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My very first ground fall.

egosan

9-May-2010
9:57:01 PM

I am back home after another fabulous day at Mt. Arapiles. I have rarely been so satisfied with such a string of failures. First was my attempt at seconding Grug up Christian Crack. I failed to climb it clean. Second, I slumped on to my gear near the top of The Rack. Finally I decked on Crucifixion.

The first two failures made for the easy kind of lesson. Probably will need to repeat them many more times for them to sink into my thick skull. My failure on Christian Crack confirmed that I should be trying more climbs of that grade. Blowing my onsight of The Rack frustrates me so, in that in finishing the climb the moves were so easy. Trusting my gear and making those moves even when desperate and pumped will be easier next time.

The last failure was the hard kind that leaves a mark and hopefully isn't a lesson that needs repeating. I slotting a bomber nut in first horizontal. Easy moves led me up under the rooflet where with a big stem I had an easy stance to place my gear. I put in my big purple Hex with a little fiddling. I pulled up into the fist jamBs. I pulled out a cam and put it in my teeth. While switching hands to place my big number four, I slipped. My feet stuck so when my hands popped I flew out away from the cliff. The hex pulled and I landed on the slope below the route. The rope had come tight on the nut as I hit.

I landed feet first facing outward a couple meters away from the base of the climb. My legs collapsed and my arse hit the rope pile. Finally, (I must have been rotating during the impact) my shoulder hit one of the steps in the rock. I am nursing some good colorful bruises and abrasions. No worse for the wear.

Ignoring that voice that says, "Hmmm. That might be marginal," as I fiddled with that hex in was the mistake. I could have put another piece in. I could have fiddled with it some more. Instead, I thought, "Good enough," and headed up. Doom on me.

I have to thank Andrew for his perpetual short roping and paranoid belaying. Any more slack in the system and the outcome would be very different. I hope that someone can learn from my mistakes even if I don't. I leave you with a couple quotes that sum up what I am feeling right now.

Cheers,
Sol

Hell son, I'd rather be lucky than good any day.
--Richard Petty (Greatest NASCAR Driver Ever)

If yer gonna be dumb, ya gotta be tough.
--Roger Alan Wade

prb

9-May-2010
10:58:42 PM

Thanks for reporting - we learn more from our (and other people's) failures than successes. Glad you got out of it OK.

I think Crucifixion is tougher than The Rack anyway!

hargs

10-May-2010
6:35:04 AM

It's easy to ignore that voice in your head sometimes; my trouble is there can be so many of them I'm never sure which one to pay attention to. Glad to hear you're OK.


ajfclark

10-May-2010
8:07:06 AM

The thread title makes me think of a very scary Fisher Price toy.


evanbb

10-May-2010
8:24:17 AM

Good stuff Sol. It's good to get the first groundfall out of the way (??!!)).

May you have many, many more.

egosan

10-May-2010
8:32:49 AM

On 10/05/2010 evanbb wrote:
>Good stuff Sol. It's good to get the first groundfall out of the way (??!!)).
>
>
>
>May you have many, many more.

Thanks, evanbb. When ya git knocked down, ya gotta bounce up.

haggis

10-May-2010
8:57:49 AM

I hope the bruises heal up soon. It may have been a good learning experience, but try not to repeat it.


evanbb

10-May-2010
9:09:11 AM

I think the point you raise is the whole crux of trad climbing for me;

'is this piece good enough?'

That's essentially the whole show. If my brain is weak, which is frequent, no piece ever looks good enough. To fix this you need to place 900 runners each pitch, which makes the climbing hard. Constantly wrestling with my perceptions of safety is the difference between having fun, climbing well and thoroughly panicking.

egosan

10-May-2010
9:56:23 AM

Thanks, Haggis. See you soon at the crag I hope.

On 10/05/2010 evanbb wrote:
>I think the point you raise is the whole crux of trad climbing for me;
>
>
>'is this piece good enough?'
>
>That's essentially the whole show. If my brain is weak, which is frequent,
>no piece ever looks good enough. To fix this you need to place 900 runners
>each pitch, which makes the climbing hard. Constantly wrestling with my
>perceptions of safety is the difference between having fun, climbing well
>and thoroughly panicking.

