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10b4me
Trad climber
Hell A
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May 17, 2007 - 11:51pm PT
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Thanks for the update Tom. Hope the guy has a good recovery.
A big shoutout to YOSAR once again.
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T2
climber
Cardiff by the sea
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May 18, 2007 - 12:02am PT
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Tom I am really enjoying your El Cap reports.
I hope the fallen climber recovers to climb another day.
Thanks
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WBraun
climber
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May 18, 2007 - 12:36am PT
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150 footer head first all the way. Femur bone stickin out. Smashed his helmet in half, etc etc. ....
It was gruesome, how he lived is a miracle and some bad ass flying by California's finest, the CHP. Without them it would have been the usual cave man style rescue.
Props go to Keith and Jack, for their heroic effort in those scary winds and chopper blades too close to the wall for comfort.
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john hansen
climber
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May 18, 2007 - 12:55am PT
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WB,, I take it this guy was not leading,, How can you fall 150 feet? Some kind of error at the belay, or hauling ,or something besides a leader fall I would think?
Maybe thought he was tied in short and leaned back? Only takes one time... great work by YOSAR and the helicoptor boys.
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WBraun
climber
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May 18, 2007 - 12:56am PT
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He was leading leap frogging pieces. One ripped out and then ......
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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May 18, 2007 - 12:58am PT
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"the usual cave man style rescue."
Little windows like this is what I love about ST...
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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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May 18, 2007 - 12:59am PT
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Damn Tom, what a day! That must have been pretty compelling to watch unfold. Glad to hear the guy is going to be okay.
Also glad to hear a proud sista of Team FISH is up there sending. Go Kate!!
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Matt
Trad climber
places you shouldn't talk about in polite company
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May 18, 2007 - 01:11am PT
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pretty good time to have some guy w/ a big zoom lens (and a cel phone) in the meadow!
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nick d
Trad climber
nm
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May 18, 2007 - 01:12am PT
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So, was he leapfrogging the pieces after the pendulum in order to keep his buddy safe when he followed? I am thinking that since he blasted onto the ledge that he was trying to safeguard his buddy and got carried away, both figuratively and literally. I hope he can make a good recovery.
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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May 18, 2007 - 01:14am PT
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Thanks and Respect to the whole rescue crew. Can't be easy to be going about your day one minute and then dangling out of a chopper a wind gust away from disaster a hour or two later.
I usually fully back clean that corner after the king swing to avoid rope drap and make it easy for my partner. Maybe I'll have to consider a new strategy
peace
Karl
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Matt
Trad climber
places you shouldn't talk about in polite company
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May 18, 2007 - 01:20am PT
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any pics?
of, um, el cap...?
(today?)
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nick d
Trad climber
nm
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May 18, 2007 - 01:28am PT
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Karl, why not leave a little more gear to safeguard yourself and trail another rope for the second to come across on? Just curious if there is something wrong with this idea, cause I don't want this to happen to me. You could really runner a couple of pieces down a little lower in the pitch, probably not generate too much extra drag. Thoughts?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 18, 2007 - 02:03am PT
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Wow, lucky to have survived that fall and also very fortunate to get plucked off by air before losing too much blood. [Nice job, Tom, on calling it in - fortunate for them that you were watching.]
Backcleaning is recommended on some topos for the crack going up after the King Swing pendulum pitch, but it is possible to leave a couple of pieces clipped. It does not really change the way the pitch is followed, assuming you stop at the belay level with the top of Boot Flake. If you are going for speed, I guess you backclean fully and belay higher, so your partner can swing over instead of lowering down by much?
The way I usually follow the King Swing is to tie the bag in short, haul/lower it across, then the leader unties the bag from the haul line. I pull the extra haul line rope back across and thread it through the chain at Boot. Then I rap on it, with my jugs on the lead line. There is enough to get me all the way over below the leader. Then I let go of the haul line and the leader pulls it back through the chain and over to the belay.
You can backclean fully but more safely (and somewhat slowly) if you work with 3 pieces clipped instead of 2. I.e. place the 3rd and clip it, then self-lower down slightly to clean the first. That way there are always 2 pieces in the rock. So the one you are on could blow and the next one could still stop you. I like this better than leaving one piece in halfway up a section and working with only 2 pieces that fit. On this particular pitch, many pieces fit. So I am thinking more of backcleaning with 3 pieces for 3.5" cracks like the last pitch of Stovelegs, the pitch above Peanut Ledge on Zodiac, and pitch 8? of Lurking Fear. [also that long arch pitch on Hockey Night]
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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May 18, 2007 - 02:12am PT
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Tom,
Thanks for the reporting and thank goodness for such a great rescue crew. Hope that guy is going to be ok...
