Scariest moments/mistakes when climbing not resulting in injury

Ever look down and only see one hard point threaded during a free hanging rappel? Touch a two ton block that wobbles in the breeze? Etc. I’m curious to hear about other people’s “oh shit” moments they’ve had. 

I can remember two instances of realizing that my partner had unintentionally detached themselves from the anchor at a belay stance. Another instance where a partner started climbing on a rope that was attached to their unrated haul loop and not their hard points. All of these can be traced back to the partner being flustered after following and neither of us paying close enough attention to what they were clipping/unclipping when they got to the belay stance.  

Topping out on a TRS climb and realizing I hadn't engaged the device.

Fortunately, it was a very easy route where there was a very low chance of falling.

Now I always test my system before leaving the ground.

In 45 years:

Rockfall. Once hit a guy in the head when we were at the base. Another time had a rope cut.

Ground fall with injuries. Not our party. The all too common rope too short, no knot in the free end of the rope and not enough rope ran right on through the belay device.

I did hit a ledge once on the way down and broke an ankle.

I have twice almost stepped off to rappel with the ropes pulled through the device but not clipped into the locking biner.

I anchored myself into a bolted anchor up high, then noticed there was no tail showing from one side of the water knot in the sling I used.

Be careful out there, and constant vigilance! Even with decades of experience, complacency or just forgetting to check something can...

Single-line rapping on a Biner block. Mine goes fine. Partner comes after me. Pull the rope down. Find this 15 meters into the rope while flaking. 

Just the other day at an ontario crag, a fifteen pound death block ripped from the top of a neighboring climb and impaled the ground where my partner and I had been standing 5 minutes prior. I’ve seen and experienced breakages before, but never literally where I was just before it occurred. Scary

Pitch, I dunno, 12 ? Day 4? Midway up the Tangerine Trip somewhere. We’re at another hanging belay on a wall that overhangs forever. 

Sean  “guess what?”

Me “um… you’re just hanging from your fifi”

Sean: “yep”

I dont remember what the climb was, but it was pretty hard for me. I had just made several hard for me moves and placed a couple pieces of gear. I was placing another piece in a spot where I was struggling. Right after I clipped that piece of gear, my belayer yelled up that he was glad that I got that piece in and clipped. I was a bit confused by the statement, but then looked down and the last two pieces were not attached to the rope. I had either not clipped them at all or got the rope stuck in the gate stuck and they unclipped. I had been so focused on the moves, I wasn’t paying good attention to ensuring I was protected. I was sick to my stomach realizing that a fall would probably have been a ground fall and it’s not like the climbing was easy for me.

This is a bit of a story but worth reading.  Gives me chills just writing about it.

When learning to climb my friends and I went to our usual top-rope spot which includes a popular 5.6.  EVERYONE belays the 5.6 from the same flat spot of dirt at the base.  That day my friend forgot her harness and so we moved the belay back 10 feet and belayed directly off of webbing around a tree.  A microwave sized block got dislodged by someone climbing and it cratered that dirt spot where everyone usually belays.

If my friend had brought her harness someone would have been killed or hospitalized.  25 years later, this is the only time I have seen someone forget their harness.  I am not a metaphysical guy but this girl was one of those people that's in tune with the universe.  Made me wonder...

Had several encounters with shifting blocks and huge plates separating from the wall.
Ive core shot at least half a dozen ropes while climbing.

Lead solo- Rope soloed up the first pitch of a difficult .11c route using a Grigri which I put up (new route) the day before. While rappelling the day before I got my 7mm tag line stuck at the anchor. I just about made it to the anchor when I heard my rope zip through my grigri. I watched as it snakes down the wall leaving me soloing across a dirty .10+ traverse for about 15ft before reaching the anchor. The tag line was stuck because a 1in piece of the tail had pinched itself under the rope somehow.

Rapelling- Failed to clip both strands of the rope through the locker on my ATC. Leaned back and the unclipped rope popped right out. I was barely still holding on to the chains when it happened.

Bolting on lead- I was putting up a route on a slab with a self belay system hand drilling at stances. I got to a section of pure friction and had to run it out about 30ft. I found a small dish to shake a foot out on when a thunder cell decided to open up. As it began to sprinkle I got out my bolting gear and went to work. Soon, that sprinkle turned into a torrential downpour complete with marble sized hail. The climbing was sustained 5.10 and the stance was one meager foot in a shallow dish of polished orange granite. I placed that bolt in record time. No cleaning the hole and a bit shallow, but considering the circumstances, I was ok with it. 

