Ever since my fall I have been reliving the events of that day, but I have also been psychoanalyzing why I fell. I can still vividly see the fall. I have also pondered, for weeks now, whether or not I should post my "accident". You see, for me the only justification for bringing this to light is the hope that someone - anyone - could benefit from my predicament and, hopefully, learn from it do reduce the possibility of a similar accident happening to them.

I was climbing in Cochise with a good friend the other week. Things were pretty much typical except, maybe, for the fact that I was running on little sleep and that I was in a negative mood. I tied in as usual and made my typical pre-climb assessments. I was confident enough, the grade was well within my ability; I was "up" for the climb. But, something was wrong. Something must have been wrong because I fell. Upon reflection I can clearly see that I was too relaxed. I was too mellow for the seriousness of the climb and, perhaps more specifically, the seriousness of the landing.

I led up maybe 15 feet feeling comfortable. I had not placed any gear. At one point I do remember looking at a placement, but decided not to put anything in because I was thinking I had to save the gear to finish the pitch. At one moment I stopped. At that moment I recall thinking, hey, I have no secure hand holds and poor foot placements. I then recall thinking that I should put in a piece. But, in the split seconds that followed my right foot skated and the next thing I realized was that something was wrong; I was falling. I somehow turned myself around, sliding down the face with my palms on the very steep (near vertical) slab, my feet leading. In the next instant I was on the ground and my left foot was jammed into a crevice. The sole of my foot was up, my heal was extended down (I hyper extended my ankle; dorsiflection), my predicament only then coming to realization.

I have only one question for myself. That is, why had I stopped in (or perhaps more correctly, moved into) a place with no hand holds and only marginal foot placements? Especially given that I had no gear in. This question haunts me a bit, because it makes no sense to me. Being comfortable on a route is not new to me, although I think that I may have been a bit too relaxed in this case. I can usually mange to increase my excitation level to a point consistent with my assessed level of the risk of the climb. Perhaps, in this case, I failed to do that.

I have a slight brake in my Talus, and the doc said that I will heal with little to no long-term problems. But, I want to learn from this experience and, yet, I am not yet quite sure what it is that I need to learn.

As a side note, I have witnesses multiple falls from climbers. In one case a friend zipped three pieces and landed at my feet, on his back, on top of the rope bag. To me the fall happened nearly instantaneously; it was over (I thought) in a split second. Yet, for my fall, I can see all the events happening; I see myself sliding down, conscious of the fact that my palms were pressing against the rock, my feet in front of me, my knees slightly bent, and then the landing. I would surmise that it took less than 1 second, but I visualize it as a sequence of clear events with time to ponder and think about the event.

David, I think the lesson to be learned is, "never be too proud to place (protection)." We've probably all done it - ran out a section on which we felt very comfortable. Recently I was on a climb that was real easy for me, setting pro sparsely. I remember a specific spot where I stopped to set a cam. My position was wholly dependent on my left foot and I kept losing purchase. After a third desperate attempt to set my foot, I managed to set the cam and move on. But it certainly could have ended much worse, although not a groundfall.

There is something exciting about running a climb but brings to mind something that a friend told me Michael Reardon said in a lecture: "if you're doing it for the thrill you're doing it for the wrong reason." - or something to that effect.

I wish for you a speedy recovery. I did the same thing to my foot a couple years ago that resulted in a fractured tibia; sucks to be out of climbing for that long. And although the circumstances where quite different, what echo's for me in your story is the part about being too relaxed.

Hi David, I wish you a speady recovery. It sounds to me like the lesson to be gained is mental preparation. You were distracted and in a bad mood, and I would guess that you moved off route because you were not focused on the climb. We all double check our harnesses and knots and locking biners but I think we also need to check in with our minds before leading out. The only serious fall I have taken was when I was not paying attention and got myself off route. I would recommend leading something again as soon as you can and avoid biulding this accident up too much in your mind on the down time. Best of luck!

Sorry to hear of your injury. Hopefully you'll be "back on your feet" in no time enjoying the spring season.

On the bright side, you can still belay right?

Take it easy,

Susan

Hi David, where in Cochise were you?

I often wonder what it would be like to get out of there injured.

I was on a route recently that helped me realize the importance of focus. I didn't deck and my only injuries were minor scrapes. The route was well within my limits, I had plenty of pro below, and I had climbed through the crux. I got to a big hold/ledge and relaxed as I knew the route was basically over. I went to mantle the ledge and pop - my hand slipped. I couldn't believe it came off a 6 inch horizontal ledge. Luckily, my pro held and I was fine, but it made me realize how important it is to remain focused throughout the climb.

Like I said, I had pro in and it held so I escaped without injury. Falling off a 5.6 or easier move made me realize that falls are sometimes unexpected.

Good luck with your recovery.

Thanks, everyone, for the sentiments. Four more weeks...!

Shawn, I was on BeeLine. My partner took my pack, and I used a large limb to support my weight for the limp out. And, I had pain meds to make the hop.