By the way, that's Mo up there with Eric. Glad to hear everyone else is safe and sound - please post up if you've got some climbing pics!
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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May 18, 2007 - 02:15am PT
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YIKES! Holy cow...one moment it's business as usual on El Cap, the next someone is on a ledge dying. Makes me feel very fortunate that wasn't me, as we all know it could easily be any of us up there...
Mad props to the rescuers, and his partners for keeping him alive. True heros!
So I asume this was the leader of the Boot Flake pitch, backcleaning up to the belay level with the boot? Or above?
Last week on the NA my partner was using Clint's 3 piece backcleaning tecnique, allways moving up the third piece up for pro. I criticized him for being slow and overly cautious...now I realize that I'm the one who should just s_t_f_u_ .
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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May 18, 2007 - 03:16am PT
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I'm pretty much with Clint regarding the leading methods and following methods. The pitch is pretty bomber if you're careful (to have a minimum of two pieces clipped at a time.
I guess we'll have to wait to see what really happened.
When you start climbing after the swing, the consequences of a fall aren't so great cause you have a more or less top rope. Even a bit up, it's hard to imagine smashing your helmet or falling 150 feet and breaking your femur. Let's get the whole story.
Peace
karl
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BASE104
climber
An Oil Field
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May 18, 2007 - 08:41am PT
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Whoa. I am not worrying so much as how he got hurt...I have leapfrogged gear like crazy, like most people. I am amazed that they got him out of there so fast. Those blades have to be so close to the wall. If he fell from the pitch after the King Swing above eagle ledge, which for the Nose is probably the crappiest rock on the route.
Did they shoot a line to his partner WB?
Whatever, it sounds like a hell of a piece of work, and heads up to Tom. Sounds like he would have been toast if everyone hadn't been on the ball.
I knew a guy who compounded both femurs jumping a building and having a malfunction. The scars looked like he was bitten by a great white..but that ain't half way up El Cap.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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May 18, 2007 - 09:40am PT
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Amazing rescue that sounds storybook ideal and fantastic. This is how non-climbers always thought our rescues were done! Instead of the usual “caveman” style WB refers to, that we have always had to employ.
BTW, a high percentage of femur breaks do involve severing the femoral artery. It is massive and one of the most dangerous vessels to damage. These guys surely went through some very horrible hours of terror, agony and regret...Gee. But as everyone is saying, they were awfully awfully lucky, too. Are their names known?
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yo
climber
The Eye of the Snail
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May 18, 2007 - 10:14am PT
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Crikey. Get well, dude.
So did he swing over and backclean up? Or were they both on Eagle and he came straight down?
I wouldn't mind some Ansel Evans-style rescue photos either, if that's cool.
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nature
climber
Flagstaff, AZ
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May 18, 2007 - 11:38am PT
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Wow, crazy rescue story. I'm glad that guy is going to be OK.
Radical (Riley) is probably one of the parties on the lower pitches of Zodiac.
I sent him a sushi flag and some cookies to general delivery in the valley. I hope he got it. Tom, any chance you saw him flying the black flag with the fish on it? if you do please let me know, ehh?
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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May 18, 2007 - 11:53am PT
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Holy frig! What a story! Thanks for the updates, Tom. Fantastic flying and huge kudos to YOSAR for hanging their asses on the line to save the likes of us dirtbags, who should join me in offering our continuing thanks. Best wishes and prayers to buddy with the busted leg.
Here is your Dr. Piton Big Wall Tip of the Day:
When leading penji pitches - even easy ones - use a second lead rope, even if it's a skinny one.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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May 18, 2007 - 11:54am PT
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Go Rad!
Tough break on the Nose, but Yosemite climbers are fortunate indeed for the gallantry of the rescue crews.
Be good to see a proper evaluation of the incident, but I think we all already know that if you cut corners on safety in the interest of speed or convenience then when the bill DOES come due the price can be high.
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YetAnotherDave
Trad climber
Vancouver, BC
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May 18, 2007 - 11:55am PT
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King Swing will probably be my lead, when we get on the Nose early next week. Gonna be hard to move fast with this incident in my head...
