What are your sketchiest moments climbing?

Fans of this thread should pick up a copy of "This Game of Ghosts" by Joe Simpson of "Touching the Void" fame.

 Anyone remember the story where he got benighted on a big pillar in the Dolomites that ended up collapsing in the middle of the night, and he was left suspended by a clothesline?

David Gibbswrote:

My fault: leading Pitch 2 of Walk on the Wild Side in JTree, I clipped the first 3 or 4 bolts over the first 15m or so, then missed that the route veered left, and I just continued up.  Keep on clmibing.  The rock gets a bit crumbly, little gritty noises under your feet, as JTree can be when you're not on something well travelled.  After a while, belayer yells out "5 meters".  Shortly thereafter I reach the pitch 3 anchors.

(Mostly) not my fault: I'm climbing in EPC and ask a guy who seems competent if he's interested in doing Yankee Clipper.  He says yes, but can he bring his buddy along, too?  Ok, I guess.  He and I swap double-leads through pitch 8 with no problem, then guy's buddy asks to lead pitch 9.  When I finish following the pitch, I discover he's only used one carabiner to setup the "guide mode" belay, which means my the rope is running from me, up through the ATC, over the carabiner on the anchor, and then down through the ATC again to his hand.  I, of course, climbed the pitch as if I was on belay, not (effectively) free soloing it.

Haha I've had this happen to me as well, disconcerting to say the least. Although I've thought about it and
I think if they knew where the breaking plane was they could probably hold a TR fall...

Chris Hatzaiwrote:

2 come to mind for me.. both while developing out at Smith. 

First one is when I was developing my first over-hanging route and while rap bolting down, I moved a directional without clove hitching my way down. Ultimately my rope was laying on the rock for a couple hours with me swinging around below it doing all the bolty things.. After finishing and jugging back up to the new directional I set that day, I noticed the sheath of my rope completely sawed through by the rock. As I was sliding my ascender up the rope, I placed it near the cut sheath. Upon me pulling down, the sheath pulled down with the ascender exposing about 2' of core strands starring me in the face! In a panic I started sliding sheath back up the rope as best I could. Ended up just removing the ascender a sec, replaced it above the cut section, and continued ascending up the wall. Phew..

And the second is a pretty sketch method I used a couple of times to get to the top of a fixed line while hanging from a fixed line of a route just beside it. Before jugging up a line I would trail up the neighboring route's fixed line as well. After finishing whatever work I needed to do on route 1, I would lower down to an acceptable height, pass my grigri to the neighboring fixed line, and just pendulum over. Holy fuck talk about feeling some g force swinging over on a static line! My own dumb fault, the last time I did take one of these gnarly pendulums it gave me a little whiplash that lasted a couple of weeks.

I definitely don't endorse any of these tactics, just fun to share. Enjoy, have fun out there and don't die! 

6/10 back door brag.

I was leading a route my friend had bolted top down. No one had sent it yet. He'd gotten every move but the very end, and the beginning was so clean and beta dependent there was nothing that could chip. But we let a season go by in between and I was new to leading sport at the time. I had already gone for the last move and I stupidly pulled out rather than down, not at all expecting what happened to happen. The rock was solid, not hollow. But I pulled out a microwave sized block, fell from the top, it almost hit my belayer, it bounced off the wall hit the rope broke in half and I fell about 20 feet and got whiplash, maybe a mild concussion. Luckily he ran into the wall and didn't get hit by it. He thinks his helmet wouldn't have saved him. Luckily the assisted braking device caught me, I learned to test holds better, it reinforced the need for helmets always and I wouldn't want to be belayed with an ATC because I would've decked from 40 feet. One of us could've been seriously injured but thank goodness we were both fine and learned so much.

Adam Slatterywrote:

6/10 back door brag.

Im recounting sketch moments ive had in climbing.

Go out and create your own adventure instead of bagging on others’ you little chuffer

Jack Bushwaywrote:

Haha I've had this happen to me as well, disconcerting to say the least. Although I've thought about it and
I think if they knew where the breaking plane was they could probably hold a TR fall...

I wouldn't count on the type of folk who are unable to setup guide mode correctly to know to pull up on the brake strand if their partner were to take a fall. 

