Anyone ever taken a 400 foot whipper?

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up2top

Big Wall climber
Phoenix, AZ
Jan 17, 2005 - 01:23am PT
Small world. We both worked at a software company that provided property management systems for the hotel/hospitality industry. No doubt it's the same guy.

I'd love to hear some stories about that dude if anyone has some dirt or funnies to dish out. I remember he said he worked on SAR for a while. Werner -- you know the guy?

Ed
the Fet

Knackered climber
A bivy sack in the secret campground
Oct 1, 2008 - 05:57pm PT
Bump for a killer thread.
Hardman Knott

Gym climber
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, Ca
Oct 1, 2008 - 06:54pm PT
A most well-desreved bump, to be sure!
JuanDeFuca

Big Wall climber
Stoney Point
Oct 1, 2008 - 07:15pm PT
Guillotine?

I remember a real terror climb with the shittiest pro to the right of that route.

But I cranked the 10c no problem.

A took a 40 foot fall on Freeblast

Juan
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
Oct 1, 2008 - 08:05pm PT
Duece posted this on another thread about Scott Burke

"Just thought of a funny Burke story.

Back in 1985, a guy came to the Valley with a film project and wanted a climber to take a 150 foot whipper for the camera. Schultz, Walt, Burke, and I were the ones at the time crazy enough to do such a stunt for some cash, so we all competed for the role.

We went out to the Perris Ferry bridge outside of Yosemite to train, and began with full length rope swings. Besides Charly Fowler's 100'whip on the Diving Board in Boulder, there were few people who had intentionally taken such falls on ropes previously.

Next we began with loop jumps. For a time I had the record for the biggest loop jump (shortest distance from anchor to jump spot, about 20 feet, which resulted in about a 165 foot free fall on the 180' rope), but I hurt my back in the process (that's when we discovered chest harnesses were a necessity).

I was slumped over with my back killling me on the side of the bridge when Burke decides to go for one more swing jump. He leaps, then agonizing screams pierced the air. His aiders hanging from the back of his harness had gotten hung up on a bolt on the bridge. Suspended upside down several feet below the bridge, he screamed, "Deucy, Deucy, Cut me loose!!" The Swiss Miss and a friend of her's were there with us, but they didn't have the strength to lift the aider off the bolt by themselves. I staggered over with my bad back (which, by the way, still comes back to haunt me occasionally to this day), and helped lift the aider off.

Meanwhile, a passing by driver heard the screaming and stopped on the middle of the bridge just as we were about to send him.
We asked Burke what he wanted us to do, and he screamed, "Cut me loose, cut me loose!!", so we did.

The passerby couldn't see his swing, and proceeded to look at us with wide eyes, and asked, "Is he dead?"

We told him we were just having fun and he was on a rope, whereupon the driver suddenly got really angry and told us he was heading back to town to call the cops, and then left.

I called down to Burke, "Scotty, the cops are going to be here in about 18 minutes, can you get back up?"

"I broke my ribs" (he hadn't) came the ailing reply.

We fixed a haul system, but then he realized he could jumar and began coming up slowly. Meanwhile, we packed the car and prepared for a fast getaway. With no moments to spare, as soon as he got up, we got him in the car, manically disassembled the anchor, tossed everything in a big mess into the car, and were still driving on the bridge when the cop car with flashing lights came ripping around the corner.

We looked as non-chalant as we could, and made the getaway!

Ps. Schultz got the movie job by underbidding us all!

pss. I didn't do anymore intentional rope falls until I blitzed a bunch with Dan Osman in 1998, cumulating in a 400 footer from the Navajo bridge over the Grand Canyon near Lee's Ferry."
Mazzystr

Gym climber
Homeless...
Oct 1, 2008 - 09:50pm PT
dirtineye,
who and where

;)

/Chris C
Nefarius

Big Wall climber
somewhere without avatars.........
Oct 1, 2008 - 09:53pm PT
I've done 60m rope drops in the past. Didn't even come close to comparing to an 80' footer I took while solo aiding earlier this years. My bollocks are still a little shriveled. =O

That Rostrum jump looks badass!!!
Scared Silly

Trad climber
UT
Oct 1, 2008 - 10:26pm PT
Years ago my partner took a 150' footer. Sliding and airbore down the North of side of the Grand. I caught the fall with my hands and by jumping off the other side of the ledge we were on. When all was collected we racked our nuts and climbed on. It was in the rags.
Trusty Rusty

Social climber
Tahoe area
Oct 2, 2008 - 01:25am PT
Holy Skid Monkey,

Well I've soiled more boxers on Gym Routes than most you bastard people!