Huge props to the YOSAR crew, and many thanks to Tom for keeping an eye on us all while we play.
Dave
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wildone
climber
Isolated in El Portal and loving it
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May 18, 2007 - 12:03pm PT
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I got to the meadow right after they left. Quite a scene.
That chopper sure was a stripped down performance looking unit. Did'nt have one un neccessary piece on it. No fuselage, even. Just a glass bubble, and an airframe. I imagine it to be the equivalent of stripping the radio and ac, etc out of a race car.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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May 18, 2007 - 12:26pm PT
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Thanks for the report, Tom. Speedy recovery to the guy who got hurt.
I'm not sure what system Clint uses, Lammy, but I've used a system that I call a moving anchor. I've done it on solos, where I have three pieces I move along until I'm out of the hard/bad spot. A little slower but effective.
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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May 18, 2007 - 01:44pm PT
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props to the rescuers and I hope the climber gets well.
clint said "If you are going for speed, I guess you backclean fully and belay higher, so your partner can swing over instead of lowering down by much? "
My partner didnt place any gear until about 20 feet above that belay which allowed me to swing right over. He ended up belaying at the next pitch. This is fast, but also no room for error there either....Another point, I think he was freeing all that. Sometimes it is better to rely on your free abilities than gear (note aliens thread)
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DMBARN
climber
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May 18, 2007 - 01:45pm PT
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Greetings everyone;
I work as a Trauma Case Manager (RN) at the hospital where this climber was flown. Here is an update he said I was allowed to give. I told him this was likely to be a hot topic on the forum and would he mind if I let everyone know he was going to be fine. He said yes.
He arrived perfectly alert and oriented with stable vital signs(when you get the original report your never sure whats going to show up at the back door-100' fall? geesh, this is gonna be baaaad!. From the flight crew report he "only" lost about a Liter of blood, not the "gallons" that Tom spoke about (no offence, Tom!). Never complained the whole time I took care of him before rolling him off to surgery. Always appologized when he asked for anything-a complete gentleman. He also estimates he fell about 60-100' but maybe he's not the best one to estimate that. I asked him if he got to meet the "famous Werner". He said no but did rememebr Keith and Jack and was appreciative of their (and everyones) good work on his behalf.
He had a few other minor injuries and he will recover fully.
I will print all these comments here and bring them to him as I am sure he will get a kick out of all the concern shown him buy the community, and it really is a community.
Regards, Douglas
PS.. Hey Tom, email me some of those shots you took of the rescue and I'll get them to him. I know he would like that. The flight crew had some shots they took on one of those little point-n-shoots but they were really grainy.
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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May 18, 2007 - 01:53pm PT
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cool, thanks
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Gene
climber
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May 18, 2007 - 02:06pm PT
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Great news on the injured Bro.
How did his partner get down? Rap w/ all the gear? What a day for all involved.
Time to update/upgrade my first aid skills.
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Texplorer
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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May 18, 2007 - 02:43pm PT
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Glad to hear this chap is doing well enough to inform us on ST. If I'm on my deathbed my last words will be "post . . my . . story . . on .. . . Sup.. . arrrrrrrrrrrrr. . ."
". . . . and send me . . Tom's . . pics. . . "
RIP Texplorer
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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May 18, 2007 - 03:23pm PT
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Wow! This is awesome, DMBARN! We're all glad to hear he's doing well and I bet he'll be excited to see pics! Nice!
Thanks for posting!
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Chico
Trad climber
Mt. Shasta, CA
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May 18, 2007 - 03:32pm PT
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YOSAR, Kieth, Jack. You guys are my friggin' heroes! Way to go. Seriously. Thank you for what you do.
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Matt
Trad climber
places you shouldn't talk about in polite company
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May 18, 2007 - 04:29pm PT
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re: "I will print all these comments here and bring them to him as I am sure he will get a kick out of all the concern shown him buy the community"
Hey dude- the diving board is up on top
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DMBARN
climber
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May 18, 2007 - 04:49pm PT
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What is "the diving board"?
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rockermike
Mountain climber
Berkeley
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May 18, 2007 - 05:13pm PT
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Hey, I knew a guy (Wayne Hack sp?) who broke a leg somewhere near boot flake back in the early '70s. As I heard the story it was one of the first big rescues off el cap. I think they lowered a cable all the way from the top, picked him up and lowered the rest of the way to the ground. The rescue was featured in Look or Life magazine.
Does anyone remember that rescue? Anyone here involved.
