Knee stuck in Generic Crack for 12 hours

Media article

They say once you get good at crack climbing you can just hang for hours . . . 

Looks like there's a new 6-bolt anchor at the top of the cliff if you want to climb a second pitch. 

K Go wrote:

Looks like there's a new 6-bolt anchor at the top of the cliff if you want to climb a second pitch. 

Or, if you want to set up a slack line to super crack buttress

How'd they get him out? 

Adam R wrote:

How'd they get him out? 

It was a normal rescue, so the standard way. The whole thing was quite typical. Afterwards he was given a store brand painkiller, which is a common treatment.

Classic! I hope the stuck climber chimes in here! I’d love to hear the story. When I read the headline I figured he was stuck on the second pitch, but when I saw the picture it was definitely the first pitch. Knee stuck in the pod?!? I can’t imagine.

I feel for this guy, I've had my knee get stuck several times. The scariest time was on Serrator Crack at Way Rambo. I was relieved because the crack had finally opened up enough to get my knee in and I was relaxing into a Leavitation style jam: knee in, toe out and flex. My hands were completely pumped. As I slowly released my sketchy hand-fist stack, my knee slipped deeper down the crack to where it was narrower than my knee and I was stuck. The pain was awful. I tried to pull myself back up but my hands were too tired. Once you're in that situation it's easy to panic. Fortunately I was on a top rope that day and Phil added some hoist to the belay and I got out.

I remember Generator has a short wide section near the anchors...and the photos make it look like he might have been there. That must have been awful being stuck on a blank splitter as it gets dark and frigid...no one above you to help. 

On the few other times when my knee got stuck leading, I always had a cam to place above me for some A0 pulling. Kaya from girlsgonewide wrote a great article about stuck knees, it's a thing that could happen to any of us. Kudos to the first responders and SAR!

I can also sympathise, I once got my knee stuck inside a crack and it swelled up like crazy afterwards, incredibly painful, I was fortunate that I got it stuck pulling the knee up into the constriction. 

reminiscent of the story of the first ascent of Nameless Tower

Stuck knee on Generic Crack? How?? 

Almost certainly he sank into one of the pods but still..how?? Gumbies should be grateful a helicopter can come save them off the entry level crack...

From the Grand County SAR FB page:

At 3 a.m. Thursday morning, October 26, Grand County received a Mutual Aid request from San Juan County UT Search and Rescue to assist their team in extracting a climber whose knee became stuck while ascending the Generic Crack route in the Indian Creek climbing area. He was about 120 feet from the base of the sandstone wall and had been stuck for more than six hours. Several members of GCSAR responded along with GCEMS and Classic Air Medical.  Classic flew rescuers and gear to the top of the cliff, where a technical rope rescue system was rigged and a Grand County EMT was lowered to the stuck climber. After medication to alleviate pain and relax the subject, rescuers were able to free him and raise him about 180 feet to the top of the cliff. He was flown to the parking area where he refused further medical care. The GCSAR team returned to Moab at about 10 a.m.

I hope this was my ex...

That's a rough one. My sympathies to the stuck climber.. hope for a smooth recovery .

Another Indian Creek knee eater for y'all ... "Big Guy" over at Scarface. Widens very slowly from #3 to #6 cams. The temptation to slot a knee too early is very strong.... all I can say is ... never go bone to rock !! Lesson learned !!

https://www.climbing.com/news/climber-stuck-for-12-hours-in-crack-the-doctor-prescribed-ketamine/

Ketamine plus a 7:1 haul system did the trick. 

https://www.climbing.com/news/climber-stuck-for-12-hours-in-crack-the-doctor-prescribed-ketamine/

Ketamine plus a 7:1 haul system did the trick. 

Cory N wrote:

Classic! I hope the stuck climber chimes in here! I’d love to hear the story. When I read the headline I figured he was stuck on the second pitch, but when I saw the picture it was definitely the first pitch. Knee stuck in the pod?!? I can’t imagine.

And if the climber does chime in, I'm curious to know what his bill was on this recovery...asking for a friend.

Christian Hall wrote:

And if the climber does chime in, I'm curious to know what his bill was on this recovery...asking for a friend.

We don't charge for rescues in Grand County.

grug g wrote:

Stuck knee on Generic Crack? How?? 

Almost certainly he sank into one of the pods but still..how?? Gumbies should be grateful a helicopter can come save them off the entry level crack...

Anyone can get their knee stuck, including well seasoned trad climbers (i.e. Jason Kruk on boogie til you puke, legend.) It’s hard to resist fully slotting your knee when things open up and get baggy. 

Casey Hale wrote:

Anyone can get their knee stuck, including well seasoned trad climbers (i.e. Jason Kruk on boogie til you puke, legend.) It’s hard to resist fully slotting your knee when things open up and get baggy. 

How many times has your knee been stuck on generic crack?

Yeesh…my sympathies to the climber and their crew, and thankful to SAR for the extrication. This does happen (e.g. Kruk, Boysen on Nameless, etc.). I almost got my knee stuck on some route at the Needles, CA. It’s a rather claustrophobic feeling in the midst of the being outside. Some other stories are here: supertopo.com/climbing/thre…;tn=0&mr=0