NIAD Fall: Quinn Brett

Ouch...http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/3019593/Quinn-Brett-Accident-on-the-Nose

Wishing her a healthy as can be recovery.

A 100' fall on the Boot Flake and slamming into the side of Texas Flake would mean she popped at near the top of the Boot, with no gear until the thin crack way down below.  Man what a nightmare fall.  

Jplotz wrote:

Ouch...http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/3019593/Quinn-Brett-Accident-on-the-Nose

Wishing her a healthy as can be recovery.

A 100' fall on the Boot Flake and slamming into the side of Texas Flake would mean she popped at near the top of the Boot, with no gear until the thin crack way down below.  Man what a nightmare fall.  

there may have been short-fixing or pakistani-death-looping involved, so a large fall could have occurred even with gear close by... 

From Tom Evans El Cap report: 

After I got word of the fall I took a quick shot of the Boot and Texas Flake and saw that Quinn had apparently climbed the Boot with no protection, having only clipped the top bolt of the bolt ladder. Or perhaps the protection had pulled out. Thus the fall was much larger than an aid climber would have taken in a similar situation.  The moment I saw the situation I figured the fall was un-survivable.  We climbers had discussed such a circumstance in the past and we all figured it would be very bad…but no one had ever taken that plunge so it was all speculation.

Full report: http://elcapreport.com/content/elcap-report-101117-special-edition-texas-flake-rescue

Jplotz wrote:

Ouch...http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/3019593/Quinn-Brett-Accident-on-the-Nose

Wishing her a healthy as can be recovery.

A 100' fall on the Boot Flake and slamming into the side of Texas Flake would mean she popped at near the top of the Boot, with no gear until the thin crack way down below.  Man what a nightmare fall.  

I believe they said that she clipped the last bolt on the bolt ladder and then was run-out from there....

edit: jplotz provided quote above me.

The funky micro gear in that thin crack above the bolt ladder would not hold a 100' fall.  I'm sure whatever was in there blew. The 1, 2, & 3" gear in the actual Boot most certainly would have held a long whip, barring any fluke occurrences.

Quinn is recovering at a local hospital, but will need all the help she can get. 

Anything you can do to spread the word would be appreciated.

https://www.youcaring.com/quinnbrett-980578

I am very happy that she is making a strong recovery and is finding financial support necessary to get through this....from a lesson's learned perspective, is there any info on why her insurance policies are not covering these costs?  I am asking this to make sure I have appropriate coverage in case of catastrophic injury like this.  Thank you!!

John Wilder wrote:

I imagine that would be a question for your insurance carrier as to the limits of your personal policy. YMMV, and I wouldn't expect your health insurance to have the same payout guidelines as Quinn's.

Also remember that 1) no health insurance covers 100% of the costs and 2) many have a lifetime benefit cap; for a catastrophic injury that cap can be reached in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Marc801 C wrote:

Also remember that 1) no health insurance covers 100% of the costs and 2) many have a lifetime benefit cap; for a catastrophic injury that cap can be reached in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Just an FYI - The ACA removed lifetime limits for nearly all benefits.