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Chockstone Forum - Accidents & Injuries

Report Accidents and Injuries

 Page 1 of 4. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 60 | 61 to 63
Author
Ground Fall Last night Hardrock CBD

southcol
28-Feb-2014
12:45:22 PM
Leader took a ground fall at second from last quickdraw from the top. (i'm guessing 10m+) It was a big fall with a loud bang. He landed on his feet and was in a stable conscious condition. The paramedics arrived within 10mins or so.
I really hope he is going OK. I would be interested in finding out more about the accident.
I was disappointed to see some climbers continuing to climb nearby the scene immediately afterwards. The rubber matting he landed on would have made an enormous difference to the extent of his injuries.

Stay safe folks, don't become complacent because you are in a gym. Remember the 'lead pass' does not protect you from mistakes and accidents.
pecheur
28-Feb-2014
1:44:29 PM
On 28/02/2014 southcol wrote:
>Leader took a ground fall at second from last quickdraw from the top. (i'm
>guessing 10m+) It was a big fall with a loud bang. He landed on his feet
>and was in a stable conscious condition. The paramedics arrived within
>10mins or so.
>I really hope he is going OK. I would be interested in finding out more
>about the accident.
>I was disappointed to see some climbers continuing to climb nearby the
>scene immediately afterwards. The rubber matting he landed on would have
>made an enormous difference to the extent of his injuries.
>
>Stay safe folks, don't become complacent because you are in a gym. Remember
>the 'lead pass' does not protect you from mistakes and accidents.

I was also there last night, I didn't see the fall at all, only heard the LOUD thud, I suspect everyone in the gym heard that.

To be honest his belayer and two friends were there, the paras where there in under 10 mins, I'm not really sure what the other climbers were meant to do, link arms in a circle, watch him and sing Kumbaya? If it was me I would have preferred, unless they could provide meaningful assistance, that they go on with climbing, no point in stuffing up their night too.

PS for the more technically inquisitive as Col said it was high, the seventh draw was clipped so at least 12 metres. No equipment failures visible...
kp
28-Feb-2014
1:52:34 PM
Yes I was there and only heard the sound too.

Personally I think that this gym has accident written all over it. Its always so over crowded and the lead climbers I have witnessed are usually not aware of the danger they are in (or causing to others...).

I really think this gym should reconsider 'lead climbing'. Basically everything in this gym is top ropable.

Anyhow, I hope the young guy makes a speedy recovery.

southcol
28-Feb-2014
2:07:06 PM
interesting response Peucher. you may have misinterpreted me. Im not suggesting that other climbers should had done anything radical to ruin their night, However, it would be sensible to give the injured and the paramedics room. There was one climber on the overhanging wall nearby at risk of swinging and colliding with people at the scene if they were to fall off low down. Eventually this was addressed and the Staff moved them along. No big deal just an observation.

If you do feel the need to sing Kumbaya, have some respect and get permission from the injured first.

salty crag
28-Feb-2014
2:23:44 PM
On 28/02/2014 kp wrote:
>Yes I was there and only heard the sound too.
>
>Personally I think that this gym has accident written all over it. Its
>always so over crowded and the lead climbers I have witnessed are usually
>not aware of the danger they are in (or causing to others...).
>
>I really think this gym should reconsider 'lead climbing'. Basically
>everything in this gym is top ropable.
>
>Anyhow, I hope the young guy makes a speedy recovery.

The points you make should be considered in the the incident investigation. Have you ever voiced them with the management, if so what was their response. "Its always so over crowded and the lead climbers I have witnessed are usually not aware of the danger..." what about their belayers? I hope their switched on and talking (to their climber).
Hope any injuries are not to bad and the person is back on rope soon.
jprockbelly
28-Feb-2014
3:19:41 PM
Walls there are 18m, so if he was clipped in at the second to last draw fall was likely from 15m or there abouts.

I wasn't there but was told that that the rope was running freely through the belay device, making a 'gut churning zzzzzzz sound'. . Would be great if the gym could cast some light on what happened so we can all learn from the mistakes of others. Unfortunately, it's my experience that gyms tend to cover this kind of thing up rather than discussing it.


One Day Hero
28-Feb-2014
3:37:08 PM
On 28/02/2014 jprockbelly wrote:
>Would be great if the gym could cast
>some light on what happened so we can all learn from the mistakes of others.

How many possibilities do you think there are? Belayer didn't lock off with their brake hand when the climber fell. If it was a gri gri, they also either back-threaded or death gripped the lever open.

