Caught in Lightning Storm on top of Seneca Rocks and Experienced the Eye of Sauron - Mistake Log

EDIT: Just found out having metal on you doesn't affect chances of being struck by lightning. Still scary though.

Saddle up, this is a long one. Or, see the TLDR at the bottom.

Sometime in June this year (I forget the date) me and my climbing partner rose before the sun and made our way to Seneca Rocks WV. Armed with a metric shit ton of gear, we racked up and began the trek to the base of the climbs. I hadn't checked the weather but the sky looked blue and in my experience storms passed through pretty quick in this area and I'm always down to get a little wet and wild. Well it got wet and wild alright. This was mistake number one.

Started off climbing Marshall's Madness to crack of dawn, a 5.10 trad line. Was definitely a push for me and my frequent grunting and shaky legs made with apparent. I took off my shirt so I could get some more friction in a wider part of the crack. About 2/3 up, it started raining on me and I started hearing lightning too so I bailed. It stopped raining like 10 secs after I hit the ground. Was kind of mad but also happy that I wasn't electrocuted. We decided that it was just a pocket and the sky was still blue so we went looking for a slightly easier line since I was mad tired at this point. This was mistake number two.

I didn't put my shirt back on. This was mistake number three.

We ended up deciding on tomato. Tomato is a nice 2-3 pitch line depending on how you slice it (haha) with lots of exposure and beautiful views of the valley and town around Seneca Rocks. I was leading everything today and as I started up the first pitch I noticed black clouds on the horizon. Thinking nothing of it I continued climbing. This was mistake number four.

Decided to lace it up as two pitches, the first short and the second long, and decided on a rope tug communication system with my partner since my anchor would be out of site and hearing of the belay. Pretty easy climb with some nice heel hooks if you feel like being goofy with plenty of forever stuck loot along the way. I may or may not have gotten a number 1 cam that was stuck even more stuck while trying to loot it. In my defense, it was flipped upside down and very overcammed. Got up top and decided to setup shop. The top ridge line of Seneca at this point is about 2 feet wide with a drop off to both sides going all the way down. I popped a squat and made a quick anchor with 3 cams somewhere between .1 and .4 plus a nut and a hex just for fun. At this point, looking around, I noticed that I could no longer see the town as it was covered in quickly moving dark clouds. The pitch black horizon was now even pitchier black and I began hearing lightning at regular intervals and saw it striking around the town. I realized that things were about to get wet and wild but I had no idea how wild. Sitting on a lightning rod of gear, at the highest point around, I decided that bailing was for bitches and if I pulled up the rope fast enough and my partner followed fast enough, and we found the rapp fast enough, and if we rapped fast enough, and hiked down fast enough, we would be back in the car before we even saw a rain drop. The town was less than half a mile away. That makes mistake number five, six, seven, eight, and .... I lost count. In my defense, I was sleep deprived from working a bunch of 12 hour night shift at the hospital back to back to back to back and I was coming off of a month of fasting for Ramadan.

There was a shit ton of rope drag from the pitch and it was taking me forever to pull the rope up. The clouds were approaching faster and faster and I could see the swirling intensity inside them as they flowed over the valley, obscuring all view and the world went grey. I was in the clouds. Or maybe the clouds were in me? I'm not sure. But as I sat there in that soupy wispiness, insulated from the world, I realized I was fucked. This was the first correct judgement I had made all day.

By the time I had pulled all the rope, it was a torrential downpour. Wearing only a climbing harness, shorts, and climbing shoes, I was deluded from all directions. The steep updraft caused by the ridge like nature of Seneca Rocks caused the rain to not only hit me from above, but also from the side and from below. I was soaked to the bone. The rope was soaked, the rock was soaked, the cracks my cams were in was soaked, the world was getting wet and wild real fast. It was so cold. Sooooooo cold. I was shivering and struggling to work the rope. I was being pounded from all sides and the howl of the wind was raking my ears. I was doing everything I could to stay sitting ontop of the ridge and not end up hanging off one side. The clouds just kept coming and I will never forget the sight of seeing clouds being pulled up the side of Seneca while rain attacked me from all sides while I saw lightning striking closer and closer. Darkness surrounding me and not being able to communicate with my belayer now follower, I stayed true to the rope system and hoped for the best. I just kept screaming I will get through this as my voice was carried away.

Taking stock of the situation, I organized what was within my control and what was not. Could I stop the rain? No. Could I stop the lightning? No. Could I stop the cold? No. Could I put on a shirt? No, my follower had it. Could I man the rope system? Yes. Could I search for a bivvy ahead of time before my partner got up? Kind of just by looking around. Could I hope for the best? Yes. Could I pray? Yes. Working in the fire department and an ICU has taught me to be pragmatic.