One that gives me chills whenever I think about it… 

Kris and I climbed “Ice Pirates” in the Needles… just as I arrived at anchors the weather turned and it started to thunder storm. So we set up rappel ropes (2 60m). Kris goes down to lower hanging stance, gets off rap. I pull up the two strands and push them through ATC,  clip to beiner on harness turn around and start down- something is wrong!! I fell about 3 feet and stopped! Looking up I was horrified to see the EDK up at the anchor and realized I was only on one strand! Evidently I missed putting both strands clipped to the biner! Lucky for me the knot jammed- if I had the other strand clipped I would have fallen about 350 feet, and taken both ropes with me- leaving Kris alone, with no ropes at a hanging stance.
Root cause…. The rain jacket I had stopped me from doing a good visual check of my rig. Cause it hangs down, blocking the view. And cause it was pouring hard rain I was rushed and I didn’t do my usual “weight the system” test before uncliping.
Moral: always look at the rig and always do a weight test before unclipping and never rush so much you skip your usual routine!
That one was 50-50… I lucked out!
Good topic 

In the earliest days of my climbing, we were using a 60m rope on a route too long for a 60. The unknotted end of the rope was about to go through the belay device when a friend who was not belaying called it out. My buddy literally caught the rope with his hand as it was leaving the belay device. I was still about 30 feet off the deck. 

Did the final rappel off a single fixed nut after getting caught in a bad storm on Culp-Bossier. Teeth were chattering and poor decisions were made. A boulderer was struck by lightning below us during the storm and I feel like we could narrow it down to two distinct strikes. They were terrifyingly close.

Hold broke at the second bolt on a route at Shelf Road I was climbing and I soft decked. Not a fun experience, but I walked away. Did not climb for the remainder of that day

Salamanizer Skiwrote:

Lead solo- Rope soloed up the first pitch of a difficult .11c route using a Grigri which I put up (new route) the day before. While rappelling the day before I got my 7mm tag line stuck at the anchor. I just about made it to the anchor when I heard my rope zip through my grigri. I watched as it snakes down the wall leaving me soloing across a dirty .10+ traverse for about 15ft before reaching the anchor. The tag line was stuck because a 1in piece of the tail had pinched itself under the rope somehow.

Can you explain this better? 

I fell about 15 feet  blew my first clip. I can’t believe I wasn’t super injured. 

Adam Rwrote:

Can you explain this better? 

I was solo leading (not top roping) with a grigri and forgot to knot the end of the rope or tie it into my harness. As I climbed up and got closer to the end of the rope, the weight of the rope pulled down and self fed the rope through the grigri until the end zipped through. If the other rope wasn’t already up there, I’d have been screwed. 

This one time after climbing a big mountain and breaking my leg, my partner Simon lowered me over an edge and I ended up just hanging in the air. He couldn't hold me forever and eventually he cut the rope. I fell into a crevasse. It seemed like I was totally hosed but then I went further down into the chasm and I discovered a way out the bottom. I crawled for a few days and everything worked out great. Looking back, I think I got kinda lucky.

SethGwrote:

This one time after climbing a big mountain and breaking my leg, my partner Simon lowered me over an edge and I ended up just hanging in the air. He couldn't hold me forever and eventually he cut the rope. I fell into a crevasse. It seemed like I was totally hosed but then I went further down into the chasm and I discovered a way out the bottom. I crawled for a few days and everything worked out great. Looking back, I think I got kinda lucky.

That’s crazy you could make a movie out of a story like that

Guy Keeseewrote:

One that gives me chills whenever I think about it… 

Kris and I climbed “Ice Pirates” in the Needles… just as I arrived at anchors the weather turned and it started to thunder storm. So we set up rappel ropes (2 60m). Kris goes down to lower hanging stance, gets off rap. I pull up the two strands and push them through ATC,  clip to beiner on harness turn around and start down- something is wrong!! I fell about 3 feet and stopped! Looking up I was horrified to see the EDK up at the anchor and realized I was only on one strand! Evidently I missed putting both strands clipped to the biner! Lucky for me the knot jammed- if I had the other strand clipped I would have fallen about 350 feet, and taken both ropes with me- leaving Kris alone, with no ropes at a hanging stance.
Root cause…. The rain jacket I had stopped me from doing a good visual check of my rig. Cause it hangs down, blocking the view. And cause it was pouring hard rain I was rushed and I didn’t do my usual “weight the system” test before uncliping.
Moral: always look at the rig and always do a weight test before unclipping and never rush so much you skip your usual routine!
That one was 50-50… I lucked out!
Good topic 

F8ck I forgot about that one!

I'll throw down on this thread tomorrow when it's not so late. 

argument with significant other while ice climbing. leaned back into rappel without putting rope through rap device. caught by auto block...

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

argument with significant other while ice climbing. leaned back into rappel without putting rope through rap device. caught by auto block...

fuuuuuuuuck I could feel this one in my bones.

Skyler Mavorwrote:

I can remember two instances of realizing that my partner had unintentionally detached themselves from the anchor at a belay stance. Another instance where a partner started climbing on a rope that was attached to their unrated haul loop and not their hard points. All of these can be traced back to the partner being flustered after following and neither of us paying close enough attention to what they were clipping/unclipping when they got to the belay stance.  

How would you end up attached only to a haul loop as a result of unclipping something after following?