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Author

Left behind

dcmky

18-Sep-2013
12:54:22 PM

Just interested to know what kind of gear people have left behind on climbs and for what reason?

Miguel75

18-Sep-2013
1:10:56 PM

My courage is usually the first thing to be left behind, closely followed by my pride;)

Only gear I've left on a climb is a nut and a bolt plate... The nut because it was fallen on and welded in and the bolt plate was forgotten by the second.

martym

18-Sep-2013
1:16:06 PM

Bored at work dfcuky?

I assume you mean gear left on a climb due to bailing - not gear you've lost or been unable to retreive, as Miguel has suggested?

In which case, I usually keep booty-biners for that purpose.. which might be playing russian roulette, as they're the only pieces I don't know the history of... but I figure what goes around comes around.

One Day Hero

18-Sep-2013
2:17:33 PM

I once did a route on Snowpatch Spire over in Canada, with a mate who was a well known Illawarra climber and a rather large unit. We climbed the thing via a few adventures, but the last couple of pitches were challenging for my partner as he'd been unable to perform the necessary morning ritual prior to setting off. So he bravely fought to keep the turtle at bay for at least an hour until I finally led the pitch to the summit. As he frantically arrived on top I could see the cold sweat on his brow, and was unsurprised to hear that "this is happening now". Also worth mentioning is that the Bugaboos are a "no poo zone" (everyone drinks the snow, so they're trying to keep the place clean), and the accepted procedure is to carry poo-bags. We were on a little flat bit of the summitty ridgey thing, and I was able to unrope and move a little way away down behind a boulder to avoid witnessing what was about to unfold. However, despite being on the summit of a seriously pointy mountain, the stench still buckled my knees a little when it hit my sinuses. I'm not kidding, he had me gagging from ten meters away on the summit of a bloody mountain, can't imagine how deadly it would have been in an enclosed space!

Anyway, as I ducked down in an effort to locate breathable air, I came face to face with a bail anchor - a nut, two cams, a cordalette, and about four biners connecting it all together. Poor fuchers had obviously topped out into horror weather, darkness, or both, failed to find the chains, then ceased to give any shit about money. I was seriously tempted to rap a pitch and see if their next anchor was equally generous (250m to the deck, I doubt they had much of a rack left by the bottom), but decided that this was neither the time nor place to go booty crazy. My partner was super chuffed that he had snapped out a single log of over a kilo, and continued to keep me updated on how he could feel its warmth through the pack as we made the descent. Good times!

lukey

18-Sep-2013
2:53:45 PM

That guy sounds like a prick.

lukey

18-Sep-2013
2:54:43 PM

On 18/09/2013 Miguel75 wrote:
>My courage is usually the first thing to be left behind, closely followed
>by my pride;)
>
>Only gear I've left on a climb is a nut and a bolt plate... The nut because
>it was fallen on and welded in and the bolt plate was forgotten by the
>second.

I meant that guy... not just any old guy.

Macciza

18-Sep-2013
3:03:17 PM

Hmm, ok, left behind? Let me count the things . ..
Hero loops/tat/small prussiks at various old school anchors etc fairly common place in the old days if the tat already there didn't pass muster to rap off . . .
The odd sling here or there, wrapped around a bollard or chockstone when bailing on multi-pitch stuff . .
An odd piton here or there for various reasons, fixed, fun, funky, forgotten . . .
A stonking wire and old biner on a few climb which I haven't gotten back to yet . .
A cam or two for various lengths of time before getting back to them and cleaning them or replacing them with something else like a tube, or chock etc . .
Ropes at high point of projects prior to completing them or the rope dying . . .
Fixed lines that have either survived, died or disappeared ('cleaned' due to being unsafe on one occasion)
Packs, racks, haul bags, helmets, ledges, water, food, smokes, drugs, partners, shoes, socks, etc etc etc . . .

rodw

18-Sep-2013
3:24:48 PM

My ego has been shattered and left behind many a time at various crags

dcmky

18-Sep-2013
3:26:05 PM

A little bored but mainly because I found a #1 c4 about 10m off the deck at falcons lookout, it was pretty jammed but nothing too bad. Just got me thinking why people would leave gear other than bailing off a climb.

martym

18-Sep-2013
4:09:43 PM

On 18/09/2013 dcmky wrote:
>A little bored but mainly because I found a #1 c4 about 10m off the deck
>at falcons lookout, it was pretty jammed but nothing too bad. Just got
>me thinking why people would leave gear other than bailing off a climb.

Hoho! Well in that case... I've lost two nuts at Araps, the metal kind, the others I lose every second trip...
My friend dropped a GriGri from the 4th pitch of Whimper (it was blowing a gale and we were freezing, GriGri's suck in that respect, because they aren't clipped to anything while loading)
And I mysteriously lost a Link Cam near Tiger Wall - no idea how, searched everywhere for it...
I had a whole bag of bolt plates empty out in the wind at Point Perp- luckily not all of them sailed to the depths!
I'm pretty sure this thread will go on for ever.

My guess is someone was probably practicing and forgot where they put all their friend's cams... I doubt it was intentional!

Miguel75

18-Sep-2013
8:57:44 PM

On 18/09/2013 martym wrote:
...SNIP...
>My friend dropped a GriGri from the 4th pitch of Whimper (it was blowing
>a gale and we were freezing, GriGri's suck in that respect, because they
>aren't clipped to anything while loading)

I almost lost mine off a climb a while back so put a keeper string on it. I stole the idea from Bomber pro's solo aid thread and like knowing that even if I drop it, the worst that will happen is sore nuts...

Duang Daunk

18-Sep-2013
9:10:56 PM

On 18/09/2013 martym wrote:
>On 18/09/2013 dcmky wrote:
>>A little bored but mainly because I found a #1 c4 about 10m off the deck
>>at falcons lookout, it was pretty jammed but nothing too bad. Just got
>>me thinking why people would leave gear other than bailing off a climb.
>

>My guess is someone was probably practicing and forgot where they put
>all their friend's cams... I doubt it was intentional!

Probably a BRAINDED second couldn't be bothered putting in the effort to get it back for their leader, and wots as bad is dcmky dint post up about it as a lost and found item, but is seeking booty blessing here insted.

dcmky

19-Sep-2013
10:37:00 AM

Hahah you can have it back if ya want mate, just ask

pmonks

19-Sep-2013
1:48:12 PM

Haven't had to leave too much stuff:

An ex-mate's cam on Cassandra DF at The Arapillies after using it to help me clean a stuck nut.

A bail sling on some horrendous choss pile thing underneath Advanced Air Studio at Bald Head (we were trying to find Beche de Merl - did Serendipitous Cracks instead, which was awesome!).

A bail sling on some accidental variant to Proteus (never did find it) at Pierce's Pass. Come to think of it, these last two were with the same guy (Andrew Duckworth) - maybe we were jinxed??

A nut on the final belay ledge on Nutcracker in Yosemite (apparently it's a known gear eater if you're not careful - ultra worn, fine grained tapering granite crack - looks bomber and is!).

#5 camalot that a beginner mate dropped off Dragon's Tooth at Mt York. We didn't technically leave this one behind, but I did retire it immediately (cue ODH to be a d1ck about aluminium not cracking when dropped).

Pretty good for ~20 years of climbing I reckon!

There are 14 messages in this topic.