Ground fall on Left Ski Track in Joshua Tree

Glad to hear you're doing well Nelson and thanks for sharing.

Just out of curiosity, what belay device was being used? About how much rope was between the piece and you when you let go? Did you give your belayer a few seconds to prepare or just say 'falling' and fly?

Thanks,d

My belayer was using an ATC. He wasn't keeping me super tight, but he didn't have excessive slack in the system. Was a good belay. The type of belay device he was using is somewhat irrelevant - the pro didn't hold and as such the belay device never really came into play.

My tie in point was about 2-3 feet above my piece when I realized I had botched the sequence and decided to take the "short fall" and start over. I didn't give my belayer much time to react, I just said "falling" and let go. He said that he did have enough time to take a short amount of slack out of the rope. It is possible that when he took the slack out of the rope, the piece shifted. Again, if the piece had been slung, it would not have shifted.

I was just one, of many who helped moved boulders to clear landings. Pretty sure it was JB, who spearheaded the moving of the boulder underneath Left Ski Track.

I was pretty young back then, it was a couple of years later that I was able to take advantage of the cleared landing.

I eyed Left Ski last time I was at Josh but didn't have the time to hop on it. I had read numerous accounts of the funky gear near the bottom. After bouldering up the first 6 feet or so and looking at those pods I thought "Man, these look tailor made for some Totem Cams". I didn't have my set with me at the time but made a note to bring them next time I was in Josh.

Anyone out there used Totem Cams on Left Ski Track?

Nelson..... glad to here your OK.... could have been far worse.

You broke #1 rule (my #1 rule anyway)

Don't fall, ever when your at JT. Learn how to downclimb- always to save your ass.

None of the placements on that climb will hold squat, the early on ones at least.

Go have a beer....

Guy Keesee wrote:Nelson..... glad to here your OK.... could have been far worse. You broke #1 rule (my #1 rule anyway) Don't fall, ever when your at JT. Learn how to downclimb- always to save your ass. None of the placements on that climb will hold squat, the early on ones at least. Go have a beer....

Correction: don't intentionally fall if you don't have two pieces you believe to be solid between you and the ground. Or put another way, your concept of when it is safe to fall was apparently too broad. Reflect on this and learn.

JLP wrote:I freed this climb in my first few years, haven't been back to it. This and Lower Right are kind of POS routes that aren't worth the risk, IMO.

I got the gist of JLP's post. I don't think he's being derisive to others. If I can paraphrase what he intended is that the climbs aren't really safe (unless your solid at the grade), but are right there in the campground and get climbed probably far more than they deserve. Given that that's his opinion, I don't think it's an unreasonable statement.

Glad you are not hurt. There is a particular (but admittedly uncertain) amount of energy absorbed into any gear failure. Even those psychological placements that fail can mean the difference between landing hard or really hard, or landing upright and flat. It's great that you had in everything that you did and walked away.
I've torn a rib partially off of my sternum before - (frown) it was pretty miserable and it took a long time to heal. Weeks later I couldn't press my hands together in front of me or do anything else hat put a spread in my chest for a while. As funny as it sounds, I climbed the Yellow Wall on the diamond, but on the hike in, couldn't clip a tight waist belt on my pack -Joseffa had to do that for me!
Heal well, heal fully.

After seeing Nelson climb (never had the chance to climb with him) and trading stories around the campground. Nelson is solid at the grade. Left Ski Track is an awkward climb but I remember there being a bolt below the wide gear placement (am i mistaken)?

I think someone else already mentioned it...there's a bomber orange or red alien placement in a pod below that fin.

mountainlion wrote:After seeing Nelson climb (never had the chance to climb with him) and trading stories around the campground. Nelson is solid at the grade. Left Ski Track is an awkward climb but I remember there being a bolt below the wide gear placement (am i mistaken)?

The bolt is actually past the crux, and it is also past the wide placement. I was actually Nelson's partner that day and am still trying to fully analyze what happened. I'm so glad that Nelson suffered such little physical harm and has kept such a good attitude toward the completely bummer of a situation. He is definitely a strong and competent climber, and hopefully, at the very least, this post can help other people give more thought to the inherent dangers in the activity we all love and to guide their future judgement calls.