Mountain Project Logo

Deep Water Solo Thread!

Original Post
pataug16 · · chattanooga, TN · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 30

Bored and just want to see what people think. Hit it up say something good, bad, or jokes. Not looking for anything specific and just want some good forum going on.

Febs · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 5

I tried it in Croatia after seeing a picture here on the forum.
This: mountainproject.com/v/stoja…

Unfortunately the weather sucked so we only stayed two days. I liked it very much, but I always kept it safe. I never climbed more than 8 meters and I checked that the cave was overhanging even underwater - that is, that I could fall without crashing on the bottom of the sea.

I still am afraid to fall overall so I didn't dare too much, but I am scared of falls even when sport climbing (that's my biggest limitation ever). The paradox is, that I jumped from higher and I was fine with it. Falling, no. God knows why.

Anyhow, it was beautiful and I want to do it again.

John Farrell · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 85

I have a nice scar on my right ankle from two surgeries, a plate, and 8 screws in the ankle reminding me never to do it again. On the flip side, working on designing a tattoo of a climber "climbing" the scar.

John Byrnes · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 392
John Farrell wrote:I have a nice scar on my right ankle from two surgeries, a plate, and 8 screws in the ankle reminding me never to do it again. On the flip side, working on designing a tattoo of a climber "climbing" the scar.
Is the climber jamming, laybacking or pinching?

And was the water not deep enough, or what?
R. Moran · · Moab , UT · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 140
Joe M · · MA and NH · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 11,725

Lost River in New Hampshire:

newenglandbouldering.com/ne…

mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

Laurel river in kentucky. The place has loads of rock and I've never seen a person climbing it besides myself.

mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

Laurel river in kentucky. The place has loads of rock and I've never seen a person climbing it besides myself.

Febs · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 5
John Byrnes wrote: Is the climber jamming, laybacking or pinching? And was the water not deep enough, or what?
Yeah, what?

I'm curious because - as with "normal" climbing, learning from other people's accidents can help to prevent more.
Why did you get injured, what went wrong?
Thanks!
Sean Foster · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 2,145
John Farrell · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Jan 2009 · Points: 85
John Byrnes wrote: Is the climber jamming, laybacking or pinching? And was the water not deep enough, or what?
Haven't decided yet... It will probably be a silhouette of a climber. *shrug*

My best man at my wedding said that I pioneered the short lived sport of shallow water soloing.

When checking the area, we missed a small rock, it was about the size of an end table. I was climbing in our "safe zone" and just found it the hard way. 12" to my left, forward, or backwards and I would have missed it. 12" to my right, could have been both ankles I guess. Beer probably didn't help the situation.

It's actually a funny story now. I jumped in and hit the rock, felt the crunch in the ankle. I stayed under water a bit in denial knowing the ankle was busted and hoping it wasn't a compound fracture. I popped up with this huge cloud of mud around me and calmly said my ankle is broken. My then friend, who turned into my girlfriend (from this trip), now wife, dove in the water to rescue me. She swam over as I was standing on this rock with my other foot. I swam back to the boat, climbed in and then looked at my ankle. The foot was at an odd angle and obviously out of place by an inch and half. I was just staring at it in denial for a bit when another friend put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Maybe it's just sprained?" No one there knew how to splint a fracture so I had to splint my own ankle.

The motor of the boat wouldn't start up so we had to row the boat out a few miles. We finally got back to the dock and they pulled the car around and loaded the boat up on the trailer. I didn't want to risk moving around because I could feel the bones clicking and moving in my ankle. I just rode in the boat all the way to the emergency room. All the medical staff at the emergency room came out to see their first patient ever arriving by boat.
It turned out that a thunder storm earlier in the day had struck the hospital and their entire computer network was out. This included the X-Ray machine. A portable X-Ray machine was located and they imaged my ankle. The X-Ray wasn't the best quality and they thought my tibia and calcaneus were fractured. It was obvious that my fibula was in three pieces. If anyone knows about calcaneus fractures, they are no bueno, very long rehab time. They gave me a good shot of morphine and set the ankle. Nothing like being high and feeling your bones grinding around in ankle. I did get praised for the field splint on my ankle, cheers to paying attention in the First Aid classes!

It took 4 days, and I finally got in to see a foot surgeon. I had indeed broken my fibula in two places, my calcaneus and tibia were fine. My deltoid ligament was trashed though. They fixed up fibula with a plate and screw and decided to see if the deltoid would heal up on its own.

I was not able to climb for almost a full year, mainly due to the deltoid. Then slowly over the course of months I kept loosing mobility in the ankle, it started swelling, and would ache really bad. This was mainly after running and backpacking. All fun and games until it started doing that after climbing, which sent me back to the surgeon. They scoped my ankle and found the joint capsule was filled with scar tissue. That was removed along with the plate and screws.

I am now climbing and trail running the best ever in my life. It's probably more due to dropping 35 pounds since the last surgery. :) I have got an awesome and amazing wife, so life is good!
Joe M · · MA and NH · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 11,725

Glad to hear the happy ending on this. Be safe!

Doug Meneke · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 10
Joe M · · MA and NH · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 11,725

Umm, not sure what is going on that pic???

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
Post a Reply to "Deep Water Solo Thread!"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.