Anyone fall on an ice screw on lead?
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I want to hear of climber's stories of them falling on ice screws while on lead. |
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There's some pix floating around from years ago (late 90's, early 00's) of a guy who took a 100 footer (maybe longer) on one of the hard routes at Lake Willoughby. Screw held! The guy wasn't too banged up either - nothing serious - and rapped off. |
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Took a fall last season, screw (BD 16cm) was at my ankles, double ropes (mammut Phoenix), screamer, about 80 feet of rope out, hard ice. |
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I was belaying a partner on his very first lead (he is a good rock climber but at the time not a very experienced dide climber, and against my better judgment, he convinced me he could lead the WI3, Pumphouse at Vail, no problem). He had several screws in and was putting in a fourth when somehow he lost his footing and pitched off (leaving a tool in place that could have held a Hummer). Fortunately, he cleared a bulge cleanly, and the top screw held, but between the slack in the system, the rope stretch, and yanking me upwards, he fell all the way to a ledge just above me (and bruised his shoulder). I was shocked at how far he fell, and I think about that every time I lead. |
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I disagree with that entirely. If you feel you are ready to lead, do it. A quantitative benchmark doesn't mean much. True confidence is qualitative and that is what you should listen to. |
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I doubt the pioneer ice climbers had 150 pitches of top rope under their belt before they were doing first ascents of big mountains. If you look at something and are confident you can climb it go for it. Grades and numbers are pretty arbitrary, one grade can be harder or easier depending on the person. |
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clint helander wrote:I disagree with that entirely. If you feel you are ready to lead, do it. A quantitative benchmark doesn't mean much. True confidence is qualitative and that is what you should listen to.The 150-pitch "rule" is a recommendation from an expert who teaches a lot of people how to climb ice. His point is that learning how to move on ice safely takes a lot of practice, and there are high consequences of falling. Frankly, it is a much better and more useful guideline -- partly because it is, indeed, quantitative -- than simply "having true confidence". My friend is a case in point: he was very confident that he could lead safely, yet he was extremely lucky not to wind up with a shattered ankle, or worse. |
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I'm sure that is a very good guideline for lots of people. |
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clint helander wrote:I disagree with that entirely. If you feel you are ready to lead, do it. A quantitative benchmark doesn't mean much. True confidence is qualitative and that is what you should listen to.Woody Allen |
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I took a 50 foot whipper on second pitch of Stairway to Heaven. Thank goodness my 2nd screw held or I wouldn't be answering this post. Stopped about 8 feet off the ledge and my belayer. No damage to screw but my ankles were busted up! 20 feet above last screw just reaching rope up to clip into Quickdraw when my tool popped out. Too casual that day. I put plenty of gear in now! |
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Here's some "Alaskan quantitative" science on ice screws |
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I've witnessed three falls on screws. Two of them, the climber was perhaps only 4-5' above the last screw. These were basically due to the leader pumping out (one time leaving a tool way up high that I had to go retrieve). No injuries in these cases. The third incident, the climber was more like 8-9' out. The tools popped, and from below it seemed like the ice they were in just fractured. In this third case the climber 'tucked his legs up' and was able to come down without catching a crampon spike (which I think is the way peeps break their ankles on ice falls). A few bruises, but no big deal. In all cases the screws held; the ice was in great shape and the screws were placed by experienced leaders (one in Banff, one in Lillooett, one in eastern Washington). |
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I am a very lucky climber. I took two ice lead falls (separated by about a week) onto screws a few years back. I have since eased off a bit and taken a lot of time to focus on technique and absolute control when I lead ice. I started leading my second year of ice climbing. I got a big head because its one of the only activities that I did well right off the bat. My first lead was a very moderate low angle WI2. The following day I was coxed into leading the business pitch of a WI4 multi-pitch, while my more experienced partner belayed me. I do not recommend this trial by fire approach to ice leading. |
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I, too, fell on Stairway to Heaven while leading. Pitch 3 -- the steep, cruxy one, near the top of the 100-foot wall. First fall was just above the 13cm screw, in solid blue ice. Maybe 6 feet total. The screw held just fine, and the screamer didn't engage (twin ropes, with at least 100 feet of rope out, so lots of stretch in the system). The ice was so steep it was like a sport climbing fall- my feet never contacted the surface on the way down. I was desperately pumped and therefore didn't have my picks sunk well enough. When I went to hang off my leashes and gasp for a while, the tools popped. I might have shrieked a little on the way down... :) Next, I checked in with my belayer around the corner. All was well, so I rested a bit, then clambered back up to my high point, with what seemed like just enough gas left to make it to the lip, one more move beyond. I flailed desperately at the hard ice above and got a little bit of pick engaged, but it felt wobbly. I was too pumped to dick around with it much more, though so I pulled up and went for the next swing, hoping to get over the lip. I popped off again, but this time my belayer, who couldn't see me, had been working on untangling some corkscrews in the rope and gave me a "soft" catch. I ended up upside down about 20 feet below the screw. Still, the screamer only ripped its first two rows of stitching, so the whole rope-and-protection system did its job well. I was rattled, and so was my belayer, so we bailed after that. Too bad, since the steep climbing was almost over, but it reminded/taught me a few things about ice and ice pro: |
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Once, at hidden falls in RMNP. The screw didn't really hold the full fall, as I landed ass first on a ledge about four feet beneath me, the top stopped me from sliding off the ledge, but I doubt the screw held anything resembling a real fall force |
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I've taken two ice whippers, both in Ouray. One was an upside down 55 footer, which resulted in a few days in the Montrose Hospital (thank you local rescue squad and thanks to the ambulance emt for not cutting off my gortex). Results: 3 broken ribs, 3 cracked vertebrae, a punctured lung, but the brain damage, no one could even tell the difference. |
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I took a ~25 footer on Stairway to Heaven (sensing a trend here?) in Utah. My first screw ripped right out, but I knew it was garbage anyway. The next screw down held me as I bounced past a ledge. The screw that popped was a 12cm Grivel, the one that held was a 13cm BD. Neither had any evidence of damage or fractures around the ice. |
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Because of this thread I'm never going to climb stairway to heaven. |
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Witnessed a guy years ago soloing Stairway to Heaven. Just as he topped out he whipped. Came down a long way and screws pulled/broke along the way as he fell. |