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Chockstone Forum - Accidents & Injuries

Report Accidents and Injuries

 Page 1 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 53
Author
Tribute Wall accident 11/09/2018
kieranl
10-Sep-2018
5:05:18 PM
Climber was rescued from base of Lower Tribute Wall yesterday. Apperently fell as he was trying to clip.

Short but hard carry out to a point where the chopper was able to pick him up just as full darkness fell. Was starting to look like we'd be camping there overnight. I think 4 paramedics, 1 police officer, 9 SES and 2 or 3 climbers did the grunt work.

That's 4 rescues from Stapylton area in last 12 months :

2 boulderers (kindergarten, legoland), 1 walker (Hollow Mountain) and the climber yesterday.

All of these were moved by emergency services on ground to points where helicopter evac was possible as getting a stretcher out by hand from many locations at Stapylton is pretty arduous. Check your ambulance cover!
Marky
11-Sep-2018
5:55:53 PM
Great work by all once again.

It seems that with the popularity of climbing recently, their has been a worrying increase in related accidents in the past 12 months or more..

I for one have experienced the inexperience of this new wave of climbers that are getting outdoors and it’s really concerning at the lack of arrogance and inexperience when it comes to climbing and climbing safety.

My big concern is that if this rate of climbing incidents continue, we may look at climbing related restrictions put in place by Parks, government to reduce the amount of accidents and rescues.
kieranl
11-Sep-2018
8:25:31 PM
On 11-Sep-2018 Marky wrote:

>My big concern is that if this rate of climbing incidents continue, we
>may look at climbing related restrictions put in place by Parks, government
>to reduce the amount of accidents and rescues.
>

I don't think that's a big concern. To put it into perspective, it's a rare weekend when the Stawell-based SES and AV aren't carrying a tourist out of the Pinnacle with a broken ankle. Combine those with a fair number of people who get to the base of McKenzie Falls and have to be carried back up (NOT fun) and the number of climbing-related accidents is insignificant.

My main concern is that climbers/boulderers are a relatively small community so every accident has a big impact. I suspect and hope that the number for this year is just a statistical blip - the number of climbing accidents requiring emergency services in the Grampians is so low that there isn't really a baseline.
Rawpowa!
18-Sep-2018
12:05:33 AM
On By Jovi? I almost decked falling off before the third bolt, I'm sure you would falling off while clipping. A lot of the climbs there seem a bit decky.
kieranl
18-Sep-2018
1:22:34 AM
On 18-Sep-2018 Rawpowa! wrote:
>On By Jovi? I almost decked falling off before the third bolt, I'm sure
>you would falling off while clipping. A lot of the climbs there seem a
>bit decky.

Not sure.

nmonteith
19-Sep-2018
11:10:43 PM
I believe the accident happened on Hot Play (16) - one of the easier routes on the left hand side. Most of the routes at this crag are short and sustained - meaning any of the first 3 clips have some chance of a groundfall if enough rope is out. I did a lot of these routes on trad originally - if you worry about decking then maybe add a bit of trad, clip at your waist rather than pulling a load of slack up high or just try them on top-rope. Don't be afraid of a stick-clip either.
Rawpowa!
19-Sep-2018
11:35:55 PM
Yes I wondered if you could place a wire in some of them. I'm not really complaining about the bolting, it just didn't seem like a good idea falling off in certain places. I ended up backing off by Jovi because it was a bit do and I clearly wasn't up to it.

ajfclark
21-Sep-2018
4:02:28 PM
On 19-Sep-2018 nmonteith wrote:
>I believe the accident happened on Hot Play (16)

Correct. I believe he fell while clipping the second bolt.

If you had an arm load of slack out at that point there's not much your belayer could do.
Wendy
23-Sep-2018
2:52:15 PM
On 21-Sep-2018 ajfclark wrote:
>On 19-Sep-2018 nmonteith wrote:
>>I believe the accident happened on Hot Play (16)
>
>Correct. I believe he fell while clipping the second bolt.
>
>If you had an arm load of slack out at that point there's not much your
>belayer could do.

This is almost always the situation at second bolts. Frequently at 3rd bolts. There are reasons I find sport climbing more scary than trad!

rodw
23-Sep-2018
3:12:36 PM
On 23-Sep-2018 Wendy wrote:


>This is almost always the situation at second bolts. Frequently at 3rd
>bolts. There are reasons I find sport climbing more scary than trad!

It shouldn't be, easy to fix, when bolting just have first few bolts close together to ensure clipper doesn't deck and space out the higher you go..seems to be more an issue on easy routes with the idea its easy no one will fall..shit happens IMHO..bolt accordingly.

IdratherbeclimbingM9
23-Sep-2018
6:51:54 PM
On 23-Sep-2018 Wendy wrote:
>On 21-Sep-2018 ajfclark wrote:
>>Correct. I believe he fell while clipping the second bolt.
>>
>>If you had an arm load of slack out at that point there's not much your
>>belayer could do.
>
>This is almost always the situation at second bolts. Frequently at 3rd
>bolts. There are reasons I find sport climbing more scary than trad!
>
Yes, but you also say that you don’t like small gear (particularly RP’s), fiddly gear placements, no-gear placements (exposed slabs), crap rock, long run-outs, vegetated climbs, wildlife (snakes etc) on climbs, shoulder wrenching bouldery moves ...
;-)
It would seem that your enjoyable climbing list is shrinking*.
Heh, heh, heh.

