Fell 20' on top rope

Anonymous wrote:

And here I thought your mid-life crisis was from "career dead-ends and bad relationships." ;-)

OK Nate, you sound like my kind of smartass.  We should climb sometime, just don't drop me on a ledge. :). (Edit: for the record,  I severely sprained my ankle playing basketball with guys half my age,  and turned it while making the winning shot. Take THAT mid-life crisis!)

John Conzone wrote:

But I will say that Woody Allen never bad mouthed a climbing partner behind her back on the internet. 

Now admittedly that's probably because he's afraid of heights. I seem to recall reading that getting that scene for Sleeper was a trial for everyone involved. 

John Conzone wrote:

Tyler look me up at Inner Peaks thats where I climb(ed) at least twice a week. You'll recognize me look like the mafia hit guy who lifts weights around 50 yrs old (Im actually 60). Well now I'll have cast and crutches so will stick out like sore thumb. I'll be in in a few weeks. I'm gonna make sure she see's me sitting there with my cast! Right now I'm waiting on swelling to go down before they can cast it. She will shit her tights when she she's me, afraid people will ask what happened, her queen of climbing rep tarnished.

Seems like he's looking for a new partner. Can we set him up with Old Lady H?  

There's some rather disturbing attitudes towards women in this thread. Let's remember that we participate in a sport where a woman came in and nabbed the most coveted first free ascent in the world on her second try after muscle-bound hardmen had tried and failed for decades. 

Back to the original topic: I've fallen on the first move several pitches up with a full 70 meters of 9.5 rope above me, I weigh 195 pounds, and I was carrying a pack. I still barely got 20 feet of stretch. I've also fallen on TR with a belayer who weighs 90 lbs less than me, and they don't leave the ground. There was definitely some excess slack in the system.  

Yes I get the women thing also and that is not my intent. If I wanted to bad mouth her behind her back Mark I would have answered the guy who asked her name. I would never do that in public. lt's not about men, women, Woody Allen or anything other than someone acknowledging they made a mistake. People who don't are dangerous. They think they are so good they never make mistakes. Lots of them around too.

I made a mistake climbing that 10 feet to reach the first clip. That was stupid of me. I have made many mistakes in my life but I always acknowledge them, don't hide from it, and learn from them.

Whether it was 15, 10, or 6 feet it was too much. When I belay someone TR  they don't drop an inch. When lead belaying I try to pop in and up and arc them out as quick as possible. But that's just me. I take it serious. I protect my partner their life is in my hands. Say what you want about that but no one is gonna fall when I'm belaying if I can help it. My eyes never come off the climber. Call me over serious or whatever but that's how I am and how I expect my partner to be. 

I had wrong partner is all.  ]Not all her fault I'm sure I could have called for her to tighten up if I had noticed. Just with me the only thing I hear from my climber is lighten up I'm gonna be singing soprano soon or slack if its a woman! But better that than a busted leg.

Night all.....and the best climbers I have seen all have been women, my ex partner included. She climbed like nobody's business. But she also thought she knew it all. That is dangerous.

Blue Water 9.7  mm rope has 32.2% dynamic stretch, ~9% static. So if the route is 80 feet (from this site) and you were 3/4 up it then you had about 100 feet of rope available to stretch. If there was a little slack and your 220 lbs hit it then 15 feet of stretch wouldn't be too surprising if there wasn't any rope drag. That sucks. I slipped and fell once with a new belayer; broke four ribs but I was on lead. You  learn things when shit like this happens; hopefully it's the right things.

Well, the only advice I can give the OP is if you're on pain meds right now, stop posting until you sober up. 

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure this was directed at me 

Not at you. Earlier comments about the belayer's appearance, which has nothing to do with the topic.

John Conzone wrote:

When I belay someone TR  they don't drop an inch. 

That's because you're hauling folks up routes= no fun at all. If slack built in the system that's your fault. This has been pointed out to you multiple times, but you insist on blaming your belayer without any plausible explanation of what actually happened. Yer gunna die

Bill Czajkowski wrote:

Blue Water 9.7  mm rope has 32.2% dynamic stretch, ~9% static. So if the route is 80 feet (from this site) and you were 3/4 up it then you had about 100 feet of rope available to stretch. If there was a little slack and your 220 lbs hit it then 15 feet of stretch wouldn't be too surprising if there wasn't any rope drag. That sucks. I slipped and fell once with a new belayer; broke four ribs but I was on lead. You  learn things when shit like this happens; hopefully it's the right things.

Wow.  I would have never thought of that.

• Such a good thread. 
• Good climbers aren't always good belayers. 
• Math is super hard. 
• Pretty people should get a free ride in life. 
• New phrase of the day: toprope whipper. 
• How many times do partners need to be reminded to they should be belaying? 3 average. 
• How far should I climb without slack being taken (and maybe screaming at belayer)?Less than 10 feet. 

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not sure this was directed at me (it came right after my joke) but, either way, I'd like to clarify a bit:

It was about a belayer using a new-to-them device and the risk of the lead decking the ground due to the belayer lacking experience with said device (the Alpine Up in this case.) And this leading to the OP breaking their other tibia etc.