Double check all your attachments and don't let useless fukwits hold your rope. End of story, that's all there is to learn.
jprockbelly
28-Feb-2014
3:55:04 PM
On 28/02/2014 One Day Hero wrote:
>How many possibilities do you think there are?

Well off the top of my head:

- Thin diameter rope + inappropriate belay device.
- Someone lowering off a top rope landed on belayer (it's a crowded gym after all)
- Belayer trips over over because someone plonks their bag down behind him
- Kids running around the gym knock him over
- Asthma attack
- Heart attack
- cramp
- stabbed by junkies
- daleks?

The point being writing him off as a 'useless f---wit' gets us nowhere, even if it is the most likely answer.
kieranl
28-Feb-2014
4:17:37 PM
On 28/02/2014 jprockbelly wrote:
>On 28/02/2014 One Day Hero wrote:
>>How many possibilities do you think there are?
>
>Well off the top of my head:
>
>- daleks?
>
How nice would it be to be able to blame daleks for failing on a route? Except for that if they were real and you met them you would be dead.
peteclimbs
28-Feb-2014
4:21:15 PM
On 28/02/2014 kp wrote:
>I really think this gym should reconsider 'lead climbing'. Basically
>everything in this gym is top ropable.

I think you're missing the point kp. I take it you don't lead?

ajfclark
28-Feb-2014
4:22:21 PM
No, he just bolts all those routes so he can top rope them.
peteclimbs
28-Feb-2014
4:33:07 PM
No idea who he is. Just seemed like an odd comment. Gyms are full of routes that you can lead or top-rope. They're gyms after all.
One Day Hero
28-Feb-2014
4:33:20 PM
On 28/02/2014 kieranl wrote:
>How nice would it be to be able to blame daleks for failing on a route?

I'm pretty sure that the gym matting would negate the threat. Isn't Hardrock up a flight of stairs too?
kp
28-Feb-2014
4:46:16 PM
On 28/02/2014 peteclimbs wrote:
>On 28/02/2014 kp wrote:
>>I really think this gym should reconsider 'lead climbing'. Basically
>>everything in this gym is top ropable.
>
>I think you're missing the point kp. I take it you don't lead?

I am scared stiff of climbers landing on me or my GF when they inevitably fall.
One Day Hero
28-Feb-2014
4:51:07 PM
On 28/02/2014 peteclimbs wrote:
>No idea who he is. Just seemed like an odd comment. Gyms are full of routes
>that you can lead or top-rope. They're gyms after all.

Kp is someone who I would trust to assess the situation correctly.....because he's not a gym retard.

My understanding of his point is that the topropes and lead climbs are packed together too closely, which will eventually result in an accident where a falling lead climber will collect a toproper from the wall beneath them. This is a very sensible concern at crowded gyms, and a lot of the risk would be mitigated by either spacing the routes out so that there is less overlap or just converting the whole gym to toprope. It's not like 'leading' with bolts every 1.2m is actual leading anyway!

ChuckNorris
28-Feb-2014
5:27:24 PM
Typical ODL retard comment. Trad this trad that, gym pussy this gym pussy that - blah blah.

You want to man up and take the real hardman challenge - go do a top rope at Nunawading when the douche who carries an Allan key rack leads diagonal routes thinking he is the dogs bollocks cos he's LEADING. Way more dangerous than grit.

A lot of the time and on most walls leading there is just a douches way of not waiting your turn for a tr cos you just plonk ya rope bag down and start climbing knowing that everyone will give way cos no one wants to be turkey slapped by a douchebag.

Eduardo Slabofvic
28-Feb-2014
5:38:09 PM
On 28/02/2014 Stugang wrote:
> one wants to
>be turkey slapped by a douchebag.

Is that anatomically possible?

ChuckNorris
28-Feb-2014
5:43:01 PM
Yes - when coming from above at high velocity

rock weasel
28-Feb-2014
10:31:40 PM
I am surprised by the nonchalance of many of the lead climbers at Hardrock, especially in relation to securing the belayer to the ground.

Drake
1-Mar-2014
9:56:56 AM
>>> especially in relation to securing the belayer to the ground.

Anchoring a lead belayer is generally a bad idea, because it limits the ability to give a soft catch, and hard catches on lead falls cause broken ankles.

 Page 1 of 4. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 60 | 61 to 63
There are 63 messages in this topic.

 

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