First time witnessing accident. A change in perspective.

Locker wrote: I also got DROPPED approx 25 feet (Many years back) in a gym... Only it was done INTENTIONALLY, by my third wife...

damn dude, did she at least give you a dirty look or the finger first? Were you working your "proj" for too long and constantly yelling at her to TAKE IT TIGHTER?

Locker wrote:... LESSON LEARNED: Never climb with a pissed off Woman!!!... LOL!!!...

that's good advice

Doug Hemken wrote:Setting aside the "it could never happen to me" attitude is the first step on the road to real knowledge, and even a little wisdom.

You can say that again. Unfortunately the majority of top-level climbers feel otherwise. I see hardcore guys climb like they are too smart to fuck up all the time. It is either that or often they are too lazy or uncaring to do things the right way.

SMR wrote:Momentum doesn't allow bowlines, so most climbers abide by the Momentum rule.

That does not mean much. I always use the bowline, regardless of the gym's rules. I used the bowline at Momentum when I climbed there. I dont like being told what to do by a kid who barely even knows how to tie a figure eight. The last time I was in Momentum they almost told me I couldent climb in my harness because my harness was a Yates big wall harness and therefore was unsafe for gym climbing because it was not "designed" for gym climbing. I sprayed the kid down with a bit of my climbing resume and then followed up with a statement about how the harness is CE and UIAA certified and how I know three employees that work at the gym. Then he let me be. Gym employees are something else...

Locker wrote:"I got dropped about 25 feet at a gym and landed on my friends head" I also got DROPPED approx 25 feet (Many years back) in a gym... Only it was done INTENTIONALLY, by my third wife... I didn't land on anyones head... I fuking flat out decked... Thank goodness for the type floor padding that gym used because other than being super fuking SHOCKED that she did that to me, I was uninjured (I did have one bad fuking bruise the next day and walked odd for about a week)... I not only blew up on her, the Manager chewed her out and then banned her permanantly from the gym... The marriage was over only a few months after... But it actually ended, way before she dropped me... LESSON LEARNED: Never climb with a pissed off Woman!!!... LOL!!!...

Interesting. That could be seen as attempted murder in the eyes of the law. It is best not to fuck around with safety. One moment you could be laughing and the next, in prison doing 25 to life. The law does not mess around with that type of stuff. I saw a girl go to prison for "usage of a firearm in the commission of a felony" for shooting a guy that was trying to rape her. It is interesting how things can play out sometimes.

Healyje wrote:Both speed and gravity kill and maim and do so at the first hint of opportunity - the idea that driving or climbing are 'safe' is a convenient social delusion and one which comes at a collective annual price and toll.

If you drive 15 miles from central Tucson to La Milagrosa Canyon this weekend, put in 10 laps of sport climbing, and drive back home, your risk of dying is about:

From climbing: 0.003%
From driving: 0.030%

This is based on disparate sources and crude data, but you get the idea. Buckle your safety belts and check your knots! Of course, an active lifestyle probably reduces the risk of things like heart disease and depression.

driving fatality risk
climbing fatality risk

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Where I live now I don't drive, but I was in San Diego for Christmas and zipping around the freeways in my mom's car. It was terrifying, at least somewhere deep down in my gut. Not totally unlike the feeling of lead climbing after a long hiatus. But we're generally good at compartmentalizing those feelings and getting on with it.

Those are great odds unless you're the one dying.

It was an unfortunate accident on a very busy day; on New Years...nonetheless, I wish him all the best in recovery. Accidents happen and it's unfortunate but true, and there's no data like real world real time data, no amount of lab tests can account for a drugs side effects but stick it in a person's body and you'll get results instantly...this same concept applies to climbing.

And please give the climbing gym a break when saying "they wouldn't let me tie in this way so I gave them a hard time" I see this all too much. The climbing gym has an ass to cover and with the way things work these days it's a big ass so when some teenie sport climber tells you can’t tie in one way remember someone told him to tell you that, and so on and somewhere along the line someone tried to squeeze a penny from one of these persons and so they had to abide by a set of principles that may not be what we’re accustomed too.

Healyje wrote:Those are great odds unless you're the one dying.

Actually when I posted I was thinking those odds are pretty bad. The odds of dying in a car accident are 1 per 100,000 miles. Raise your hand if you've driven at least 100,000 miles.

The world is a dangerous place. But we're programmed to accept those dangers and essentially ignore them. It's probably healthy to get an occasional wake-up call (as the OP did) to keep us vigilant about those dangers we can control. But it's also good to keep relative risks among different activities in perspective.

JaredG wrote: The odds of dying in a car accident are 1 per 100,000 miles.

That stat is off by several orders of magnitude. 1 per 100 million miles driven. That includes motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians.

www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main…