New Wave Deck 7/7/2018

Any news or info on the guy who decked at Rumney yesterday, specifically at New Wave? 

I was climbing at Orange Crush when I heard the nasty sound of a body hitting the ground. Everyone at the previously bustling and chatter-filled crag went silent. 
By the time I got over there a stretcher was waiting, and a dark haired guy was being assessed by an EMT, I asked if they needed help carrying him down but a bunch of people were already waiting to help, so they told me they were all set. 
Just wondering how bad the fall was, it seemed as though the climber was still with it, as he was slowly putting his own socks and shoes on while I was up there.  
Freaky stuff... 

I saw him out for dinner and beers later in the day. Broke his leg pretty bad but otherwise okay and able to laugh about it 

Any info on what happened?

He was dropped ~30' resulting in ground fall while working on Vallee Daze. I was told this was due to an inexperienced belayer that failed to catch his fall on an ATC. Glad to hear he is okay!

Woah broken leg then out to dinner? Hardcore.

Troy S wrote: He was dropped ~30' resulting in ground fall while working on Vallee Daze. I was told this was due to an inexperienced belayer that failed to catch his fall on an ATC. Glad to hear he is okay!

Yep- spoke to some people who witnessed it and seems like he was near the top and belayer couldn't see, thought he was clipping so had a lot of slack let out when he fell. My climbing partner actually cleaned the gear off the route and they had all quickdraws in all of the bolts but not at the anchors. Apparently an unopened bag of chalk broke his fall. No blood at the scene.

I was belaying on dark star when this happened and saw the whole thing.

He was clipping the fifth bolt (if you include the first one to the left of the arete) when he fell.  The failure mode was not that there was so much slack that he fell to the ground, but rather that the rope ran freely through an ATC after the belayers hand came off the brake line.  It is possible that some excess slack could have contributed to jarring the rope out of the belayers hand but I'm just speculating on that.  At any rate, I'm pretty sure the belayers hand came off during the fall; He wasn't just standing there with his hand off.  The belayer also definitely had a visual on the climber.  

The climber was INCREDIBLY lucky, and appeared to only suffer minor injuries.  We returned his draws at camp that night (thanks for getting em down Stelle et al :) ) and learned that he had two breaks in his foot but nothing more (I think, for sure not a broken leg though).  From what we could assess, landing butt first on a giant, sealed, ziplocked bag of chalk probably did in fact help a whole lot.  At any rate, the bag exploded.  

After the fall he was stabilized and checked(and cleared to the best of their ability) for spinal injuries by some medical students, before he insisted on moving around despite our insistence not too (to be fair though, it seemed pretty clear his spine was ok...but still).   We called 911 as soon as he decked but by the time the were up there we were pretty sure he was alright.  The EMT proceeded to confirm he was cleared of spinal injuries and then two of his friends helped walk him down to the parking lot where he was taken to the ER.

Anyway, the climber and belayer were both very nice and we were all incredibly happy (obviously) that the climber was alright and so thankful that it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

Apologies if any of that was inaccurate and thanks to everyone at the crag that helped out

Best,
Tyler

Hi everyone, I am the fellow that decked last week. I just wanted to say that im doing good (aside from the broken foot) and am so grateful for all the support and help in that odd and scary moment. Just wanted to say thank you. Also I wanted to say that this could have been prevented by the use of a gri-gri or similar locking device. My partner has been belying me for a year now and has caught me on countless falls. (even getting compliments a few weeks back from some people climbing near tin monkeys while i was climbing orangahang)

I remember going for a little dish on valley before the next jug of the two longish moves, my foot slipped and then I decked. I also took a a couple falls in that section previously. I believe he had a tad bit of extra slack which whipped the rope out of his hand while his hand may have been over the device. (ATC) Also the sun was a nuissance for everyone, yet not a great excuse. Obviously this mistake was on him but I forgive him, it was an accident and I am lucky enough to still be here pretty unscathed. With that said moving I will always have someone belay me with an auto locking device and I will always be wering a helmet. I did not hit my head or spine and I do remember the whole thing pretty well.

For all who helped me or saw me hit which im sure sucked to watch, shit, or even heard me hit I love to buy ya some beer one day! Not sure how long im out but I would d love to be back in the fall!!

I heard your fall from Orange Crush and it's great to hear that you're doing well and the injury is minor all things considered. Thanks for the lessons learned, these are things I'll keep in mind going forward.

Peter T wrote: I heard your fall from Orange Crush and it's great to hear that you're doing well and the injury is minor all things considered. Thanks for the lessons learned, these are things I'll keep in mind going forward.

The ATC definitely has it uses with rappelling, top belaying (auto locks when it bears weight) or even in the gyms, but an auto locker that helps prevent human error climbing outside is the way to go. (with proper training and knowledge) Sport climbs are supposed to be the safest of climbs, usually, so why not be even safer in our approach. I have been using the gri gri myself for a few years now and wanted to teach my buddy how to use it to prevent falls like this. It sucks that I had to reinforce my views on this subject by actually decking rather than using the information already provided in the climbing world.  And the helmet is obviously an interesting subject. I will be using one for now on, I always use one trad climbing but now I will on all sport routes as well.

I just hope it doesn't take another experience like this for other people to change their views on safety and what not. This is a dangerous world and I am glad to be alive to still experience the things I love the most. :)  

I'm so glad this wasn't any worse. I used to get annoyed when climbing partners demand I belay with my GriGri instead of my ATC (it's more stuff to carry), but it's their safety so I comply. This is a perfect example of why that's important! Also: Most useful climbing chalk ever.

With that said moving I will always have someone belay me with an auto locking device and I will always be wering a helmet. I did not hit my head or spine and I do remember the whole thing pretty well.

caughtinside wrote: That's great you forgave your belayer, but did he tell you what happened?  ie, what led to the brake hand coming off the rope?

Yeah we picked apart the whole situation. He was shook for a few days but we talked about it instantly. I dont know if he recalls what happened exactly because it happened so fast but it seemes he was giving me slack and did not see me fall at that exact moment and in doing so it ripped the rope from his hand.

Taylor D. wrote: I'm so glad this wasn't any worse. I used to get annoyed when climbing partners demand I belay with my GriGri instead of my ATC (it's more stuff to carry), but it's their safety so I comply. This is a perfect example of why that's important! Also: Most useful climbing chalk ever.

It's not clear to me from anything on this thread whether you were wearing a helmet in this case. It doesn't seem to have mattered, but I am curious.

I did not have a helmet on. I feel safe on sport routes with clean falls so I tend to not use them, unless the terrain is odd. Moving forward I will always have a helmet on.