Friend dropped from 60 ft.

Man, Scott, that's insane. Really happy you'll be able to recover from this. As JLP posed above, what would you do different going forward?... in terms of confirming a new internet-matchup's belay skills, verbal communication, processes when not feeling tension on a rope, etc. Any insights would definitely help the community as a whole. Thx, and speedy recovery.

Erik

I had something very similar happen to me. Went climbing with a guy from the gym who said he knew what he was doing. Got to the top and called take. He took this to mean I was "taking" the rope up with me, and fed out a few armloads of slack just as I was leaning back, and he lost control of the rope. To his credit he burned his hands pretty badly and caught the brake strand shortly before I decked, but it was disconcerting to say the least.

Now I always grab the rope when I lean back.

nicelegs wrote:Between this site, rc.com when it still worked, and craigslist, I bet I've climbed with 100 strangers or more. Most were just looking for 1 day, as I was, and most I haven't climbed with again. This is mostly due to having a magical moment in the schedule that worked once, not because it was a bad time. In fact, speaking of bad times. I have never had a bad time with my total stranger partners. Not a single bad day. Some climbed 5.13 trad. Some were working on 5.9 sport on TR. Some I climbed big multipitch routes with, others I went to the gym with. The key for me is being honest with my partners about what I can do as well as being honest with myself about what I should do with this person. If I want to work some route that I'm likely to fall all over and this dude doesn't look like he's ever caught a fall, I can put up some TR's on easier routes to still have a good day. Or boulder. Or god forbid, teach. I'm not blaming the injured dude, not at all. I'm just saying that so often what "I want to climb" isn't consistent with what my partner for the day is up for. You have to be able to let that go and have a plan B. Another hint when posting for partners (near 100% success rate). Say what you're planning to do and what you're willing to do. Don't post up saying "Looking for 5.6 to 5.14, psyched people". Say wtf you mean "Looking to share burns on Ultrasaurus, Tuesday after work" You're going to find someone with similar goals and if he's got similar goals, likely he has similar experience. The only time this hasn't worked for me is when I asked for a partner for Shock Treatment on weekdays. The crickets were deafening. And FFS, bring your own rope, cause mine is looking sketchy.

odds baby, odds, I hope your "luck" continues. I personally have climbed with some unknown people from the internet and have not been dropped but I certainly watch the shit out of their belay technique and never do anything hard on the first pitch.

you will die someday for sure so maybe it doesnt matter that much.

5.13

Timothy.Klein wrote:So you fell 60 feet, evacuated yourself, and the rode to the hospital on the back of a stranger's Harley? That's pretty bad ass. Hope you recover fully.

Not to make light of your situation but that is one awesome story. Hope you heal up quickly, definitely one of my heroes now.

Whatever happened to stitch plates? No confusion as to how they work, and a hell of alot cheaper than a grigri. If they show up with one, that may be a red flag..When climbing with unknowns, take your own safety into account, and ensure that your partner displays proper usage of any device. It may offend some, but it still beats cratering!

so it was established through your conversation with the belayer at the hospital that he in fact did not know how to use the Gri-Gri? If that's the case, shame on him for not letting you know.

a couple of questions, though.
1) to me, the logical thing to do - if i have any doubts about a communication with the belayer, would be to go directly into the anchor and then sort it out with the person from there. i would never start lowering myself on the rope because i think the belayer hasn't caught on and i just want to get to the ground. were you in a hurry?

2)was the belayer in a position where you could not hear or see him?

Lesson: Sport climbing with people from the internet is dangerous. Stick to multi and you have a better chance of living.

Dang, glad you survived a shitty partner!

doug rouse wrote:Whatever happened to stitch plates? No confusion as to how they work, and a hell of alot cheaper than a grigri. If they show up with one, that may be a red flag..When climbing with unknowns, take your own safety into account, and ensure that your partner displays proper usage of any device. It may offend some, but it still beats cratering!

What happened to them? They went away because they suck. And they absolutely are in no way shape or form a substitute for a gri. Hip belays on the other hand. ..

Yikes, this accident sounds similar what happened to a friend. Except her belayer, who claimed to be experienced and was not as he set a top rope yet ran the rope directly through the slings. Further, the climbing outing was a date and the guy was married. She was pretty banged up and ended up suing the douche bag - and she did get a settlement.