What felt like 5 hours later but actually more likely 20 to 30 minutes later. My partner topped out. I didn't even feel cold anymore. It was still raining like crazy and I had seen lightning striking near the mountain but I was just numb. I lowered my partner into a crack that was on one side of the ridge in a little nook and then he made an anchor. He then lowered me off my anchor up top as if I was on top rope into the crack and we threw a tarp over it and hung out. He gave me my shirt and we we just kinda took it all in. A few minutes later everything had passed and we made our way over to the rap. We decided to turn a two stage rap into one stage using the entire length of a 70m rope and a tagline to pull the rope after.

While rapping, my hair got pulled into my device. I was real tired at this point and about 100 from the ground. I pulled out my knife but realized I couldnt see the device or rope because they were above my head and I couldn't move my head without scalping myself. My partner laid down some sage advice and told me to try something else before playing with a knife near a taught wet rope that was the only thing protecting me from a quick fall and a splat. I decided to climb up the rock in front of me but because it was a dynamic rope it took about 20 feet before the device unloaded. I pulled my hair out of the device and finished the rap. We had started at 7AM and it was now well past sunset. I didn't have a headlamp but my partner did. we tried pulling the tagline to pull the rope but it was stuck. The tagline was dynamic. We built a three to one and used a gri gri as a progress capture. 2 hours and much jumping up and down and cursing later, we had pulled the rope. We then descended the technical and mad slippery trail with only one headlamp and I almost ate it about a million times.

By the end of the trail, the darkness and fatigue were getting to me and I started getting paranoid and seeing things in the woods. Think slender man. It didn't help that I had seen hereditary a few days before. I nudged my partner to walk faster and by the end i was going a good clip was looking around constantly like a crazy man and grasping my knife in my pocket. Once we got in the car I zipped out of there as fast as possible. 1 hour of struggling to stay awake later, I found the golden arches of McDonalds in the middle of nowhere, parked in the lot, put my chair all the way back, and went to sleep. We then resumed the drive in the morning and left that harrowing adventure behind us.

TLDR; I didn't check the weather and got caught in a lightning storm at the highest point around while wearing metal climbing gear for about an hour and got soaked to the bone because I wasn't wearing a shirt. Then got my hair stuck in a rapp device.

In retrospect, I made many stupid decisions and unnecessary risks during this outing. However, I learned a lot and did not crack under pressure. Needless to say, I will be much more aware of the weather going forward and always keep a shirt on hand. I am glad that everything went alright but recognize that everything could have gone pretty wrong. I have also cut my hair.

It builds character.

So you brought a tarp but not a shirt?

stolo wrote: So you brought a tarp but not a shirt?

So you read some of the story but not all of it?

I've got a few stories like that. Well... not quite like that. My first good one involved a stuck rappel rope. We finally got it pulled, then walked the wrong way around the base of the mountain (Yes it was a mountain) in the dark thru thick vegetation w/o a light. Got back to the car about 3 am. Another involved misunderstanding the rappel directions at the top of the third  Flatiron. We got to the car about 3 am. Then there's the lightning stories, each one where each of the 2 previous stories took place. I used to love watching lightning. To quote Inspector Closeau, "Not anymore!" I learned from each one of those incidents. But I must say: That was a good story!!! Rahat, thank you for the entertainment!! I'm glad you are okay. Just one question. What good would a soaking wet shirt have been? One more thing. My climbing partner, Sean Cobourn, and his brothers came up w/a rating system for stories like this. E-1 is when you get back late for dinner. E-5 is when the entire party mysteriously disappears. You get a plus one for having a girl along. I've had more than a few epics, as have most climbers. What's Rahat's rating?

Metal on you has nothing to do with your chance of getting struck by lightning.  Just fyi.  

Chris Little wrote: I've got a few stories like that. Well... not quite like that. My first good one involved a stuck rappel rope. We finally got it pulled, then walked the wrong way around the base of the mountain (Yes it was a mountain) in the dark thru thick vegetation w/o a light. Got back to the car about 3 am. Another involved misunderstanding the rappel directions at the top of the third  Flatiron. We got to the car about 3 am. Then there's the lightning stories, each one where each of the 2 previous stories took place. I used to love watching lightning. To quote Inspector Closeau, "Not anymore!" I learned from each one of those incidents. But I must say: That was a good story!!! Rahat, thank you for the entertainment!! I'm glad you are okay. Just one question. What good would a soaking wet shirt have been? One more thing. My climbing partner, Sean Cobourn, and his brothers came up w/a rating system for stories like this. E-1 is when you get back late for dinner. E-5 is when the entire party mysteriously disappears. You get a plus one for having a girl along. I've had more than a few epics, as have most climbers. What's Rahat's rating?

