Weekend before last,I failed to tie my knot while toproping and took an 8 ft. fall, with a 20 ft. tumble that resulted with a broken heel,both ankles sprained,multiple bruises and abrasions,plenty sore.Luckily I wasn't higher on the route.I've been climbing 44 yrs. and SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER......See you on the rocks in about a month and a half. In the meantime TIE IN!!!TIE YOUR KNOT!!!CHECK EACH OTHER!!!!!
PEACE, Larry C. Schubarth

That reminded me of this song. Read a book!
Tie your knot! Tie your Knot! Tie your mother F**ing Knot!
Warning
Contains adult language.

This is an all too common scenario. I'm very glad to hear there wasn't a tragic ending to this. I'm curious, was this an 8 knot? and was this a matter of not tying in at all or not finishing the knot?

I'm gonna ad a couple other thinds.

STOPPER KNOT ON RAPPEL! STOPPER KNOT ON RAPPEL! STOPPER KNOT ON RAPPEL!

BUDDY CHECK! BUDDY CHECK! BUDDY CHECK!-edit you already covered this

^^^These have saved my hide

Hope you get better soon
Evan

a lot of climbers don't bother going through the "pre-climb ritual", and this greatly concerns me. most of the people i climb with on a regular basis do the "buddy check"--"i'm through both, figured-eighted, harness tight and doubled-back", "ok, looks good, my biner's locked and you're on belay"--but a surprising number of climbers i've met just tie in and jump on the rock with seldom more than a "you ready?" to their belayer.

i equate this to not fastening your seatbelt in the car. why would you ever not buckle your seatbelt? there is no good answer. similarly, there is no good reason to skip checking your knot with your buddy before you climb.

larry, thanks for posting this. i wish you a speedy recovery. forgive me for posting this picture though:

I always check my knot and harness buckle right before pulling the crux roof. I've already checked it before, but I can't help myself. I simply must look. I always laugh at myself when I do.

Larry, Thanks for the important reminder - I guess your partner didn't check you out..?

Sorry to hear of your accident and glad your still alive to share with us... take care, feel better soon :)

Hope you heal fast Larry. I just started climbing again after breaking my leg and finding something to do during the downtime is rough. Hopefully you can at least still work.

Sorry this happened to you Larry...as the old saying goes "sometimes you just have to learn the hard way." Luckily it didn't kill you so you're doing pretty good.

I look at the pre-climb rituals in the same way I look at getting ready to fly an airplane. If you fly an airplane you always perform a preflight check, listed in a check list. For example you would check to make sure the controls are free and work. That the airplane hasn't been visibly damaged in anyway i.e. car ripped of wing. And most importantly fuel in the tank. Pilots who don't stick to their check lists end up dead.

I pose this to all. Every time you go climbing think of your little check lists as life lines to keeping you safe in the sky. If you run out of fuel you will be crash landing. If you try to takeoff with a wing missing you will be crash taking off. Don't crash. No one likes crashes.

Someone "broke their back" in the gym a few weeks ago by tying into the wrong point on the harness(the weak webbing just under the tie in point on the leg loops, I think for keeping the rope from sliding side to side). I saw the fall, maybe 20 feet, not sure if he was all the way up though. Luckily it wasn't more serious.

I now religiously check knots and belay devices. I have always been adament about quadruple checking things when setting up TR and rappel.

This is not a game. It's not worth giving up months, years, or a lifetime of climbing for mistakes! But they do happen and when they do we should all pay attention to why and hopefully we can minimize future mistakes!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

In addition to visual checks, I like to do weighted tests.

Larry, thanks for the report. Accident reporting in climbing is an extremely important learning avenue.

To heal faster try this recipe:

COLLAGEN DRINK

1 scoop- Type I & III collagen powder (Neocell brand)
1 gram- vit c
1- bromelain capsule
pomegranate juice-(Old Orchard brand frozen concentrated w/blueberries)
dash-cayenne
12 ounces-water

mix together but don't over mix as this causes too much foaming

Take on an empty stomach first thing in the morning (or any other time when stomach is empty) Bromelain is an enzyme that comes from pineapples that is a very effective anti-inflammatory when taken on an empty stomach. Vitamin C is a cofactor of collagen. Cayenne is a catalyst and increases circulation. Pomagranate is a powerful anti-oxidant. Collagen is the 'building blocks' for injury repair, but only if taken on an empty stomach.

Heal fast!

i'm really sorry to hear about this accident. sounds awful but at least youre ALIVE. my climbing coach always makes sure i tie my knots right and im thankful now. but yes, at least you weren't up higher!

good luck healing, use plenty of arnica which is for bruising, sprains ect. hope you get back out there soon!

6 weeks for a broken heel might be a bit optomistic. Of course it really depends on how badly you broke it. I broke mine into 3 pieces on Feb. 10, had surgery on the 18th and spent 9 weeks non weight bearing after surgery. Once that was over the process of walking again went very slowly and painfully. 3-1/2 months after my accident I'm starting to top rope some, but still don't walk real well. Good luck with your recovery and glad to hear that you weren't too far up when the mistake was discovered.

I had a report of a climber in Rifle a while ago; maybe some can chime in better. Climber used a high strength bowline. As the route was climbed, the knot came out; frantically grabbed the nearest draw, the climber clipped in. It seems that though the knot was tied, it wasn't set. Others nearby picked her off the route, coulda been worse, though.

Double check your knot, but also don't forget to make sure it's dressed & set.

I knew a guy that worked at black diamond whose bowline came undone while on route and took a 40 footer to the deck. He was really lucky but was in bad shape for a while...he was quite adamant about not using bowlines for tying in.

Larry what were you doing with the Maule? Prospecting desert towers? That is a great plane...would CIGAR be consider pre-take off as opposed to the preflight walk around? Regardless sticking to a check list and using it religiously is key in staying alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YydkHy2P0dU
These guys forgot to take the control locks off before takeoff. Three super experienced pilots missed it three times.