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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Fun stories everybody.
I was somewhat surprised never to hear of anyone loosing a rack from falling out of a roof pitch or from just pitching upside down.
Never dropped the rack, but, yah, sitting comfortably numb, well fed and fat at Camp 5 on our first trip up The Nose, after numerous bongloads of some scraggy colombian, I confess I, ...I, ...um, I "accidentally" knocked the bag of weed over the edge...
Ed was not happy about that.
Bad, bad, bad RoyBoy.
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maldaly
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
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Best story I've heard was that of Josh Wharton and Kelly Cordes last year while climbing Great Trango. While on the third pitch of the 68 pitch route they dropped most of the rack. Rather than rapping down to get it, they kept going up. At the crux 11c pitch they had only two cams that fit so Josh would climb 30' or so, place a cam, climb another 30' place the other cam then lower off to back clean the lower cam. Repeat to the belay. In addition (or maybe that's subtraction) they had only a single JetBoil canister and no sleeping bags. They went 2 1/2 days without any water other than what they could suck off of icicles.
Now that's badass...
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Loomis
climber
Blava nie, ty kokot!
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I was doing Angels fright on Tahquitz ( 14 or 15 at the time) with a friend of mine. Mari, Mike and others were soloing it and passed us. As Mari climbed above us, she dropped a 35mm film container with some green in it, their summit pipe loads. As fate had it, this landed right at my feet, on the belay ledge 80' off the base. Mari Said to me " Oh shit! "Old Man" can you bring that up to me?" I said " OK, no problem" I tied in and climbed up to her and handed the precious bounty over to her. Have to admit, I felt quite proud to save the day of my mentors...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Old Man,
You're so much younger than that now...
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Loomis
climber
Blava nie, ty kokot!
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Roy, yes, it has just taken so damned long to realize it!
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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Fairfax, CA
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Never dropped the rack, but I've had enough nuts escape their racking biner to almost add up to one.
On Nutcracker, came close to being hit by a set of nuts sailing down- ninja style- from far above. Right after that, I caught a cam falling from 1 pitch above. Is that what they mean when they talk about it 'raining nuts and cams'? (Wait- is that how it goes?)
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GDavis
Trad climber
SoCal
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Mar 10, 2008 - 08:36pm PT
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Broke a buddies toe dropping a nut tool.
Not the same thing, at all. Lesson learned though. Wear shoes belaying, even if your lazy and think anywhere is the beach.
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snowhazed
Trad climber
Oaksterdam, CA
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Mar 10, 2008 - 09:50pm PT
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I feel fortunate to always have geared up on the waist loops. If the rack gets dropped, then I don't need it anymore cuz I'm going with it! Over the shoulder is really annoying personally, other than some chimneys- why do it?
Did drop my ATC once without even knowing it, and as Dirka reached out to adjust something it landed right in his hand 10 feet below.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 10, 2008 - 10:07pm PT
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Okay,
I'm still pretty sure I've never dropped the rack; so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
But, remember those bogus injection molded EB's?
Eriksson and I were doing something over on Suicide; might have been near Ishi, maybe some Yaniro/Leversee thing, and every time I pointed downward onto my toes those bulbous boots would knock my boot edge off the dimes and I'd fall, and after doing this several times I blew holes in all my fingertips.
So with my bloody fingertips I un-shouldered the rack and threw it off the wall and it sailed way down, …down into the forest.
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TrundleBum
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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Mar 10, 2008 - 10:12pm PT
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Only once:
Tom Callaghan and I were on The Prow on Cathedral ledge and we, I ? I'll say 'we' and make it was collective, dropped the cleaner rack from the previous pitch.
It had not even made it's first bump and Tom said firmly, yet calmly...
"Gravity check!"
I have never sailed one since.
Ah but come to think of it.
I did drop an EB down into the bergshrund'ish thing of snow at the base of the NWF of half Dome. It luckily caught up in a perfect heel and toe about 10' down the 60 or so foot drop. It was retrieved by my holding the ankles of my partner John Rutt. John snagged the shoe with a couple of slings, a nut pry and off we went.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Mar 10, 2008 - 10:17pm PT
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Finally a thread on ST that makes me feel better: I"ve never dropped the rack. In fact, I've only once even dropped a piece of gear, and it was on an easy route in the grotto and I dropped it directly onto Mac's head. So now I feel pretty good about that incident. Or not.
I did once get fifty or sixty foot up on lead and realize that I'd thread the rope through my swami but had neglected to tie it. That was sort of exciting.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Mar 10, 2008 - 10:41pm PT
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I feel good too! I dropped my second thing yesterday... A roll of tape that came rolling out of the top pouch on my pack when I opened it. It was one of those fumbily, almost save, fumbily, almost save moments. Then it went under a rock on the ledge, at my feet, where i could no longer see it and then over the edge.