I'm kind of baffled by this statement, can you explain?

The only gender reference I could find in the OP's post was this: "He then lowered me off my anchor up top as if I was on top rope into the crack and we threw a tarp over it and hung out. He gave me my shirt and we we just kinda took it all in."

If the OP had been partnered with a woman instead, why is that a plus one?

When you climb with men, do you refer to your climbing partners as "having a boy along", or is that patronizing condescension reserved for the women climbers in your life? 

Briggs Lazalde wrote: I dont mean to steer this thread in another direction but I like how you pointed out that you did not crack under pressure. I hate to admit it but it is important to be honest with yourself, but I have found I do have a problem I have to work on. Panicing under stress. Something u dont want in a partner. Its never gotten too bad but I vocalize my stress and it pressures my partners. Im a capable climber and leader. I have some qualities which allow people to feel safe learning under me. However in the backcountry...rope stuck...daylight running out....how have you guys managed keeping ur stress under control?

 When shit goes sideways but both you and your partner stay cool, make it down to the ground and remain friends... that’s there’s a solid partnership.

Em Cos wrote:

I'm kind of baffled by this statement, can you explain?

The only gender reference I could find in the OP's post was this: "He then lowered me off my anchor up top as if I was on top rope into the crack and we threw a tarp over it and hung out. He gave me my shirt and we we just kinda took it all in."

If the OP had been partnered with a woman instead, why is that a plus one?

When you climb with men, do you refer to your climbing partners as "having a boy along", or is that patronizing condescension reserved for the women climbers in your life? 

Yessssssssssss

1/10

OP is full of it.

Brassmonkey wrote: You write like you were on LSD at the time.   It was a thunderstorm, not the Eye of Sauron. And I definitely wouldn't label anything around Seneca as a mountain. 

updated title to reflect the reality of the situation

Greg D wrote: Metal on you has nothing to do with your chance of getting struck by lightning.  Just fyi.  

did some reading and you're right! Thanks for the heads up. Now, while it doesn't affect your chance of being struck, it can affect the path the electricity takes through your body. In retrospect, all the metal was around my lower body so it wouldn't really have increased arcing across the heart chances. Anyways, thanks for pointing out my misunderstanding.

Briggs Lazalde wrote: I dont mean to steer this thread in another direction but I like how you pointed out that you did not crack under pressure. I hate to admit it but it is important to be honest with yourself, but I have found I do have a problem I have to work on. Panicing under stress. Something u dont want in a partner. Its never gotten too bad but I vocalize my stress and it pressures my partners. Im a capable climber and leader. I have some qualities which allow people to feel safe learning under me. However in the backcountry...rope stuck...daylight running out....how have you guys managed keeping ur stress under control?

for me, it comes down to trust. Trust in your partner. Trust in the gear. Trust in your skills and techniques of using the equipment and managing the situation. Even when things are going sideways, if you can trust in the process then it will help you keep a cool head. It helps to organize what you can control and what you can't. But at the end of the day, for me, it comes down to trust and the realization that only by staying cool will you have the best chances. Also, whenever I enter a situation, I put in my mind what possibilities may arise. That way, when they occur, I am fine with them. If my rope gets stuck, while annoying, it's not that big of a deal. Just work with what you've got. That's not to say it isn't a serious situation but if you perceive things as "big deals" or as stressful or horrifying then that is how you will react. If you perceive them as another challenge to work through, you will stay cool. That's why two people can experience the same thing but feel different emotions and come away with different things.

Thanks for sharing.  My partner used to make fun of me when I would tell her we need to bail because of approaching weather.  Then we got caught.  Rapping during a thunderstorm is one of those things I try to avoid. She no longer argues the point.

Dallas R wrote: Thanks for sharing.  My partner used to make fun of me when I would tell her we need to bail because of approaching weather.  Then we got caught.  Rapping during a thunderstorm is one of those things I try to avoid. She no longer argues the point.

Sounds like you mansplained her into submission. That's sad.

Sounds awesome, one of those times you always remember. Reminds me of the many times things have gone wrong in the mountains! Thanks for sharing.

Thinking of you "popping a squat" atop Seneca, "deluded from all directions"... funny stuff.

Getting caught in a thunderstorm can be very scary. Glad you kept it together enough to get out of it. Not much else to say...

Tradiban wrote:

Sounds like you mansplained her into submission. That's sad.

You’re trying too hard. 

mediocre wrote:

You’re trying too hard. 

I know, but it made me laugh.