Folks who know to pull up, not down, in this scenario most likely have enough experience that they can set up guide mode correctly in the first place.

I do think developer stories tend to be interesting and I will tell one another developer told me. Vantage is an absolute choss pile, however it might be the single most popular crag in Washington (not the best). But everyone travels to vantage because it is climbable 3 times as many days as any other crag in WA. There was a developer famous for  going ground up on the choss but one day he decides to go out and rap bolt something. Anyway the younger developer tells the older developer to be careful with the choss as they are over a road. Old developer doesn't take him seriously, he pulls a block and it takes out the guard rail cables on the road.

O then there was the time a entire climb got trundled off the wall. People looked over at this block (I was told 60 feet tall) land and there was a body under it. Everyone at the crag thought someone had died. SAR got called, the sheriff came out. Sheriff hiked in for body recovery, to discover it was a manikin. Sheriff then injured his ankle and search and rescue had to carry him out.  

The first time I rapped down crag of the 20s, I was puckered as hell. No one else had ever bolted anything on the wall, and I had no reference points for anything. Anyway I spend a whole day just trying to get to the line that is now the vax-scene. The whole day. The wall is huge maybe 200 feet high and .5 miles long and I was just trying to get to this 40 foot section of clean rock. Finally after hours I finally get to what I was looking for. I am soaking wet from panic sweats and all the moisture on the bushes. I sit down on what the ideal anchor ledge should be. Well it was...... the anchor ledge had a lot of moss on it and the whole thing just fell off. Probably only a microwave but spooked non the less. I swing into the gulley since I have maybe 120 feet of rope in the system. Took me a month to go back and finish it. 

F r i t zwrote:

Fans of this thread should pick up a copy of "This Game of Ghosts" by Joe Simpson of "Touching the Void" fame.

 Anyone remember the story where he got benighted on a big pillar in the Dolomites that ended up collapsing in the middle of the night, and he was left suspended by a clothesline?

It was actually on the Bonatti Pillar on the Petit Dru in the Mont Blanc Massif; their bivvy ledge fell off. The whole pillar, along with a large section of the west face, collapsed some years later.

Ignatius Piwrote:

It was actually on the Bonatti Pillar on the Petit Dru in the Mont Blanc Massif; their bivvy ledge fell off. The whole pillar, along with a large section of the west face, collapsed some years later.

Thanks for the correction. I need to reread that book!

I just started a reread because of this thread. Apparently the copy I have was signed at some point too. 

the two sketchiest (or dumbest depending on how you look at it) things ive done have been:

1: after sending my first 11a this past fall i was so full of adrenaline after cleaning the anchors i didnt lock my carabiner that was hooked into my belay loop with my figure 8 on a bite. i had already weighted it so it wouldve been pretty unlikely i would unweight it, unhook myself from it and fall but still. not my smartest  moment

2: was leading a 10c, couldnt finish and wanted to bail. i cleaned the route and lowered off of the bolt without using a draw or carabiner. me 1 year ago was not aware why that was a bad idea, and my climbing partner didnt think it was a bad one either. thankfully nothing happened to my rope, and i know now… just use a bail beaner, and dont climb w that person lol 

Mary Elizabeth Beckwithwrote:

the two sketchiest (or dumbest depending on how you look at it) things ive done have been:

1: after sending my first 11a this past fall i was so full of adrenaline after cleaning the anchors i didnt lock my carabiner that was hooked into my belay loop with my figure 8 on a bite. i had already weighted it so it wouldve been pretty unlikely i would unweight it, unhook myself from it and fall but still. not my smartest  moment

2: was leading a 10c, couldnt finish and wanted to bail. i cleaned the route and lowered off of the bolt without using a draw or carabiner. me 1 year ago was not aware why that was a bad idea, and my climbing partner didnt think it was a bad one either. thankfully nothing happened to my rope, and i know now… just use a bail beaner, and dont climb w that person lol 