The first piece I ever dropped was a locking `biner that almost hit Gabe McNeely in the head on Lurking Fear... I wasn't even aware it came off my sling or harness. A few minutes later he gave it back to, none the worse for wear. Hopefully I'm finished dropping things.
Maybe ptpp can tell us the story about how he dropped a whole f*#king haulbag on a route! I think he dropped a rack of pins on another! Talk about butterfingers!
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Ricardo Carlos
Trad climber
Off center, CO.
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Mar 10, 2008 - 11:45pm PT
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Well not a rack and far from a first ascent.
But 79 on Regular on Half Dome. At a lunch Break around the 7th or 8th pitch My partner lighten our load dropping his sleeping bag and my bivi sweater and stocking cap.
On the bivi at the 11th pitch that was more sheltered than big sandy I asked XXXX if he wanted my down jacket or half bag. I figured we both could be uncomfortable rather than one having a really shitty night.
We topped off the next day to be met with lasses & brews.
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Ricardo Carlos
Trad climber
Off center, CO.
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Mar 11, 2008 - 12:03am PT
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I remember buying pins cheap 79-80 when T.T.Ns partner took a really long fall on one of the last pitches of E.L .leading.. Seems the bandalero (SP if it is a word) style pin racks sewing blew showering the base with pins.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Mar 11, 2008 - 01:01am PT
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Hey, what about dropping your partner's shoes to the bottom of Teneya Canyon three thousand feet below? I've done that and I'm still among the unforgiven . . .
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Mar 11, 2008 - 01:01am PT
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Hey, what about dropping your partner's shoes to the bottom of Teneya Canyon three thousand feet below? I've done that and I'm still among the unforgiven . . .
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hashbro
Trad climber
Mental Physics........
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Mar 11, 2008 - 02:10am PT
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I don't believe I've ever dropped a rack, but do recall a few interesting drops here and there.
There was the time that Jim Wilson (Rubidoux) and Aussie Nick Taylor were doing the Meatgrinder back in the day. Jim was leading the wide crack with style and Nick was daydreaming and drifting this way and that while continuously feeding out rope at the belay.
Suddenly (at two thirds height on the route)Jim fumbled his nut selection and dropped a number 10 hex. Almost exactly as the words "rock" blurted from Jim's mouth, the giant hex slammed Nick square on top of his head with a very audible CLANG!
Nick reeled over and appeared to almost pass out. Still clenching the below rope, he mumbled that he was "fine" and told Jim to just keep climbing. I know Jim felt pretty bad about that drop and luckily Nick got out with only a nasty bruise on the top of his head.
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jewedlaw
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Mar 11, 2008 - 03:01am PT
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I've never dropped the rack, or any piece for that matter, but I've definitely been victim to the rain of cams, nuts, headlamps, and walkie talkies from above at Lover's Leap. Don't remember where, but I was probably sitting in line.. waiting for.. the Line.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Mar 11, 2008 - 03:08am PT
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One of the first routes I did at Squamish was Sentry Box, in early 1973. It was then an aid climb, later Canada's first 5.12. I did it with Eric Weinstein. I was interminably slow, as usual. The last move was a mantle onto what looked like a fine ledge. To disencumber myself, I threw a set of aiders with much of such gear as was left attached up onto the ledge - making sure they were well back, and couldn't fall off or get in the way.
I then mantled onto the ledge. The ledge had a very fine jug running its entire length, about an arm's length back. It was a more or less giant detached flake, which had swallowed everything. Soon after, it started pouring rain, and we got soaked, before yet another death defying drive home in Eric's father's Valiant.
Then there's my bongs that are sitting somewhere behind the Split Pillar...
Q: What happens when there's an explosion in the Nissan factory?
A: It rains Datsun cogs!
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Michael Hjorth
Trad climber
Copenhagen, Denmark
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Mar 11, 2008 - 07:01am PT
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History tells me that the sentence: ”We haven’t dropped anything sofar...” is one the most dangerous.
I few years ago we tried to do Muir Wall. But we were abonimably slow, and the morale was oozing out. We took a portaledge camp after 4-5 pitches, and a dawn discussion of what to do. Nothing was decided when I went for a morning walk around the hanging belay to secure a few photos of our possibly only camp on the route. Back for breakfast on the ledge, I noticed a red dot at the cliff base, that wasn’t there the day – or even just a few moments - before.
”Do you know what that is, Søren?” ”Nope!”
”Have you packed down my sleeping bag, Søren?” ”Nope!”
So when fooling around on the belay, it must silently have slided out of the ledge and landed smoothly on the ground.
We packed up and rappelled down, and I crossed my fingers that we would reach the ground before any climbers showed up. We didn’t. 20 meter from touchdown three climber came out of the forest. ”Is that your sleepingbag?” ”Hm, yes...” ”Oh, you dropped it from up there..?”
I thought of ways to explain, that we had decided to quit before we dropped it. There was no way. I just squeezed it into the haulbag and hurried off.
Michael
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