Hope ya heal well.

David Sahalie wrote: What happened to them [stitch plates]? They went away because they suck. And they absolutely are in no way shape or form a substitute for a gri. Hip belays on the other hand. ..

Baloney, stitch plates are still around just in a different form. BD calls them ATCs, Trango calls them Jaws. And yes, they are perfectly adequate and often better than a gri-gri or cinch. The problem is that people learn on one device and then if they loose it they are screwed. There have been several cases of folks getting stuck cause they lost their rappel device yet had enough biners to make a biner brake but did not know how. I bet half the people on MP would be in the same position.

Allen Sanderson wrote:The problem is that people learn on one device and then if they loose it they are screwed. There have been several cases of folks getting stuck cause they lost their rappel device yet had enough biners to make a biner brake but did not know how. I bet half the people on MP would be in the same position.

I always thought that a biner brake rappel could only be safely made with oval biners. Try finding one on any sport climber's rack.
Then I came across this tech tip using solid gated non ovals.
Painfully slow, one can always rely on the Dülfersitz in a pinch.
Learn and practice these as well as the body belay.

Glad Scott is doing better!

Timothy.Klein wrote:So you fell 60 feet, evacuated yourself, and the rode to the hospital on the back of a stranger's Harley? That's pretty bad ass. Hope you recover fully.

+1 well said. I hope you have a fast and full recovery Scott!

Tom-o Erectus wrote: Dülfersitz in a pinch.

Holy Crap! This isn't the 1930s. Rap with a munter and save your balls from rope burn.

"What happened to them? They went away because they suck. And they absolutely are in no way shape or form a substitute for a gri. Hip belays on the other hand. .."

What Allen said in response to this silly statement above . .

I always thought that one of the supposed advantages of a grigri is that they are idiot-proof for belayers. Sure seems to be a lot of accidents with them.

I've always found that the use of a simple, intuitive device such as an ATC, along with some good explanation and practice is the best way to teach a beginner how to belay safely. I like using a grigri in certain situations, but there are certain aspects about them that are not intuitive, and they are clearly not a good substitute for knowing the basics of belaying.

I'd take a hip belay from someone that knows what they're doing, over a belay from a grigri from someone that does not know how to properly belay any day. .

Seems to me an unconscious belayer may have been a more effective belayer in this case.

Best wishes and full recovery, Scott.

Tom-o Erectus wrote: I agree Red, but.. To tie into a rope's end is an unwritten contract to share a LIFE LINE with a partner. Your life is in my hands equally as my life is in yours. Too many people seem to take this lightly. Do we no longer stress this importance when teaching newcomers our passion? Hubris? Naivety? Wishing Scott a speedy recovery

I agree Tom and I stress this with newcomers. Unfortunately, it seems too many newcomers don't get a safe and experienced mentor.
Maybe some newbies just don't understand the seriousness of what they are getting their selves into. Keeping their partner alive and safe.

Scott Jones wrote:Unfortunately the traffic was bumper to bumper, but luck would have it that man on a harley was passing by, so i hopped on.

Bad ass, and, invalid without pictures...

Wow. Glad you're going to be (relatively) ok.

Brian in SLC wrote: Bad ass, and, invalid without pictures... Wow. Glad you're going to be (relatively) ok.

Scott's face pic is on the CU Alpine Club FB page...he got pretty banged up.

Get well soon Scott!

chuck claude wrote:sorry to hear that Scott, did I hear that correctly. Your so called belayer dropped you and you self-evac'ed and got yourself tyo the hospital. What was the so called belayer doing. He should have been busting ass to get you out of there

After being dropped to my potential death I think i would refuse any but the most life-saving help from the belayer.

Speedy recovery Scott, I respect the way and OP have handled this e-situation

Scott McMahon wrote: Scott's face pic is on the CU Alpine Club FB page...he got pretty banged up. Get well soon Scott!

Ouch...that's gnarly!

Sounds like he had the rope in the Grigri backwards? I always make a visual check of the belayer's set-up to be sure the rope is threaded correctly. Have caught this error a time or two this way...