(* Mine has too. It’s probably age related! These days it’s simply enjoyable just to touch rock!!)

Best wishes for a full recovery for the person subject of this accident thread.
widewetandslippery
23-Sep-2018
7:12:08 PM
Right rodw, what about your special grade 10 yesterday, and yes I know it will clean up in (geological) time 😂

gordoste
23-Sep-2018
10:07:35 PM
On 23-Sep-2018 rodw wrote:
>On 23-Sep-2018 Wendy wrote:
>
>
>>This is almost always the situation at second bolts. Frequently at 3rd
>>bolts. There are reasons I find sport climbing more scary than trad!
>
>It shouldn't be, easy to fix, when bolting just have first few bolts close
>together to ensure clipper doesn't deck and space out the higher you go..seems
>to be more an issue on easy routes with the idea its easy no one will fall..shit
>happens IMHO..bolt accordingly.

Good in theory, but in practice if you follow this strictly, you end up clipping from all sorts of strenuous positions, instead of from obvious jugs.

This isn't really an issue at Buffalo because there are no holds anyway, so people put the first bolt really high.

rodw
23-Sep-2018
10:26:32 PM
Nothing can be done strictly but wendy mentioned it "as always the situation" which is more a bolter issue than a natural feature issue IMHO. Agreed no use adding bolt is you can't clip it but few low grade routes really have that issue.

rodw
23-Sep-2018
10:27:18 PM
On 23-Sep-2018 widewetandslippery wrote:
>Right rodw, what about your special grade 10 yesterday, and yes I know
>it will clean up in (geological) time 😂

haters goona hate dude...nothing fell off...stop whinging.
One Day Hero
23-Sep-2018
11:49:16 PM
On 23-Sep-2018 rodw wrote:
>Nothing can be done strictly but wendy mentioned it "as always the situation"
>which is more a bolter issue than a natural feature issue IMHO. Agreed
>no use adding bolt is you can't clip it but few low grade routes really
>have that issue.

Bullcrap! Low grade short juggy sport routes are the worst. Usually lots of stuff to hit and the type of climber who is interested can fall off anything. To keep people safe leading that junk, you need a bolt every meter.......so what's the point? Just frigging leave them as top ropes.

rodw
24-Sep-2018
12:09:34 AM
ODH has spoken..thus endith the discussion.
One Day Hero
24-Sep-2018
12:30:52 AM
What discussion? I see a bunch of idiots tossing up the merits of various methods for nailing diarrhea to the wall. You can't have short safe vertical beginner sport routes without an aid ladder of bolts.
It's not some rule I made up, it's just how shit works. Total bumblies need topropes or smooth slabs to lead. Grade 16 vertical sport routes are only good for washed up old codgers who should have quit 20 years ago.

ajfclark
24-Sep-2018
3:09:58 AM
On 23-Sep-2018 One Day Hero wrote:
>Bullcrap! Low grade short juggy sport routes are the worst. Usually lots
>of stuff to hit and the type of climber who is interested can fall off
>anything. To keep people safe leading that junk, you need a bolt every
>meter.......so what's the point? Just frigging leave them as top ropes.

I haven't measured, but I'm pretty sure the first two bolts on the route in question are within a metre.
renq
24-Sep-2018
3:17:50 PM
I happened to be the belayer of the climber on Hot Play (16) during this incident.

After the climber easily top-roped Maiden China (15, directly left of Hot Play), we decided to give Hot Play a go on sport. The first bolt was stick clipped including rope and the second was stick clipped with a quickdraw only. After clipping the second, his waist was at the third bolt where he was struggling to get the third quickdraw in. He accepted he would take a fall. I didn't keep much slack in the system at that point sus of a ground fall (climber is around +10kg than me). Inevitably he took a sharp fall and his foot landed on an uneven part of the wall. He ended up hanging on the rope 2m from ground? ground was also uneven, basically two boulders of either side of the fall path.

In hindsight, we should have tried it on top rope first. It was the last climb of the day (red flag!!), incident occurred at 4pm, and we probably should not have pushed new terrain so late in the day. Also, maybe we should have encouraged down-climbing sooner rather than encouraging to make the clip until failure. We probably should have also practiced falling outdoors (we had over 10 hours dedicated solely to falls practice indoors).

He ended up dislocating his ankle and breaking the bottom of his fibula. He's now recovering, in good spirits with a plate and a few screws in his leg. There were five of us at the time of the incident, two were able to stay with with the climber and the other two got the paramedics. All of us are so so grateful for the team involved in the rescue and hope some people got the cake we dropped off at Horsham ambulance center! He did have ambulance cover, thank goodness.

Seconded, check your ambulance cover!




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There are 53 messages in this topic.

 

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