Accident in Eldorado

9news.com/news/local/climbe…

Damn. Hope he's okay...

Hella lucky to survive a 70-footer.

Scary as hell and although he did get injured I think the outcome was fantastic considering he fell that far. Hope he heals fast.

He was in the vicinity of Redguard Route.

We were heading up the boulders to climb on the back of Whale's Tail when we heard what sounded like a bag of bricks hit the ground.

When we got up to him, he was in rough shape -- though as the 9news article mentioned, he was fully responsive by the time RMR got him packaged to take him down the hill.

His partner stated that two or three pieces of gear likely popped (tension, slack, tension).

We got a cell number for his partner, will try to get him to post an update after things settle down.

Was at West Ridge today and had no idea this happened so close by!

RMR was busy today. They also had a callout on Mt. Sanitas for a lower leg injury around 11am. I counted at least 5 vehicles heading up the dirt road under the E face with 10-12 personnel.

If any RMR members are reading this, thanks for all that you do!

Hope for a speedy recovery, I was on west ridge as well and had no idea as well.

Anyone else experience the Jackazz who tried to bring in a giant camper into the park and then took 30 min to turn it around while 16+ cars were backed up trying to get out?

I was at the base of genesis and watched the whole fall. Seemed like 2-3 pieces blew. I estimated the fall at 70- 100 ft. It was horrific to see. My partner and I got to him within 30 seconds and 911 was called within 2 minutes of the fall. J P and his partner arrived very quickly as well and were instrumental in keeping him calm and stable until RMR arrived. My partner, Laura, did an incredible job of helping him to stay calm and assessing his condition.
The search and rescue guys are real good and real fast here, amazing how fast they got the liter down the boulders and into the ambulance. Big props and Thanks to them .
I hope for Jamie the best recovery possible.

I was belaying around the corner and heard some strange sounds, but didn't hear anyone call for help or see anyone racing to the scene, so I just kept on belaying. But I've heard those sounds a few times before...

Folks, if you are just starting to trad climb, put in lots of gear and remember that until you are really proficient at placing gear and assessing gear placements, the leader must never fall!

Jfriday1 wrote:Hope for a speedy recovery, I was on west ridge as well and had no idea as well. Anyone else experience the Jackazz who tried to bring in a giant camper into the park and then took 30 min to turn it around while 16+ cars were backed up trying to get out?

Someone took a bad fall, is probably seriously injured and lucky to be alive & you want to use this forum to whine about a minor traffic jam?

Jfriday1, was this traffic jamb in some way related to the accident in this post?

Any more information on this accident? Apparently it happened at Anthill Direct. Was is on the 1st pitch of AD, or was he on Touch n Go (or some other route?)? Was the gear properly placed or was it extremely bad luck that several pieces failed? I haven't climbed it yet so I wonder what is the nature of the placement opportunties. And how is the fellow recovering?

William Thiry wrote:Any more information on this accident? Apparently it happened at Anthill Direct. Was is on the 1st pitch of AD, or was he on Touch n Go (or some other route?)? Was the gear properly placed or was it extremely bad luck that several pieces failed? I haven't climbed it yet so I wonder what is the nature of the placement opportunties. And how is the fellow recovering?

He was definitely climber's right from Touch and Go. Jeff may have more information about the route he was on/near -- it's not a part of Redgarden that I'm super familiar with.

We got a text from his climbing partner this morning that said:

"He woke up for a bit and remembered placing pieces pretty far apart and they weren't very solid."

No word if the pieces popped, rock broke out or both. As far as I know, he's out of the worst of it, though still at the hospital.

J P wrote: We got a text from his climbing partner this morning that said: "He woke up for a bit

Wow J P! Great to hear that he woke up a little and could remember some details. I still cannot see how someone could survive that fall. That's one tough guy. I'm thinking about him a lot today and I just hope things come out well.

He started up P1 of Anthill direct but instead of traversing left along the red strata he went straight up over the roof onto "The SideTrack with Direct Start" or "Original Free Variation" of Sidetrack. (routes 72 and 72a in the Levin guidebook)
He pulled two pieces a red and a yellow X4. The yellow was exploded and the trigger wires broken and looked to have been placed horizontally. The red didn't seem too damaged.
His last piece that held was the bolt on pitch one of Anthill. It is unsure if this piece slowed him down slightly. It seems like it must have as he is alive to tell the story. There was a slight bit of tension on the rope when me and Laura got to him, but again, I'm not sure if it slowed his fall or not. He was a long way above that bolt when he came off.

I work at the state park and got to examine the equiptment/climb and talk to witnesses. Climber was off route and went straight up at bolt-two small cams pulled, the #1 with apparent ease, and the #2 with complete destruction of the unit--it was placed horizontal to forces, was very bent and mangled--but saved his life in it's failure--the rope was still through the QD at the bolt, and must have played a part in his second deceleration--his third deceleration was the ground. Total fall appeared to exceed 80'. One carabiner was deformed--compression bent, not expansion bent--it must have been pressed onto the rock with amazing force before the cam blew out. Climber should have placed more and better gear--don't ever trust cams between you and the ground. Because the rope was intact to the bolt, one has to wonder why he fell so far.

Dan Mannix

Thanks for the information from this accident and best wishes to the injured climber for a speedy recovery!

We appreciated seeing the exploded .2 X4 going into the park yesterday and the words of caution provided at the gatehouse. That said, the pieces that failed are micro cams. These pieces have a very small range for proper placement, and need to be placed with precision to be secure. I don't take this accident as an indictment against all cams (although bomber nuts are great!), but more as a reaffirmation that with small cams, perfect placements are a must, and its good to place several.

I don't have x4s, are the .2 considered aid pieces?

Rick Blair wrote:I don't have x4s, are the .2 considered aid pieces?

No, they're rated to 6 kN while the larger x4s are either 8 or 9 kN. So not quite full-strength but not the 2 kN aid rating either. They're a teensy bit smaller than a blue Mastercam. I've seen a .2 x4 umbrella out in a fall, but I've also been caught by one just fine.

Rick Blair wrote:I don't have x4s, are the .2 considered aid pieces?

From BD's site, they are rated to 6kN. Sounds like it wasn't placed in the direction of fall, so that could contribute to it failing below rated load.

So glad he survived and is recovering in the hospital now.

I've always wondered about horizontal crack placements.

I wasn't there and have read the reports above. Just reminds me of the book I picked up recently.

John Long in his Climbing Anchors 3rd edition book mentions horizontal placements and the oblique forces placed on cams.

In his Preface he mentions then explicitly under Anchor Failure. "Anecdotal reports strongly suggest that catastrophic anchor failure most often occurs when the individual pieces in a elay anchor were all placed in horizontal cracks..."

"...special vigilance must be paid to those anchors set in shallow horizontal cracks..."