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Accident at Pulpit Rock Park

Original Post
Matt conch · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2015 · Points: 5

An accident occurred today at Pulpit Rock Park in Cospgs. A hiker was walking along the edge of some ledges/small cliffs (about 10-15ft high) listening to music in headphones. If you've been to this park, you know how the 'rock' is basically compressed sand and mud. They were blissfully strolling about when the 3x3ft area they were currently standing on disintegrated and left them rocketing down to the steep talus slope below.
This dumb ass was me.
After rocketing towards the ground along with a dishwasher sized mass of broken mud rocks, I hit the ground (full on lone survivor style) and tumbled an extra 15-20 ft downward. The exact details of the fall and exactly how I obtained my various injuries are a blur. I stopped tumbling with my body draped over a rock, belly up. Left arm and lower back in excruciating pain. With other abrasions and large bruises noticed later. All I could do was roll off of the rock and drag myself towards the nearest flat-ish area. I was totally in shock but the pain in my back was excruciating. I had no idea what to do, I gave myself as much of a quick exam as I could (thank you NOLS WFR!). No major bleeding, tons of abraisons and some obvious swelling/bruises around my shin and on both tricep areas. I was convinced my left arm was broken. And I had no idea what the extent of my injuries were in my back but I had never felt that kind of pain there before.
I thought it would be best for me to stay absolutely still and call for help. Thanks to buttfuck shitty ass T-mobile I had no cell service but Pulpit rock is a pretty busy park. I yelled for about 10 minutes and because of the wind I don't think I was heard. Now is when I made a shitty decision that was partly driven by pride and embarrassment for sure. I dragged myself to a boulder and got myself onto my two feet. I cried and yelled at the pain. I walked the .1-.2 miles back to my car. I was walking like I had just drank 3 bottles of Robitussin (super robotic and fucked up). Didn't see a soul on the way back down. I knew at the time that it was a very bad decision to be moving at all. I could not take a step more than a few inches forward and it took almost an hour to make it to my car. I'm gonna speed up this embarrassing story a bit. Made it to the hospital. Fainted in the waiting room, puked in the x ray room (pain). Compression fracture in my L1.
I am very lucky to be so mildly injured. The headphones probably hindered my awareness. I was under-prepared (had no water or basics). And I made a whole load of other mistakes today. I am happy to share this story to help remind my fellow climbers that sometimes even that .5 mile stroll at a city park can have its surprises.

More than happy to answer any questions or receive some flak from the community! I will be stuck in a bed for a while. I don't know a whole lot until I meet with my neurosurgeon tomorrow, Ill keep everyone posted on this stoopid ass injury lol

FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276

What do you think you learned from it?

Gail Blauer · · Gardiner, NY · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 1,051

Glad you are ok.

Tom-onator · · trollfreesociety · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 790

M. Loaf is elenatroll's latest moniker.
Ignore its posts. Glad you weren't too badly hurt.

Kevin Neville · · Oconomowoc, WI · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 15

Did you try 911 even though your phone said no service? I've heard (never tested it) that it will tap into any available tower, even out-of-network, for 911.

nate post · · Silverthorne · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 2,446

Quite the story, made me laugh even though I know you must have been in agony. I think the take away lesson we can all learn from this is, wear your Go Pro even when out for an easy stroll in the park. Hope you recover quickly and maybe stick to climbing it's probably safer.

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

The mods killed M Loaf nicely.

Heal up well! And pay attention next time.

First Track Jack · · Evergreen, CO · Joined May 2014 · Points: 140

Good share, glad you are OK...

Chris Rice · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 55
kevin neville wrote:Did you try 911 even though your phone said no service? I've heard (never tested it) that it will tap into any available tower, even out-of-network, for 911.
I have been told (by Verizon) that 911 will work if ANY tower is available. I have not tried it out personally - maybe some of you tech savvy guys will know better.
Eric LaRoche · · West Swanzey, NH · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 25
Chris Rice wrote: I have been told (by Verizon) that 911 will work if ANY tower is available. I have not tried it out personally - maybe some of you tech savvy guys will know better.
It should. Even phones that aren't active with service can call 911.
Matt conch · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2015 · Points: 5

No worries! It's been less than 24 hours and I am chuckling every time I rethink the events. Then I stop chuckling because it hurts ;) haha. It was literally like a scene out of ice age with the trail cracking around me as I disappeared off the edge! haha.

I feel that risk management in this scenario is somewhat contrived, however it is still worth taking a look at.

1. Firstly: my situational awareness was compromised since I was listening to my headphones.

2. I probably experienced some common decision making traps of “familiarity”, and “Social proof”. I assumed that because I had walked the trail many times before, and that many others frequented the trail, that I was gonna be A-OK. I still don’t usually expect the earth to disintegrate beneath me, but maybe I should at least give a quick thought as to what I’m walking on next time.

3. A little bit of edge awareness would have been prudent. The trail was maybe 6 to 7 feet wide, I was walking on the right side, which was the side that had ended in the small cliff. Even though it is normal to be traveling on the right side of the trail, it may have been better to be walking more towards the center or left side of the trail.

4. I was hiking alone, without anything but my pack of cigarettes, ipod, and phone. I don’t think any of these things were particularly foolish because its a busy park within shouting distance of uccs and Nevada ave, I wasn’t going to be any further than a mile from my car. But Murphys law was in effect in this regard. My day hiking pack is tiny and would not at all been an inconvience to have brought with me. If I had brought it I would have had access to a whistle, a small first aid kit, some water, etc. If I had been with a friend, they simply could have walked to an area with cell service. Stuff to think about.

Like I said, these things are pretty contrived and may seem silly. Nevertheless, my L1 vertebrae is telling me otherwise. They are worth taking a look at I suppose.

I think the way in which I handled the situation after I fell was where the main mistakes were made.

1. After initially falling I felt that I acted somewhat appropriately. I got myself un-draped off the boulder landing spot and dragged myself to some shade in a relatively flat area about four feet off to the side. I vaguely remembered learning about spinal injuries in my WFR class and although I didn’t remember the exact rules I knew that I probably injured my spine and should not be moving my neck or back. I wasn’t having any trouble breathing. I gave myself as much of a self exam as possible to make sure there were no other big breaks or bleeds to deal with. I determined I was A&O X 3-4. I was having a hard time telling how much pain I was in because my back pain was overpowering + adrenaline.

2. The first poor decision. my phone, cigarettes, and car keys had been scattered around, yard sale style. Instead of yelling for help or waiting for someone to pass close by, I crawled to my phone and cigarettes. Despite that I know now that I was fine crawling around, at the time I didn’t know how serious the injury on my back was and most definitely shouldn’t have been moving around given the limited knowledge I had on my back injury.

3. No cell service. No response to yells for help. Second poor decision: found a way to make it onto my feet and decided I would walk until I got service. I felt faint as soon as I stood up, and I was risking falling back down again.

4. Most poor decision: Pride, embarrassment, stubbornness, and most of all, altered judgement got the best of me when I decided I did not want to initiate a rescue and that I would wait until I made my way to the parking lot to get help. Adrenaline was obviously numbing the pain a lot, and I should’ve have been more aware that even though my pain was manageable that I should have stopped. When I got help I had a BP of 70/54, and had all of the hallmark signs of shock. Definitely shouldn’t have been moving what so ever!

I’m honestly grateful that this happened to me and not some unsuspecting father with a baby carrier backpack on or something. I am fortunate my spine injuries were relatively minor (as far as spinal injuries go).
So yep, this is what I learned. I would love to hear what others have to say. Sorry for the long ass post. I’m already bored on bed rest lol.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Injuries and Accidents
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