Dogger1

climber
Oct 2, 2008 - 08:16am PT
Buddy of mine took a 100++ footer on a NC aid route. He was cleaning a STEEP pitch leap frogging aiders and self belaying with a Gri Gri. A mere three feet from the belay and the last piece blows. Took the ride to the end of the rope! His daisies and aiders kept the Gri Gri from opening and arresting the fall.

Fortunately the slack had been pulled out before being tied off. He did though have some gnarly deep burns on his hands from attempting to stop the plummet "Batman style."
Prod

Big Wall climber
A place w/o Avitars apparently
Oct 2, 2008 - 12:01pm PT
Well that wasted a bit of time this morning. Thank you!

Prod.
Lynne Leichtfuss

Social climber
valley center, ca
Oct 2, 2008 - 11:06pm PT
When I logged onto this thread I had a pretty smart a$$ dumb retort ready to post.

But after reading the complete thread wow, Testostrone wins...and I hope it always does. Yo Guys that love life, live it..... but control amap. Peace and Joy always to your days.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Dec 14, 2009 - 01:25am PT
recent discussion got me thinking about that South Seas fall.

some crazy photos from Loom
enjoimx

Big Wall climber
SLO Cal
Dec 14, 2009 - 02:07am PT
T2 post your Rostrum pics again!!! We cant see them!!


Somewhere is a video of Leo Houlding and Jose P. Jumping off their portaledges for a 200' fall on El Cap. Its nuts.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
Dec 14, 2009 - 10:10am PT
I can't tell if this has already been mentioned on this thread but young Jim Stanton took a 200-240+ ft fall on the Braille Book (Higher Cathedral Rock) about 1970. He was an overly joyful intermediate leader who pulled all his protection in a fall, reaching nearly to the ground. He wasn't too badly hurt and was soon climbing for a few more years. A good friend of most of us too. Great guy. It might have been he was trying to use nuts on his lead (hell it's been 39 years) and back then nuts were largely clumsy and iffy. But he was also a new climber.
Fuzzywuzzy

climber
suspendedhappynation
Dec 17, 2009 - 12:54am PT
Peter - Do you remember Andy Cox?

I remember the rumor about a huge fall on the Muir?

Anybody know?
reddirt

climber
da subarwu
Dec 17, 2009 - 01:05am PT
this isn't exactly a whipper nor is it rock climbing but...

In 2006 a skier cartwheeled 2600ft down the Orient Express on Denali. He got away w/ scratched corneas a a few shiners.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
Dec 17, 2009 - 01:12am PT
Fuzzer, Yes, god in heaven, I have never forgotten Andy Cox. I really liked him! Wasn't he an East coast climber?

I think you are right about a monster fall on the Muir. He was a good friend of George Meyers back then. George would remember. Also Pettigrew would I think. Neither of these guys post very much here though...

Andy left us in a weird way. He just disappeared in Kings Canyon.... I don't believe we ever found any evidence or trace. I think he and someone you and I both know (??) were on their way to do Tehipite Dome or something like that. There was a bunch of searching and so forth but just nothing came of these efforts. He vanished!! Apparently he had a really huge-ass pack on. Andy was about a 210++ pounder then and could muscle giant loads. A theoretical scenario was he got out of balance along the river.
lucander

Trad climber
New England
Dec 17, 2009 - 07:27am PT
400 feet, sheesh - on the East Coast that's enough to hit the ground and leave a 200 foot crater in the soil at most destination crags. I know that the scale of west coast climbing is larger, but is there an equation? Perhaps my 46 footer on Tough Shift at the Gunks would be 378.96 feet out west?

DL
oldtopangalizard

Social climber
ca
Dec 17, 2009 - 10:42am PT
I was at Suicide in the late 70,s, maybe 80 or 81 during a Guillotine ripper. I was around the corner near the Flower when it happened, so when I showed up the guy was standing on the ground. He appeared OK, but he had on no shirt and his entire back was by far the biggest strawberry I had ever seen. Could it be the same story, this guy had no head injuries and was clearly laughing it off.
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