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ABC: Climber falls in Adelaide Hills

patto

25-Apr-2007
4:17:38 PM

ABC: Rock climber taken to hospital after head-first fall
>Rock climber taken to hospital after head-first fall
>A helicopter has been used to rescue a rock climber who fell from a cliff face in the Adelaide Hills.
>The man in his 40s was winched on a stretcher to the helicopter from the base of the cliff in Morialta Conservation Park.
>He was flown to hospital, where he is in a stable condition with injuries to his back and ribs.
>The man had been climbing with his son and friends.
>He was about 15 metres up the rock wall when he slipped and fell head first.
>His fall was slowed by tension on his climbing rope.
>It is understood the man is a surgeon and was able to direct fellow climbers and ambulance officers to help him.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1906456.htm

By the sounds of things he may not have decked.

prb

25-Apr-2007
10:55:58 PM

The story as I understand it was that the climber was leading Clea Direct (15) at Boulder Bridge. It's a popular 16m route, pretty much vertical, with the cruxy moves near the top. The pro is good the whole way. Up high, he placed a cam, pulled up some rope, but failed to make the clip before he fell. One stopper popped on the way down resulting in a grounder.

My thoughts are with the climber, his son who was at the scene, and Brandon who was either climbing in that group or was nearby. Brandon, a friend to many Adelaide climbers, helped throughout the rescue and looked pretty drained by the experience.

wyt91t

25-Apr-2007
11:12:46 PM

sorry to hear the news,hope to see him soon on the rock again.
Was he solo climbing with the rope tied into himself or on some shocker trad climb.

DaCrux

26-Apr-2007
11:38:17 PM

On 25/04/2007 wyt91t wrote:
>sorry to hear the news,hope to see him soon on the rock again.
>Was he solo climbing with the rope tied into himself or on some shocker
>trad climb.
He was climbing with other people. The climb has plenty of bomber placements. Some of the holds can have a bit of dirt on them after it's been raining but it was pretty clean when I lead it on Tuesday. The guy was just unlucky. Hope he recovers soon.... and that I don't see him at work tomorrow :P

Chuck Norris

26-Apr-2007
11:56:53 PM

ditto to all the wishes for a speedy recovery...but as an aside it seems like another case for "a helmet
saved my life"

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21622199-2682,00.html

BigMike

27-Apr-2007
10:15:40 AM

>http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21622199-2682,00.html
>

I love the first-name-only reportage. Is it because everybody knows everybody else in Adelaide?

TLockwood

27-Apr-2007
12:56:33 PM

Hey may not want to be identified.

BigMike

27-Apr-2007
2:16:28 PM

On 27/04/2007 TLockwood wrote:
>Hey may not want to be identified.

Again, must be an Adelaide thing. Even the reporter's last name is just an initial.

owl

27-Apr-2007
2:19:00 PM

Everyone knows everyone else in the climbing community in Adelaide. Using first names in a newspaper article is also a good idea as it helps narrow down the person without giving away their identity. I was able to figure out who had the accident from the names. It is better than saying a male in his 37's or 40's, which would leave me worried about potential friends that could have stacked it. Personally though, I think that Morialta is a choss pile with a few good trad routes and some OK bolted routes. It is close to town though which makes for easy access. Most of the routes take gear pretty poorly though and I often hear of people taking whippers because 2 or 3 pieces of gear pull. I would not advise Morialta as a place to learn leading when Araps is the ideal location. This is of course my personal opinion.

Princess

27-Apr-2007
9:07:38 PM

You give the media too much credit for caring about the people that they report on. For those of us at the crag on the day, the media were intrusive annoying and often in the way of the rescue team. Not knowing the last name was a mixture of bad reporting and the fact that non of us could remmeber the guys name and had nothing to do with the virtue of the media.

'David' is very lucky to have survived! He hit his head not once but twice (on the rock as he fell and as he hit the deck). This alone is a good advertisement for helmet use!

Anyway... Wishing you David a speedy recovery and hope to see you and your son on the rock again soon.

owl

30-Apr-2007
7:00:07 PM

My Apologies Princess. I wasn't there and only heard about the accident that evening. It turns out I didn't know the climber who fell either. I hope I didn't offend you too much. I wasn't in any way saying that the media cared either! Even so, I think first name reporting helps identify, more accurately who was involved. I hope David makes a speedy and full recovery as well.

Princess

1-May-2007
8:02:20 AM

No Offence taken... :) I was just fired up about the topic on the day!

cobbler

2-May-2007
11:15:02 AM

This is David Schoemaker (I don't climb enough to be known by many), the one who hit his head. this is my first chockstone forum entry. I specifically registered to thank 'Princess' and others above for their well wishes. I'm very grateful to all the climbers who came to my assistance (and my son Brenton, whose belaying was spot on). Especially to Brandon, who saw the fall occur, and stayed with me / helped with first aid etc. I hope to thank you all personally sometime.

YES, my helmet was intrumental to my survival.....

IdratherbeclimbingM9

2-May-2007
11:20:34 AM

Welcome David, and it is good to see your public thanks to the helpers.

There are 14 messages in this topic.