Aye, Evan. That process wrestling with my internal states is the siren call I heed.


ado_m

10-May-2010
11:20:14 AM

Egosan

I enjoyed reading your post, glad you're ok.

I had a pretty nasty fall on Squeekezy last year, when a piece held then popped and flipped me upside down. Broke my arm, in plaster for 4 and a half months.

I was totally pushing my limit, and was so pumped and determined to get the onsight that at the crux that I placed some a very quick marginal piece rather than a good wire (I didn't see it) or downclimbing .

The lessons that I learnt were:

- if you're climbing at the limits of your ability and haven't seen the pro and it's not an obvious line with clearly bomber gear, then rap down the line and inspect it rather than trying for an onsight, or be very conservative and downclimb if you get into trouble.

- cams aren't as bomber as I thought they were - the piece was absolutely destroyed, one of the lobes pretty much sheered off.

- the grade I thought I could climb safely was a bit high. I've dropped it down, and enjoying the trad more now rather than regularly being scared stupid. I go and climb bolts now when I want a real workout.

Ado

10-May-2010
2:43:56 PM

Mate - good to hear you are OK. Another point in my favour after our debate on the benefits of having cams on the rack!

Wollemi

10-May-2010
3:16:53 PM

Dear kg,
you realise your point is disrupted by Ado's experience? Please try to read at least the preceding post to yours, after considering the OP.


ajfclark

10-May-2010
3:21:36 PM

I'm also not clear as to whether he's talking about the benefits of having cams on The Rack or on his rack...

10-May-2010
3:55:46 PM

Perhaps a rack is clearer than the rack given the reference to the climb in the initial post...

Paz

10-May-2010
5:16:02 PM

On 10/05/2010 Wollemi wrote:
>Dear kg,
>you realise your point is disrupted by Ado's experience? Please try to
>read at least the preceding post to yours, after considering the OP.

and

On 10/05/2010 ado_m wrote:

>I was so pumped and determined to get the onsight that at the crux that I placed some a very quick marginal piece

and
>
>The lessons that I learnt were:
>
>- cams aren't as bomber as I thought they were - the piece was absolutely
>destroyed, one of the lobes pretty much sheered off.
>

Woolemi, little bit pedantic much....I think Ado's lesson should be cams aren't as bomber when given a rushed placement in a marginal position....well actually maybe not, that sounds a little too logical...

evidently kg's talking bout egosan placing a hex....
...fuk i'm bored

bl@ke

10-May-2010
7:14:52 PM

Glad you are ok Sol buuut i think i remember you saying something at Mt Buffalo like this...." give me a set of hex's and im unstopable" ;) hehe


ajfclark

10-May-2010
7:30:12 PM

He was unstoppable, that's the problem... ;-)

Doro

10-May-2010
8:48:14 PM

I've heard you say this before...after belaying Betrand if I remember right?

egosan

10-May-2010
9:04:59 PM

I still love my hexes. They like any piece of gear are only as good as the arsehole placing them. In this instance, not worth a fart in the wind.

Doro

10-May-2010
9:25:47 PM

How are those bruises Sol. Glad you seem alright.
I had a similar experience on Golden Fleece wall a few weeks back, although no ground fall (and no fancy jams required).The plan was to onsight Golden Fleece and it was my last climb before heading home that day. I didn't bother to read the guide properly and got confused when I hit the ledge. Spent ages trying to place a medium-sized nut but my attempts were less than mediocre. Eventually I headed up (on what turned out to be Possibly Beautiful) scared shitless and shaking. It did seem too hard for the grade and I didn't trust my last piece. So I placed another micronut from a very awkward position. Eventually I took a fall, my medium nut popped out but the micro nut held the fall. Not bad for my first fall on trad. My belayer eventually suggested to follow the chalk marks further left, which was alot easier but I was shaking all the way.

Doro

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