I wanna one up this story, I think I have told it elsewhere so I wasn't gonna retell it. I learned to climb maybe 10 years ago. Anyway after getting a little more into climbing I go out with just my friend who wants to try to send his first 10D. It was a 10d in rumney called peer pressure, it is a pretty famous route, it is essentially an overhanging dihedral traverse. If I went up there today, I would really think about placing two perma draws for cleaning it. Anyway my partner has to bail at the crux. He finally is able to swap his quick draw for a bail biner and lower off. I am lowering him and he doesn't swap his quickdraw for a biner. He says, "ill do the next one." He grabs the next draw takes it off and does not put another carabiner on. He is trollied but can't quite reach the bolt super well. I strongly encourage him to place another biner. He doesn't because, "I don't wanna disassemble my quick draw, these are the expensive ones Trevor." I am kinda annoyed but what ever. He gets to the first draw on the route and I tell him like 6 times not to grab the draw. To just lower to the ground and I will get it. He is still trollied. "Trevor you weigh like twice my weight but I will just down climb and grab it, Trevor." Me, "Can you un trolley us at......

He fell, while trollied to me, and with a single carbiner of protection we swing over the belay almost killing the person looking at social outcast over the edge of cliff at Bonsai. 

Next week we were back out and I decked into a ledge at trip corners and some  Doctor came and wrapped my legs up to stop the bleeding. 

Haven't really had anything dangerous in the last 2,500 pitches though, so maybe I figured it out! Anyway #YOLO

I got yanked into a sharp boulder and Isa almost swung into the tree when she unclipped her first / last draw lowering on Peer Pressure. Old trade but Newb spurt climbers at the time.m 

I tried rope soloing for the first time on some 5 pitch route in the Linville Gorge. After climbing p3, I fixed my rope and started rappelling down the side not running through all my gear. Eventually the end of the rope slipped through my brake hand (no knot) and at the same moment my weight must have shifted enough that I inadvertently released the grigri lever, so it locked up with only a few inches of rope hanging out the end. I grabbed onto the end of the rope as tightly as I could while swinging over to the other side of the rope running through all my gear, set up rappel on an ATC, and had to finish the route.

Lots of lessons were learned that day.

Almost rappelling off the end of the rope has got to be up there.

Getting off route and run out at tahquitz and digging out what looks like it might be a thin crack.

Falling far enough to have my feet brush the ground after biffing the 3rd bolt.

bear jew wrote:

I didn’t know about this event. Unlucky guy. 

It seems to be par for the course for Joe. I'm not a superstitious person (only mildly stitious) but if he asked me to climb, I would propose bouldering. ;-)

I just remembered another one.

15 years ago I was going through a breakup with someone I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with. I was heartsick and my mind wasn’t on climbing. My partner and I decided to climb the Weeping Wall that day. Climb goes fine. As we’re rappelling down, first two raps go smoothly. I get to the final station about 60m off the deck. Unthread my atc, call myself off rappel and was *just* about to lean back onto my sling when I look down and see that I hadn’t clipped in to the station. I was horrified, quickly attached myself and resolved to never climb when my mind was that preoccupied with other matters. 

Mine was at my local crag.  

I climbed a easy 5.8 sport climb.  Had about 5 bolts or so for the 55-60ft route.  No issues great climb. 

Came back the next weekend and wanted to repeat the climb as  my first climb/warmup for the day.  Load my draws, tie in and start up the climb.  About 10 or so feet in I start wondering where the first bolt is and think I might be a little off route, or its coming up around the flake.  Well 20 feet in I realize, well shit someone chopped the bolts.  Non wanted free solo it was.  Not as sketchy as most but crazy for me, six days later. 

It's been really fun reading all these butt puckering accounts! Thanks all for sharing.. def got my palms all sweaty reading some of them

Ted Ravenwrote:

I just remembered another one.

15 years ago I was going through a breakup with someone I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with. I was heartsick and my mind wasn’t on climbing. My partner and I decided to climb the Weeping Wall that day. Climb goes fine. As we’re rappelling down, first two raps go smoothly. I get to the final station about 60m off the deck. Unthread my atc, call myself off rappel and was *just* about to lean back onto my sling when I look down and see that I hadn’t clipped in to the station. I was horrified, quickly attached myself and resolved to never climb when my mind was that preoccupied with other matters. 

Thats a "good" one.  Would be terrifying.