I think I heard all this third hand; maybe second. And it was long long ago so I may have stuff wrong.
Anyway, helicopters sound a little more efficient.
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Jordan Ramey
Trad climber
Oklahoma City, OK
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May 18, 2007 - 05:18pm PT
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I believe (and I could be wrong) that the diving board is the spot people typically base jump off of El Cap from since it somewhat resembles a diving board projection out from the edge.
Awesome rescue. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
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rockermike
Mountain climber
Berkeley
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May 18, 2007 - 05:41pm PT
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Yep, I think that was the accident. Neal and Wayne(I guess his partner) were two of my first mentors.
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Neil
Gym climber
Here and there
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May 18, 2007 - 05:57pm PT
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May the victim have a quick recovery. Nice work, y'all.
Nate
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elcap-pics
climber
Crestline CA
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May 18, 2007 - 10:57pm PT
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Yo... yeah it was a YOSAR golden moment... all the folks there always have my TOTAL RESPECT and that chopper pilot rules the skies for sure. I am on someone elses computer up here and thus cant send pics... Werner has access to the 100 or so shots I took as I gave them to SAR this morning. Werner post some of them for the folks. I was exagerating on the amount of blood as I was Half a mile away... but it looked bad through the scope so I told all the emergency folks that they needed to get this guy off really quick or it was going to be a very bad day here... they came through big time like always...
Later Tom
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WBraun
climber
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May 18, 2007 - 11:00pm PT
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Hey Tom
I don't have sh'it. Who did you give em to? I missed you this morning.
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WBraun
climber
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May 18, 2007 - 11:18pm PT
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Ok I found the disk in the office. All photo credits Tom Evans (elcap-pics), Thank you, Tom
Here is victim, partner and blood.
Jack being lowered to victim on the first flight.
And the pick off
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 19, 2007 - 03:05am PT
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Thanks for sharing the photos, Tom and Werner. And as explained in the 5/18 report thread, their bags were directly above, so they had completed and hauled the King Swing pitch. So it was not a case of backcleaning on the King Swing pitch itself, but on the next pitch. Ouch. Seeing the blood flow off of Eagle Ledge gives us some perspective on what Tom was seeing.
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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May 19, 2007 - 03:11am PT
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gnarly!
In the first pic, there is the obvious blood spot in the middle of the frame. There is another, 15'+ long streak on the right side of the ledge running down in the corner. Looks like a lot of blood.
Glad the guy is going to be ok!!
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 19, 2007 - 03:16am PT
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Speaking of the Neal Olsen rescue in 1972, I was talking with Robert Summers a few weeks ago, and he told me about how he was up on top of El Cap with a walkie-talkie, coordinating the lowering of Bridwell and the victim in that rescue.
There was not enough rope when the rescue started to reach all the way from the top of El Cap to the ground. So the main coordinator called a rope manufacturing company and had them fly up a couple of 600' spools [correction: 3300' spools - see Werner's post below] in a military helicopter to make it possible. I recall that once Robert got the call that the spools were on their way, they commenced to start lowering Bridwell down with a full medical kit (morphine, etc.).
While the lowering was being set up, a couple of guys topped out on the Salathe' Wall. One of them was Bob Schneider, Steve's older brother. Once the helicopter delivered the rope spools, they were planning to fly back to their base, but Bob walked up and said "we need to get down to El Cap Meadow", in a serious tone, so they hopped in and took an unplanned flight down there. Bob and his partner quickly disappeared into the bushes and the helicopter headed back to its base!
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Darnell
Big Wall climber
Chicago
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May 19, 2007 - 07:31am PT
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Two years ago I led the King swing pitch, I was climbing with two friends and it was their first El Cap route. After the penji I leapfroged cams, backcleaning as I went. I was about 20ft from the belay when I looked downand noticed a HUGE amount of slack on my lead line arcing out into space and around the corner, NOT COOL!
My belayer had not taken in any slack after the penji as I moved up the pitch,and he could not see me.
So I stoped, and yelled to my belayer, and I quote-- "Hey dude, take a look at the lead rope, if I fall and live thru it, I am going to beat your ass when we get down"
He took me tight and said he was sorry.
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WBraun
climber
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May 19, 2007 - 10:46am PT
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Clint
They were not 600 foot spools but 3300 foot spools.
