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first trad fall 20-Jan-2006 At 10:43:51 AM Andaroo

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Howdy Folks,

Here's a post I put up a couple of months ago after my first "real" Trad fall.

Had my first real (15M) lead fall on Saturday..., I was leading "The Bite" (Churchmans Brook) and everything seemed to be going OK, I had 2 fairly average (for sideways pull anyway) nuts placed before the tree, Slinged the tree (thank God) my next piece was a #2 TCU in a fairly average crack, I tried to put a #3 in there but it was getting close to overcammed and I was worried my second might not be able to clean it, I struggled at the crux and fell but had grabbed the base of the tree not fully loading the rope, I laughed to my belay that it was a fairly poor attempt at a fall and continued climbing up to the crux, My belayer was standing about 4m away from the face (to dodge falling rocks) and I wasnt able to get a piece in at ground level as I was taught. While trying to get past the crux my arms and fingers started to pump and unable to hang on any longer I started slipping, called "falling" and kicked myself away from the wall so I wouldnt clip any ledges... I waited for the feeling of the rope slowing me down but heard POP...... POP..... then THUD.. a dust cloud erupted, there was some yelling.. I was lying there thinking "Hmmm this isnt supposed to happen.." My belayer was asking me if I was OK, I was slightly winded lying flat on my back, tested all my limbs and sat then stood up.. I knew this was going to leave a mark... My pro was neatly collected with my belays ATC and on my harness but luckily the rope was still running through the sling on the tree. It would appear that the rope had taken most of the fall but the stretch had dumped me on the deck, We figured there was lots of slack in the system due to not having a solid piece in at the ground, The belay was standing away from the wall, The belayer was giving me slack as I was struggling to move up the climb. Also the pull direction became very sideways instead of downward and pulled out my next nut, I should have put the #3 TCU in there and not worried about how hard it would be to clean, I should have checked it after I weighted it. I should have put ground piece in or had the belayer close to the wall. I should try and make sure all the nuts will take a 45degree sidepull minimum. The TCU that pulled was only scratched on the very tips of the cam so didnt really have much purchase on it. Anyway, I've learnt lots from this and plan to keep it in the back of my mind on my next climb, I don't blame my belayer for anything, he's very safe, We top roped 2 more climbs after the fall. I've only been outdoor leading for a month, I've done the 2 day lead climbing course with Adventure Out. Think I'll be practicing more on easier routes and not trying to tick the grades as much. Hope you guys can learn something from this as well.

Cheers