Harness Based Injuries

Yesterday I took a 15 foot fall on lead, and my partner gave me the hardest catch I've ever experienced. It flipped me over, I hit my head, and did something to my lower back/pelvis. Today it's almost impossible to walk.

At no point did my back hit the wall, which makes me wonder if the injury was caused by the force of the harness catching the fall with almost no give in the rope?

Is this common? Have any of you ever experienced internal injuries caused by the force of a fall?

I ask because I'm trying to get as much info on what the injury might be before I head into the doctor this afternoon, so if you've got any personal experience here, lay it on me.

Thanks in advance. I'll publish a second post asking for ways to get away with murdering your partner in his sleep later.

Flipped you over? Were you backstepped (foot between rope and wall)? It's unusual that a 15 ft tall would cause so much damage...does your belayer significantly outweigh you? What kind of rope were you using?

All of these questions would need to be addressed before any responsible climber would help you get away with murder. ;)

It's not your belayer's fault.

Definitely not the belayers fault, he.caught your fall, soft or not, you didn't shatter your legs and pelvis. Now as for the back pain, that most likely occurred when you went ass-over-tea-kettle, probably just pinched nerves from the sudden directional change. At least yet not dead.

Saying that it's not your belayer's fault that he/she gave you a hard (bad) catch because you're not dead is a little short-sighted. That would be like saying that you're a good employee because you showed up for work despite doing a poor job. Obviously the primary role of a belayer is to keep the leader from hitting the ground, but someone who's remotely skilled at belaying should know how their weight relative to the partners weight will influence the type of catch they should give in different types of terrain. I've definitely had really hard catches/bad belayers that hurt enough that I was scared of going back up and trying again for fear of getting the same painful catch. (FWIW, it's probably you're fault that you flipped upside down, but is really hard to say without a lot more details)

Sorry! Details...

I was about 7 feet over the last clip.

My partner had a lot of rope out - maybe an additional 5 feet. Not sure why, that's just what he told me once I got back to the ground.

He didn't move when I fell - he's really novice and he just dropped his ass and dug in instead of jumping into it.

It was slightly overhanging, but I still hit the wall with my back and my head. The impact was pretty minor. I don't think that's what hurt me.

We both weigh exactly the same amount. We're literally identical in weight.

I've taken a ton of falls in the past - I've been sport climbing for about 6 years, and I've never flipped over backwards. Not saying it wasn't my fault, but it was definitely a first. My leg wasn't behind the rope.

Anyways, didn't mean to distract anyone with blame - I accept all risks as my own. What I really want to know is does anyone have any sense of the types of injuries that can be incurred with a hard fall in which your harness takes most of the force? Again, just looking for any info I can take to the doctor's office this afternoon.

copymatt wrote:He didn't move when I fell - he's really novice and he just dropped his ass and dug in instead of jumping into it.

That's it right there. Your belayer needs to learn not to do that. It's appropriate for falling on the first clip if it's low enough for the leader to risk decking, but certainly not higher up and on overhang which gave you that result.

Assuming you still like climbing with your belayer, go do practice falls in the gym on lead and get him well practiced for how to respond to the different scenarios of falling at the first clip versus the second and up. During these practice sessions, I recommend you regularly look down during the climbing to see what you belayer is doing. You might be surprised, horrified, or hopefully happy with what you see in terms of slack out and belay technique, but at least you can then address it and correct it.

You probably pinched a nerve in your lower back (if it's severe enough it could make it very hard to move around without pain) or you might have pulled/torn a muscle in/near your groin in the fall. Regardless, it'd be a good idea to get it checked out by a doc to make sure it's nothing more serious. Good luck!

Your original post says you did not hit the wall with your back, then you go on to say that you hit the wall with your back and head. Whether this happened or not may point to the cause for all this pain. Either way, it sounds like an ugly, awkward fall. Could possibly be some strained core muscles in there, and whoever said pinched nerve is onto something as well.

Ted Pinson wrote:Were you backstepped (foot between rope and wall)?

OT but backstepping is a technique. Having the rope behind your leg is... having the rope behind your leg.

I feel sorry for you man, did you check yourself out below the harness? I knew a guy who lost one to a harness once - he packed his chute for a BASE jump, and forgot, then jumped out of a plane. Yeouch!

Same symptoms, lower back pain...

After that accident...

He couldn't walk in the woods without walking in circles and getting lost.
He couldn't go under-water, or else he'd get dizzy.
He was always late, partially from the loss of sense of direction, but he also because he lost his concept of time.
Worst of all, he couldn't talk to pretty girls without sitting down first.

Hope you feel better soon, I can only imagine the pain you are going through after your loss.

I have seen the flip over backwards before with a different climber (I was not belaying).

It was one of the oddest falls I had seen, and nothing made sense about it. Chalked it up to weird center of mass thing.

So for the naysayers, it is possible without steeping behind the rope. How is a bit of a mystery.

It's definitely possible to have the impact force from a fall cause an injury via a harness. Like someone else mentioned w/ seat belts in auto accidents.

Probably one of the biggest falls I've taken climbing tweaked my belayers back and left bruises from the waist belt portion of the harness.

If your upper body was coming out from the wall and you were anywhere near horizontal when the rope came tight then you'd be set up for a hyperextension injury. Similar to getting scorpioned from a bike or snowboard crash.

If you've got the resources it would be worth seeing a Physiotherapist (pick your favorite variety) to sort you out and get you back up to speed sooner.

Max Tepfer wrote:Saying that it's not your belayer's fault that he/she gave you a hard (bad) catch because you're not dead is a little short-sighted. That would be like saying that you're a good employee because you showed up for work despite doing a poor job. Obviously the primary role of a belayer is to keep the leader from hitting the ground, but someone who's remotely skilled at belaying should know how their weight relative to the partners weight will influence the type of catch they should give in different types of terrain. I've definitely had really hard catches/bad belayers that hurt enough that I was scared of going back up and trying again for fear of getting the same painful catch. (FWIW, it's probably you're fault that you flipped upside down, but is really hard to say without a lot more details)

Don't be thick dude, the OP said that he knew his belayer was inexperienced so you're pretty much taking what you can get, which isn't the safest option in the first place when it comes to catching a fall that will save your life. Plus the belayer was not a close personal friend according the OP and no real obligation to give a world class catch. Not like he's getting paid to save lives.