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Epic Rescue

Original Post
Mike Harris DFW · · DFW, Texas · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 650

Party of four on dark shadows in red rocks. Left a ton of gear and stuck ropes last night. One of our party broke his elbow three ribs and cracked a vertebrae. Good karma and cash to anyone who will recover our stuff. Will be in Vegas for the next few days. Please let me know if you recover the stuff. Thank you

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

Sorry to hear about the injuries and hope you get your gear back.

Can't help but to ask - what happened?

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330

Good job getting down safely and getting the job done. Sounds like you made some good decisions. Hope you get your gear back.

DesertRat · · Flagstaff, AZ · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 196

Wow, thanks for sharing. Hopefully your buddy will make a full and speedy recovery.

Frank Stein · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 205

Well done to get yourselves out safely.

Tyson Anderson · · SLC, UT · Joined May 2007 · Points: 126

Props for self-rescuing. Hope you get your gear back.

B-dog · · Denver, CO · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 30

Kudos to handling the situation! Hope you get your stuff back.

Creed Archibald · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,016

Nice work and thanks for reporting.

Mike Harris DFW · · DFW, Texas · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 650

Good news we recovered the ropes from pitch four. Thank you very much to Owen, Annie and Song. Just need the good people topping out today to help us out with six cams several slings, cords and biners on the upper pitches.

patto · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 25

Great! I don't hear enough good stories of self rescue. And I seem to hear too many of people calling for emergency services when they could simple hobble out with assistance.

That said sometimes staying put is warranted. If there is suspected spinal damage then that may be one of them... But personally I would choose self extraction if possible.

Tyson Anderson · · SLC, UT · Joined May 2007 · Points: 126

Mike that route isn't done all the way to the top all that often. The first four pitches see multiple ascents a day but It might be a little while before the upper pitches get done again.

Mike Harris DFW · · DFW, Texas · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 650

Got word from the folks who recovered our ropes that a party was headed to the top today so we will hope for the best.

Crotch Robbins · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2003 · Points: 277

Great job self-rescuing. I hope the injured climber makes a full recovery and you get all your gear back.

Royal · · Santa Rosa, CA · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 410

Congrats on rescuing yourself. No offense or anything but I find the idea that your injured party was experienced and the fact that he ripped gear somewhat mutually exclusive. I'm not trying to cast stones - I'm made plenty of stupid mistakes climbing. Still bad gear placements are one mistake that's nearly the worst to make. Could be the leader wasn't as experienced as he thought. Lucky for him he had friends to rescue him. Maybe I'm missing something? When gear rips, it's user error 99% of the time.

Sean G · · Indiana · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 575
Royal wrote:Maybe I'm missing something? When gear rips, it's user error 99% of the time.
99%....really? I'm not looking to argue or anything but some of the rock there is pretty soft...Its probably not that hard to rip good placements.

Great job getting yourselves out of a jam! Hopefully you get your gear back.
Colin Brochard · · San Diego, CA · Joined Apr 2008 · Points: 176

@Royal, you trolling dude? Either way, yer a dick and your comment isn't remotely useful or warranted. Even experienced climbers have pieces blow from time to time, especially in soft sandstone. For this particular fellow it unfortunately resulted in an injury from which his team was impressively able to self rescue off of a big formation.

Best of luck for a speedy recovery for the injured climber, and I hope you get your gear back!

FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276
Royal wrote:Congrats on rescuing yourself. No offense or anything but I find the idea that your injured party was experienced and the fact that he ripped gear somewhat mutually exclusive. I'm not trying to cast stones - I'm made plenty of stupid mistakes climbing. Still bad gear placements are one mistake that's nearly the worst to make. Could be the leader wasn't as experienced as he thought. Lucky for him he had friends to rescue him. Maybe I'm missing something? When gear rips, it's user error 99% of the time.
Good God. Even experienced climbers can have a piece pull out. It's less likely, but sometimes there are "marginal" placements, because that's the best you can get. Monday morning quarterbacks...
mediocre · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 0

Royal, if you're not trying to cast stones then shut the fuck up. Part of the way experience is gained is by dealing with the results of your actions. Go back to the gym.

Joe Forrester · · Palo Alto · Joined Aug 2005 · Points: 2,112

To the OP and climbers involved in this rescue, if you haven't already submitted this to Accidents in North American Mountaineering, please do! I am sure others could benefit from your story and experience. americanalpineclub.org/p/anam

Be safe out there,

Joe

Royal · · Santa Rosa, CA · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 410

Really, honestly, I wasn't trying to be a jerk. Apparently, I came off that way, I apologize. Simply trying to help the OP assess what happened. Carry on.

Greg Barnes · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 2,060
Royal wrote: I find the idea that your injured party was experienced and the fact that he ripped gear somewhat mutually exclusive. ….When gear rips, it's user error 99% of the time.
Wrong, try finding really experienced climbers who haven't ripped gear. Even perfect placements blow out in some rock types, which include some of the softer areas in Red Rocks. And plenty of marginal placements aren't always obviously marginal, the first time I blew a piece it was due to a small piece of rock breaking.

These guys did an amazing, awesome job of self-rescue in a day and age where people call for helicopters for being out of breath.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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