Fall while free soloing

An entertaining and instructional video.

vimeo.com/7858740

Or if you prefer youtube –

youtube.com/watch?v=FP-nW6xs56A

Cheers,
Rob.calm

Oww, I cant imagine the rope burn from grabbing the rope like that.

That was terrifying...
Not sure if a ground fall from that high is something that I could laugh off like that, but I suppose I don't know what a more appropriate response would be.

So close to a darwin award

Capt Kirk is climbing the mountain.
Why is he climbing the mountain?

Capt Kirk is climbing the mountain.
Why is he climbing the mountain?

Capt Kirk is climbing the mountain.
Why is he climbing the mountain?

Buff Johnson wrote:Capt Kirk is climbing the mountain. Why is he climbing the mountain? Capt Kirk is climbing the mountain. Why is he climbing the mountain? Capt Kirk is climbing the mountain. Why is he climbing the mountain?

DAMN IT Buff! It took 3 days to get that song out of my head. And now it's back.

I am betting that the guy was more hurt then he lets on at video end. The shot of him struggling (his lower back looks stiff or maybe he smashed his tail bone?) up the stairway gives that away. I recently (and most reluctantly) took about a 20 foot ground fall and sure I walked away from it but the next day... Ouch! I discovered all sorts of spots and places where damage was done. I wasn't soloing but 3rd class'n in damp conditions. This guy is REALLY lucky he has walked away from this but I am sure he has deep bruising at the very least.

Ok, lets all solo when we have a rope (that is in the way) and a bunch of people (belayers) standing around doing nothing!?! hmmmmm

He looked to be very close to landing in paralysis on that rock with his back.
When I heard the rope sliding through the anchor it was pretty spooky. If you are going to free solo, with a harness on, right next to a rope, and with an easy walk around, I think you should tie the rope off at the anchor. This way if something happens you only have to grab one rope and rappel.

does it count as soloing if you have a rope right next to you to grab in case you fall?

you think if that rope wasn't there he would have focused more and not fallen?

just some questions that come to mind

"Look at the intensity in his eyes- He's ready to go!"

Um... yeah... DOWN!

am i the only one who feels like something is suspicious about the video?

no one screams or rushes to help. well, at least not with any urgency. if one of my friends fell doing that, i doubt i would keep the camera rolling and walk over to see how he was. i may forget to stop the camera but i'd sure as hell pull it away from my face so i could run over to check on my friend.

i dunno. maybe it seems suspicious to me b/c it's hard to believe someone can fall that far w/o any injuries. but, it seems kinda fishy.

Crag Dweller wrote:am i the only one who feels like something is suspicious about the video? no one screams or rushes to help. well, at least not with any urgency. if one of my friends fell doing that, i doubt i would keep the camera rolling and walk over to see how he was. i may forget to stop the camera but i'd sure as hell pull it away from my face so i could run over to check on my friend. i dunno. maybe it seems suspicious to me b/c it's hard to believe someone can fall that far w/o any injuries. but, it seems kinda fishy.

..."friend" being the operative word...

They were probably all standing around thinking: "Watch this dumba$$ fall and kill himself." "Oh well. One outta two ain't bad"

Did anyone else notice that after the fall, on multiple occasions, the guy in the maroon shirt (belayer for the girl that's climbing) has his hands off the rope completely?

It was a Figure 8 belay device too. Fig 8's don't have that "gri-gri" function do they? I know that girl wasn't that high off the ground, but still, wtf? This group is definitely not one which I'll climb with.

not that a gri-gri is a hands-off device anyway, but what do I know

Ian F. wrote: it seems as if he intintially let go, thinking he was going to be able to grab the rope.

I do think it was a real fall Brigette, nevertheless, it appeared quite obvious to me that his foot did not slip as he claimed, and that he was reversing the move when he *fell*. I would presume that he was at a crux or cruxy reach/lock-off, he didn't feel like he had the move in him, attempted to reverse the move - maybe with full intention of holding on and repeating it - yet for whatever reason, I agree with Ian that he then attempted to grab the ropes.
not to worry Matt he probably received little rope burn as it appears he grabbed only one rope of a TR set up and all the sliding/noise is the line running through the anchor/past him/off the grnd.

Take home message? not sure, but more than anything to me it seems to call out for all of us to question our motivations for what we are doing/what we do.

glad he wasn't hurt worse.

His foot slipped. Watch it closely. Seems like a solid group to me.

Buff Johnson wrote:not that a gri-gri is a hands-off device anyway, but what do I know

What do you know? Here's what you know:

11.00100 10000 11111 10110...

asshat, I just spit out my root beer

Richard Radcliffe wrote: What do you know? Here's what you know: 11.00100 10000 11111 10110...

Richard, why are you smearing [;\pi;] all over the interweb? By the way, [;2\pi;] is more fundamental as a constant. :P

hope this crew of jokers stays somewhere in PA