, 2014 - 09:14am PT
This was posted on an old topic.
What was your longest whipper !

260+ Feet on pitch 14 Tangerine Trip in 1984 With Tracy Dorton, This was a earlier ascent of this now trade route. This pitch starts very simple I back cleaned to The first rivet, I forgot The 1/4 inch nuts at my tent, I thought no big deal, I remember flying up this pitch the 1/4 rivets some faced down, again no dig deal I then saw above me the only rivet on that pitch with a old short tie on it I thought wow A-0 As I went to reach to clip it all I remember is falling out in space and all my short ties just floating with me in space not popping off or slowing me down! I remember just screaming as I flew by Tracy belaying me in his curry Ledge laying down then I recall a big jolt then dropping a little more I was upside down and 30 feet from The wall I remember Tracy yelling are you ok as I flipped over and balanced in space I looked up to see Tracy flipped out of his ledge and Both of us in space,Tracy was out of rope, I some how gained The courage to jug back up to The anchors. I remember wile I was jugging all The gear at my waist. When I got to The top I remember thanking my bro, he then said that he would lead the pitch I remember my response, This is my Horse and I'm getting back on this mother f*#ker!
steveA

Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
Dec 3, 2014 - 10:08am PT
Fogarty,

That is the longest fall I've ever heard of on a rock climb. WOW! Lucky it was overhanging.
Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber
San Francisco
Dec 3, 2014 - 10:10am PT
45 ft or so I guess...
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
Dec 3, 2014 - 12:11pm PT
I wrote about this in one of the Black Canyon threads. In 2007 I think, I took back-to-back falls on a relatively new climb in the Black Canyon called Sistine Reality. The first one was 50 feet. The second was 75 feet. I was climbing with Mike Pennings. We bailed after the second fall.
life is a bivouac

Trad climber
Dec 3, 2014 - 12:15pm PT
Well, I'm old school and a chicken $^1t... always fearful of falling. My longest fall was about 8 ft. on Tis-sa-ack an expando flake let me down.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Dec 3, 2014 - 02:22pm PT
The sad thing was he died soloing the Nose in bad conditions years later. He dropped the bag with his bivvy gear, sleeping bag etc. from near El Cap Tower but continued anyway. A bad storm came in and he died of hypothermia just below the top.
This person was:
David Kays, Nose, April 1980 (ANAM 1981).
Was soloing the route, got to 250' from the top when a storm hit. He died of hypothermia.

According to the threads here, apparently he was also known as Acapulco Bill.
(It's possible the list I'm looking at is incomplete and there is a second person who died from hypothermia a Camp 6, other than the Japanese folks who died there more recently).
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Dec 3, 2014 - 04:45pm PT
This is a great thread! Fun to look back on older reports of people who are more conservative now but have great stories from before they got that way :)
Chris Oakes

climber
Hayward
Aug 5, 2016 - 08:06pm PT
Bushman - had a similar fall on the Kangaroo off width two years ago. Somehow squeaked to the bolts before my partner refused to follow the pitch. Limped out.
F

climber
away from the ground
Aug 6, 2016 - 09:56am PT
150' roped.

1800' unroped.

Oopsie!
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
Aug 6, 2016 - 10:41am PT
I was climbing at the Wheeler Crest.... the one close to Ridgecrest, CA.

IIRC it was one of the two pitch climbs that Kamps put up, on the west side of the crest, in the early 70'S up by "the second notch", go through one of three notches to descend to much longer climbs on the east faces that are visible from Hwy 14 and 395. Locals know the place, its out of the way.

Anyway ... typical Bob route, the bolts were drilled while standing on pretty good size black knobs.

Up on pitch two, of a 5.8 slab, I have the knob in my hand, contemplating the best way to get up on it, about 30-40 feet above the last bolt, causally hanging on when the knob breaks off!!!!!!

Because it happened so suddenly I wasn't even scared... just surprised.

Jason told me I did a flip, all I remember is the surface of the stone racing by and the tug of the cord and the pain of fresh road rash.

Jason took over and we topped out.... it was time to go and drink a few cold ones back at the truck.

NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Aug 6, 2016 - 12:25pm PT
Worst was on something between Chockstone Chimney and Lionheart near Ribbon Falls area in Yos Valley. Somewhere between 40-60 feet air time with a hard slab bounce in the middle, woke up on the ground in the gully with rope stretch taking some weight. I want to go back and measure it some day. In any case, long enough that I do feel like I got an extra life. And I always feel weird hearing about people who fell shorter distances and got really hurt or died.

Very minor compared to that: Took a couple of long sliders at the same place at the end of linking p1+p2 on Crest Jewel. And a 35-40 foot slider on Coonyard Pinnacle caught by a wire threaded over a bolt stub. And ~20 feet but ending a body length above the deck in Lower Yos Falls Amphitheater with an audience to witness my the Elvis leg and drama leading up to the fall. That was my first memorable one.



August West

Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
Aug 6, 2016 - 04:04pm PT
My longest, though not most eventful, was a long slab side. It did wear a hole through my shoe and chewed up the ball of my foot. Fingers and palm ended up tender but I think I mostly slid on my wrists/long sleeves.

My partner and I were wandering around clipping crappy 1/4 bolts somewhere above Monday Morning Slab. Glad the bolt was still good enough.
Bruce Morris

Social climber
Belmont, California
Aug 6, 2016 - 11:27pm PT
45" over a roof, "Tight Rope", Glacier Point Apron, 1977.
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Aug 6, 2016 - 11:36pm PT
I peeled off in 1973 or so, still falling. Nothing like 40+ years at terminal velocity. Any day now... :-)
Dr.Sprock

Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
Aug 7, 2016 - 01:12am PT
10 meters.

luckily there was a 14 foot deep diving pool under the platform which was free climbed,

de anza college, 1978.
slabbo

Trad climber
colo south
Aug 7, 2016 - 05:14am PT
75-80' or so attempting the f/a of Reelin' In The Fears in NH..hand over hand belaying reeled me in about 10' of the deck. #4 hex I believe, in a pocket saved the day.

Silly bugger me went back and completed it a few months later.

It now has 7 bolts and is considered "PG" whatever that means.

Another f/a in NH was Clean Sweep,,,fell of the drilling stance in front of a bunch of tourists...the swami knot got my ribs pretty good on that one ..45' or so..
Skeptimistic

Mountain climber
La Mancha
Aug 7, 2016 - 10:25am PT
About 20 ft.

http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13199702702/Rappel-Anchor-FailureInadequate-Knot-and-Protection-Fall-on-Rock-Haste-Inexperience-Slight-Hangover
jeff constine

Trad climber
Ao Namao
Aug 7, 2016 - 10:40am PT
50 footer kids.
clifff

Mountain climber
golden, rollin hills of California
Aug 7, 2016 - 01:29pm PT
2 marginal pieces pop out of the thin crack they really didn't fit and there I was looking at a nasty 60' fall as I start slipping. Something seems to buoy me up (divine intervention?) and I top out. Lesson - Always have plenty of small brass nuts or other micro stoppers.

Here's the 100 foot club:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1580806/100-Foot-Club

http://www.rockandice.com/epic-rock-climbing-stories
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