Admittedly, it was a joke with too much wit i.e. after rereading it, I realize I'm probably the only one who got it, therefore, not a very good joke after all.

I can't speak for Matt but, my intention included zero "attitude toward women." OLH happened to be the person who the butt of the joke fell upon. She happens to be a woman. I felt such a joke was one she could handle. What little I know of her and based on what I've seen of her attitude, I bet she was fine with Matt's joke too. She can speak for herself, however, if that's not the case.

And if she doesn't want to be the butt of what one might think as an innocent joke, I'm sure she'll let me know. I'll apologize if her feelings were hurt but, again, I'm thinking she's going to get a good old' kick out of this. OLH, feel free to PM if otherwise.

/back to topic

Said device just arrived today.

Yes, she is greatly looking forward to using it, so you were fine.

If you stopped there. :-)

But,  since we drug my incompetence into this...

I'm on the side of those who have experience, like Lena, Greg and others, who have repeatedly pointed out that the OP's belayer may not have done as badly as this guy likes to think. Geez. The math isn't exactly difficult.

OP is also a bit obtuse regarding the weight difference. Just my opinion, I have nooooo experience with this.

OP, sorry you got hurt. You'll get hurt again, or someone else will, if you aren't willing to learn. Do consider buying an ohm. I think there actually is a way to rig it for top rope. 

I do give you credit for posting! That, takes balls, with the MP crowd. Some got em, some don't.

I do wish you well, and a speedy recovery.

If you want a new partner, hit up whichever idiot(s) suggested OLH for a date. :-)

Best, H., Who is crabby from being drug through the mud on another thread. And not climbing outside since 5/6. 

Old lady H wrote:

Said device just arrived today.

Yes, she is greatly looking forward to using it, so you were fine.

If you stopped there. :-)

But,  since we drug my incompetence into this... 

If you want a new partner, hit up whichever idiot(s) suggested OLH for a date. :-)

Hey wait a minute, I'm not running match.com/mountainproject. That would be even more of a train wreck than the forums.

I'd take a belay from you any day H, I didn't mean to insinuate incompetentence. I just noticed we were 6 pages into a moderately derailed belaying thread that was severely lacking some funny page long OLH soliloquy. 

Your belayer could have prevented this by kneeling...

John Conzone wrote:

"Been climbing 12 years" is not a useful measure of experience. Someone could TR in a gym twice a year and describe themselves this way. If you've managed to learn essential skills like anchor building in 5 months that she hasn't mastered after 12 years, that says she is either unable or unwilling to learn it. But if you then decide this glaring red flag is "not an issue" for you, because she "climbs like a monkey", then it is your own judgment that I question. You shouldn't have to remind your "very experienced" partner how to belay you on a toprope belay. "She doesn't take me seriously cause she usually climbs with much stronger climbers" is an insane rationalization for giving a poor belay. Noobs and pros alike are subject to the same gravity, and the ground is just as hard under a 5.6 or a 5.12. She either always belays poorly, or thinks it's ok to belay poorly if you're not an impressive climber. Both are unacceptable in a climbing partner. 

As to the accident, decelerating through rope stretch feels very different than free falling. If it was the latter, there's no excuse for falling 20 ft before being caught on toprope - this was a bad belay. If the former, then you shouldn't have hit very hard but it's just bad luck that you still impacted the rock in such a way to cause a fracture. 

In the future, prioritize demonstrated skills (like anchor building and attentive belaying) and good attitudes (like being willing to learn and accept feedback) over how hard someone climbs or which clique they hang with in the gym. If you ever find yourself again halfway up a climb with no confidence in your belayer, throw your own belay device on the brake strand, lower yourself to the ground safely, and call it a day. 

Matt Stroebel wrote:

Hey wait a minute, I'm not running match.com/mountainproject. That would be even more of a train wreck than the forums.

I'd take a belay from you any day H, I didn't mean to insinuate incompetentence. I just noticed we were 6 pages into a moderately derailed belaying thread that was severely lacking some funny page long OLH soliloquy. 

At least my not yet caffeenaded incompertent nooberness can spell incompetent.

Or did you just coin a new term for a bad belayer who is repentant??

Best, OLH

Jake Jones wrote:

An OHM won't help on a top rope.

An OHM would absolutely help on toprope-- if you can have an OHM on the first bolt, on the belayer's side of the rope. But in this case, as far as I can understand, the route is something that you walk to the top and set up toprope, not something that gets led. So there was no gear.

Alex Rosa wrote:

Your belayer could have prevented this by kneeling...

That's funny, at least I caught it anyway............. ;)

Lena chita wrote:

But in this case, as far as I can understand, the route is something that you walk to the top and set up toprope, not something that gets led. So there was no gear.

I don't have an Ohm to play around with, so here's an interesting question for you all with an Ohm: since it can catch a lead fall at the first bolt, presumably the thing is built pretty tough. What would happen if you hang the Ohm from a TR anchor and run the rope through it? Will the device lock up so the belayer can't take up rope, or will it act like "wrap the rope around the metal bar twice" for toproping outdoors?