my fall off of royal arches on 11/20

Discussion Topic

Return to Forum List

This thread has been locked

Messages 41 - 60 of total 63 in this topic

<< First | < Previous | Show All | Next > | Last >>

BoKu

Trad climber

Douglas Flat, CA

Dec 14, 2007 - 07:11pm PT

Meg,

Thanks for the coherent and incisive report. Glad to hear you're healing well. Keep it up!

Thanks again, Bob "BoKu" K.

10b4me

climber

1/2way between Yos and Moab

Dec 15, 2007 - 12:44am PT

Meg,
glad to hear tht you are doing better.
thanks to DR for his support.

survival

Big Wall climber

arlington, va

Dec 15, 2007 - 07:04am PT

Bhilden, Bruce, Bruce here....Ha!
Thanks, I get it. Maybe sport guys need to put a knot in the end of their rope too? Or maybe there should be a sign at the base, Warning: This pitch is greater than half a rope length!
(Here's your sign...)
Meg, I have walked that road so many times headed for the glacier. It's one of my families favorite places in the world. I have some Kennicott copper on my porch here in Arlington, and check this out, we have neighbors here from the Kennicott family! No kidding

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?

Dec 15, 2007 - 10:15am PT

Holy frig! How far did you fall? What stopped you? Sounds like you're lucky to be alive, so congrats on that, eh?

dirtineye

Trad climber

the south

Dec 18, 2007 - 02:07pm PT

Bump to keep people from getting bumped off.

meg AK

Trad climber

Kennicott

Topic Author's Reply - Dec 20, 2007 - 06:05pm PT

Hello all,
Yet another reply to my own posting, but I have a really amazing addition to add to all this. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the company Ibex, but they are a small company out of vermont who make really amazing new zealand grown merino wool clothing. So my newest most favorite pants had been in my pack when I fell, and Matty had pulled them up over my legs while we waited for that awesome yosar crew.

Once at the hospital, I was coherent enough to beg them not to cut them off, as just sliding them off from the knees seemed so much easier than the real trouble they went to not to cut my harness! Well, protocol is protocol and out came the shears. Later, I went to order a new pair and didn't find my size in a color I wanted, so I wrote to Ibex, told them my story and gave them this link, and asked if perhaps they had my size in an old color stashed away that they would sell me.

Oh gosh, did they go beyond that!! I just received the most incredible and generously large care package from them with the wish to get well soon. What a company?! Who'd have thought? I was just floored by their generosity and good will, and felt the best way I could repay them was to spread this story around. They are good ones. A great company to support, as I have found the support goes both ways. Also, such a tangible illustration of the good will I have felt from all you amazing humans who care about us all. Pretty special.

Just wanting to pass on the story of good karma for people who deserve it,
meg

bluering

Trad climber

Santa Clara, Ca.

Dec 20, 2007 - 06:11pm PT

Wow, that was pretty cool of them to do that.

Ibex, huh? I'll give 'em my business.

http://www.ibexwear.com/shop/index.php

A gratuitous plug for what sounds like a great company.

scuffy b

climber

Stump with a backrest

Dec 20, 2007 - 06:16pm PT

That's great, Meg.
Keep us informed, it makes (most of) us feel all warm and fuzzy.
We'll get you over to see the homemade offwidth one of these
days.
Glorious healing to you!!

sm

davidji

Social climber

Dec 20, 2007 - 09:50pm PT

thanks for the report. glad you're recovery is going well!

Brutus of Wyde

climber

Old Climbers' Home, Oakland CA

Dec 22, 2007 - 12:14pm PT

Meg --

Glad you're healing well.

Having experienced more than my share of missed rappel stations, stuck rap ropes, prussiks in the dark, ropes not reaching the anchor, questionable rap anchors, off route rappels, stuck prussik knots, and mistakes caught at the very last moment before committing myself to them, your story really hit home.

One of our biggest enemies in the mountains is The Unexpected. being prepared for him and recognizing him when he shows us his face is one of our greatest challenges.

Thanks for your story.

Heal quickly!

Brutus

Jag

climber

Jan 4, 2008 - 01:41pm PT

I greatly appreciate your candor and humility- you are correct in that we all need to listen to that "inner voice." Just out of curiousity, does Doug's last name start with an E. and did he do his undergrad work at WSU? Thanks!

Pam

survival

Big Wall climber

arlington, va

Jan 4, 2008 - 01:52pm PT

Meg,
If you're still looking at this....
You never said whether you know the Shidners or not.
Maybe it's a touchy subject?
Hey, I know how small McCarthy is.....

dirtineye

Trad climber

the south

Jan 4, 2008 - 05:07pm PT

Congrats on getting better.

Congrats to everyone in the rescue who did the right things so that you could recover!

Was any ice used on the neck?

Chris Oakes

climber

Hayward

Jan 26, 2008 - 08:35pm PT

I really appreciate your going into your thoughts. Sometimes it is just as f-up, but a lot of the time we convince ourselves to do something wrong. Humility is a bitch, lack of it can be dangerous.

I've been in the act of making an error and then you have to come up with a plan. Hopefully we haven't f-ed up so bad that the only reasonable plan is "don't fall".

nutjob

Trad climber

San Jose, CA

Jan 27, 2008 - 02:05am PT

One thing this thread has done for me personally is get me over my complacency about having sufficient material on my harness to make prussiks, bachman, or kleimheist. Also, I think I've been complacent about tying the ends of the rope on multi-pitch raps, and will re-cultivate that habit. Only risk is forgetting to untie it before pulling topes, but if you tie the ends together in a simple half-hitch you can never let the ends go with a knot in it (thus addressing the concern that some consider the justification to not tie the ends).

My personal favorite is kleimheist:
http://www.iland.net/~jbritton/kleimheist.htm

You can bite the sling with your teeth to hold the starting end, then just flip around the rope as many times as seems sturdy. More slippery material = more turns in the sling. Bachman is just like this but with a biner inside that reduces friction and makes for easy release... definitely not my first choice when hanging near the end of the rope!

In terms of being tired and not thinking straight at end of day, definitely something to plan around and get the systems wired as a preventive practice. I remember my first big multi-pitch rap was royal arches, getting to ground at 10pm. We had to focus extra hard just to rememebr whether to pull blue or red rope at each station. My motto in these situations is always to take it slow and rethink everything (at least after I've lost the race with the sun). I don't care if it takes me all night to get off something, as long as I get off in one piece.

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Jan 28, 2008 - 07:32pm PT

hey there ... i just saw someone recently posted on this.. and it got me wondering how meg is doing...

hope all is well and that are not too many bad after effects... didn't exactly find out how bad you fell... but best wishes to you... (i only saw the first few)... so meg, hope all is well now...