The reason we had no ropes at the time was due to a fire that destroyed the SAR cache at the time. Loyd Price flew with Lemoore to get the ropes and returned the following morning. The spools weighted so much that it took two teams of four people for each spool to be carried from the top landing zone to the actual lip of the Nose. After the rescue we carried the spools back up to the landing zone. Ugh! heavy!
The two 3300' spools. You can see Roger Breedlove in the background.
Captain Bridwell with Olsen on his way to to the base.
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JesseM
Social climber
Yosemite
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May 19, 2007 - 01:09pm PT
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Holy Crap,
I'm in Santa Cruz for my long weekend and I just decided to see what the word was on the Taco. Sounds like I missed some serious action. Tom thanks for calling it in, and starting this thread. I'm telling you...they should be paying you for your services! Werner thanks for posting the Photos. Maybe I can get some to show folks at Sunday Coffee?
Glad to hear that the guy is going to be OK. Back Cleaning huh? Great job to Keith and Jack, the pilot of the CHP ship, and everyone else!
Jesse
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Little gorilla
Trad climber
seattle
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May 19, 2007 - 02:08pm PT
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What state are the climbers from? Anyone know?
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elcap-pics
climber
Crestline CA
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May 19, 2007 - 08:38pm PT
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The climbers are germans... nice guys ... Tom
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 19, 2007 - 11:40pm PT
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Werner, Wow! Thanks for the correction on the spools and the additional details and photos! Way cool.
I was wondering about the 600 number myself - it seemed like knots would be the last thing you would want - almost sure to hang up in some corner/crack!!
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rockermike
Mountain climber
Berkeley
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May 20, 2007 - 03:32pm PT
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Bump;
anyone know more about how this accident happened? (the recent one that is)
And while I'm at it: what would be the best way to solo (roped solo) the king-swing pitch? Moving three point anchor on the climb back up? (personally I would tend toward leaving more gear in as I climbed crack and rope drag not a problem solo, but I can see that 3 pnt system would be pretty clean??)
I imagine the swing itself would be rather difficult if you have a bunch of rope loops hanging below your feet. How to handle that? Any other advice on hauling that pitch etc.
thanks
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Sparkles
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado
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May 21, 2007 - 11:47pm PT
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A little over a year ago, I broke my femur in five places. I was in a horrendous car accident, was stranded for 11 hours and am very lucky to have survived. It was not until I was safe in the confines of the hospital which I learned of the danger of breaking ones femur. My breaks did not cut the skin, there was no blood, merely a lot of f*#king pain. While my break did not occur during the pursuit of a passion, such as climbing, I still consider myself lucky to be here, gracing this earth. My heart goes out to this gentleman. I hope that he considers himself extremely lucky to have been saved. It is only by mere luck or help from the God's above that people survive accidents such as these. I hope his recovery goes well and that he has patience, determination and an unending will to live. 14 months after my accident, I am still recovering. It is a lot of hard work, but strangely enough, all worth it. Good luck! And FYI: join the bionic club! It is not so bad.
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tim_b
Trad climber
Corona, CA
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May 28, 2007 - 10:33am PT
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Whoa! Just got back in country from flat northern Germany, jumped on ST ... All I can say is that it is very HARD to move the track pad on my laptop with SWEATY FINGERS !
(100-footer stories always get the heart pumped).
Kudos to YOSAR again.
Awesome copter pics!
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the Fet
Knackered climber
A bivy sack in the secret campground
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May 31, 2007 - 12:22pm PT
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BUMP for a badass rescue and photos.
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leinosaur
Trad climber
burns flat, ok
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Wow -
Props to the astoundingly efficient YOSAR -
and a favor to ask:
As a Wilderness First Responder in need of recertification, I was hoping to get some more detail on the climbing partner's role in helping to stabilize the injured party. It sounds like he must have done pretty well, and I was hoping he would comment here. If not him, though, perhaps Werner or another party with qualified experience in such a situation could comment here? God forbid any of the rest of us should find ourselves in a similar situation, but just in case, how about a reminder of some general principles in dealing with such a situation?
Just the basics, of course.
Thanks,
Rob
(Just returned from his first trip to the Valley, and looking forward to some big walls in the future)
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El Tercero
Trad climber
Boulder, Co.
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Jun 11, 2007 - 11:38am PT
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We were topping out on the N.A. wall when we heard the megaphones from the meadow. At first we thought they were talking to us but we quickly realized something had happened.
I don't have pics of the victim or anything but I have some sweet photos of the choppers from the last pitch of NA.
I'l try to post up later.
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