Idiotic climbing 'injury'

So there I am, cleaning my gear from the route I'm on. I'm working to get this size 8 or 9 hex out of its placement. This thing is in there good, its was hardly moving with my extensive tool tricks. Finally It looks like I'm making progress, I put my tool away and yank hard. I got it.... It came flying at my face at 100 miles per hour and hit me square in the forehead. I have a huge black and blue egg on my face and a cut. I'm such an ass. I can't believe I didn't see that coming. I feel like when you go to look at your watch and you spill your coffee all over yourself, smooooth.

Anyone want to make me feel better with stories of their idiot injuries?

Maybe the guy I met at the dog park yesterday will recount his nostril/cleaning tool 'incident'.

I can only offer a story of a friend who led a climb, yarded on his fist jam which blew out at face level, proceeded to smash his nose, and then took a 25 footer ass over tea kettle.

I've hit myself in the face with my own ice tool...while climbing on my buddies wood cabin in Maine...while drinking.

But that was a long time ago. :)

--Marc

Edit: And that's what you get for climbing with hexes, Dr Cindie! :)

I chipped my tooth once by hitting myself with a nuttool while cleaning...at least I got the gear out.

I watched a friend pulling hard on a horizontal roof while bouldering. The hold popped, and he smashed himself in the nose with it still in his hand. His nose was bleeding everywhere but my friend and I could not stop laughing. We are terrible friends.

Pretty much the same thing happened to me. Cut on forehead, lots of blood. Difference is I was leaing and testing a piece, had to finish the lead with blood pouring in to my eyes.

I broke my pinky while sword fighting with my ice axes.
That was about 3 years ago. It's still crooked. Adds character. . .like I need any more of that. :-)

About 5 years ago I had a newish mountain bike, and didn't have any real mountain biking experience but was invited to do a moonlight ride in the desert with experienced riders. I don't think I mentioned it to them that I didn't have much dirt riding experience.

Anyway, we rode along on the dirt trails through the beautiful desert, and I was trailing last. They rode down this steep hill making it look easy, one by one, then I followed. My bike picked up more speed than I was comfortable with so I put on my brakes about 2/3 of the way down the steep hill; my bike stopped unexpectedly in a deep sand patch, which made me fly over my handle bars into mid air, which landed me about 15 feet at the bottom of the hill after flying, and sliding in a text book prone position. My head just missed a big boulder on the trail.

The riders all ran back after one of the guys witnessed me flying off my bike. I was a little stunned, and scraped up but otherwise okay. My female friend said, "I saw your headlamp coming down the hill, then heard you laughing, and then your headlamp disappeared. I said, "Uh, I didn't laugh, maybe I screamed, it all happened so fast."

They told me to keep pedaling through sandy areas next time, and not to brake in it.

What the hell was I thinking?

I was dry tooling in my garage on the 2x4 joists. A few feet above the floor I jumped down and pulled my tools back, but one of them hooked up so I let go and it fell on my head, which I had fortunately covered with my arm, so the tool landed on my arm but I only needed 10 stitches.

i watched a guy headbutt the rock after making a bouldery dyno then fall off.

Well, since that guy I met probably doesn't partake in Mnt Proj, I shall explain his injury.

He too was trying to remove a stuck piece/nut/hex, with all of his might, when his cleaning tool slipped towards his face. It caught his nostril and removed it perfectly. Needless to say he had to have stitches to re-attach it to his face.

Yikes!

I was sporting a cut and bruised nose for a few days, and my friends and co-workers figured it was from climbing. The idiotic part was how I whacked it, not climbing, but while walking through the trees in Eldo to go take a leak. Duuuurrrr...

no injury, but way close call - a couple of weeks ago i was trying to set a nut and had picked one that was just a tad bit small and when i yanked on it to set it firm, it popped free and WHACK popped me on the crown of my helmet - good reason to wear a helmet!

I was approaching an ice climb in RMNP in deep snow and or course couldn't be bothered with cumbersome snowshoes. I post-holed right over a smallish spruce tree and guess where it stabbed me!!!!
Thank goodness for the 6 layers of clothing or I would have impaled something I like having intact!

MikeP wrote:good reason to wear a helmet!

and to use a bigger nut

"Impailed By a Pine" - close-call

Mine was similar to Gigette's.

My first mtn bike (a Cannondale), I didn't realize that I should have adjusted the front brakes to be a little soft.

I was cranking in top gear along a narrow bike path (my other mistake) when a dog jumped in front of me. I instinctively grabbed the brakes as hard as I could with predicatively expected results.

I nose dived into the pavement. I wasn't wearing a helmet (major mistake), but I don't know how I avoided a head injury. I walked home, having a lot of trouble breathing, and longingly looking at each house I slowly passed thinking about having an ambulance called.

I broke my collarbone in two places, damaged my ribs, and hurt my upper back. I only missed 4 hours of work though since I was heading home for lunch when it happened, and it was Friday.

Found a fixed pin in 1977 while rapping off some route in the Needles of S. Dakota. It had a shoulder length blue sling tied to it. I started yanking on it when it popped it knocked out one of my front teeth. I watched as it tumbled to the ground below then inhaled to get enough breath to start cursing. That of course led to cool September air hitting the exposed nerve. Ouch! The rest of the climbing day was not nearly as fun.

kirra wrote: and to use a bigger nut

Thank you Captain Obvious! LOL ;)