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gargantua
Mar 16, 2007, 10:40 PM
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Yesterday I saw a rescue chopper while driving back home from work. I did not know at the time why, but it called my atention in some kind of speciall way. Later on i find out in the news that it came from potrero after rescuing our very Magic Ed (potreroed).
I could see him and Tamy in the TV, wich was kind of weird but also a relieve since he looked Ok. He had some dried blood on his body but was concious and fine. His partner seems to have some head injuries but he also looked fine (and I hope he really is)
Did someone know what happened???
What the news said was like it is allways with climbing accidents, not the reporter or the rescuer really knew what was saying.
Acording to the rescuer they (yes: they) fell 80 mts (around 240 feet) while climbing about 200 mts (600ft) above the deck. Acording to him, the accident was caused because one of the climbers, with 40 years of experience (Edīs partner wich name I donīt know) was not wearing a helmet. Also, acording to the same guy, everything could have been prevented if the climbers had carried the proper gear with them. This proper gear is, acording to this guy: a helmet AND: a pair of globes, a lantern, clothes for cold weather, a wistler, a piece of cord, a lighter and a cell phone.
So, if you come to Potrero, please do not forget your helmet and allways carry: a pair of globes, a lantern, clothes for cold weather, a wistler, a piece of cord, a lighter and a cell phone. Specially if you plan to venture on some kind of crazy too tall thing (also words from the rescuer)
ED & Tamy: I hope everything is Ok and see ya soon.
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alpinismo_flujo
Mar 16, 2007, 10:54 PM
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I do not know anything about this accident, however glad Magic Ed and his Magic Mystery Partner are ok....but I must say this thread is already off to a bad start:
.....Accidents at Protero could be avoided with wistler and globes (among other things).. 
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michaelmcguinn
Mar 16, 2007, 11:07 PM
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Potrero has a special spot in my life and locals have be so good to me.
Hope all will turn out for the better.
I wore my helmet all the time there. Two people were hit by rock fall when I was there. My partner would were a helmet and use the GRI GRI too.
MM
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musicman1586
Mar 16, 2007, 11:37 PM
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Just posted a message to my local climbing website where I might be able to find some information, so I'll try to get back once I find anything out.
Rockfall is a fairly common occurance down there, I don't know many people that go without a helmet, just not worth the risk in my opinion.
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musicman1586
Mar 18, 2007, 4:53 AM
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Just checked on any info and apparently this is true, Ed broke several bones while bolting a route, he is still in the hospital but is stabilized, that's all the info I got for now, but it's atleast something.
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moose_droppings
Mar 18, 2007, 6:10 AM
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Good thoughts for Ed and his partner for a speedy and complete recovery. Glad their not a statistic.
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jeapord
Mar 19, 2007, 12:38 AM
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I happened to be there for spring break, and helped haul Ed on a backboard down the talus to the chopper. Here's what happened: He was bolting a route (we had seen them bolting for a few days) and fell on aid gear while bolting on lead. His last bolt caught him, but a second later the block the bolt was in came off and he and the block fell. The next bolt caught both he and the rock, but the the rock busted (if it hadn't the rope would have broken) and the bolt came out. The block hit Ed and pulled his belayer, Rusty Baillie (famous Brit climber), up to a roof he was belaying under (which is why he wore no helmet) and he cut his head and chest, but is fine. We actually had dinner with Rusty the next night. Ed on the other hand had to be lowered from the top of a 3 pitch? route because the chopper couldn't safely reach him. All of his ribs on his right side are broken, he had a collapsed lung, a broken collar bone, and his hand was badly mangled. I don't see how he stood the pain. By the time we started carrying him on the backboard, he was yellow and appeared totally absent minded, but I guess he was exhausted from the pain, as it took about 5 hours from the time of the accident to when he got on the helicopter. The two had been carrying radios, but didn't that day for some reason. Luckily, there were a few climbers close by to go get help and a Dr. from Aspen happened to be in Hidalgo and aided him as much as possible. He was sent to intensive care and will remain in the hospital for at least 4 days. I'm glad he made it, if that block hadn't have busted...you know what would have happened.
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gblauer
Moderator
Mar 19, 2007, 1:59 AM
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Ed,
So sorry to hear about your accident. Mitch and I hope you have a speedy recovery and that you are up and moving about in no time.
You are in our prayers,
Gail and Mitch
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tradrenn
Mar 19, 2007, 3:41 AM
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All the best and speedy recovery Ed.
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patto
Mar 19, 2007, 6:46 AM
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Sounds like a freaky and unlucky accident. Best wishes on your recovery ED.
Also kudos for the belayer for holding a massive catch. As a belay the last thing you expect is having to hold a several ton block of rock.
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dreday3000
Mar 19, 2007, 5:51 PM
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Good god Ed, that sounds terrible. Glad to hear you made it, Potrero wouldn't be the same without you. Bast of luck with the recovery.
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j_ung
Mar 19, 2007, 6:04 PM
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That's two RC.com people to dodge bullets in a week. Glad portreroed is okay!
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spock
Mar 20, 2007, 2:36 AM
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pinche ed, que susto! ya llevas dos!!!!!!!
esperamos que te recuperes bien y rapido para que sigas haciendo lo que mas te gusta.
les deseamos lo mejor a ti y a tami, cuenten con nosotros en lo que les podamos ayudar.
y gracias a los demas por la informacion
tavo, carol y arturo
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virginia_alpinist
Mar 20, 2007, 4:09 PM
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Hey Ed, I hope you make a speedy and full recovery. This is Lee. My partner Jeff went up the fixed line with a rope/radio/1st aid kit and helped clear the knot on the fixed lines. I took a few PIX of the helicopter etc. Send me a PM to let me know if you want copies.
We had dinner with Rusty on Friday night prior to returning to CO the next day.
We plan to be back next year for more than one week.
Take care and say hey to Tami and Sam for me.
Best,
Lee
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slockwoo_knits
Mar 20, 2007, 5:22 PM
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Unreal. Ed *is* magic for being able to survive that accident. Get well soon Magic Ed!!!!
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james_climber
Mar 20, 2007, 8:51 PM
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jeapord wrote: I happened to be there for spring break, and helped haul Ed on a backboard down the talus to the chopper. Here's what happened: He was bolting a route (we had seen them bolting for a few days) and fell on aid gear while bolting on lead. His last bolt caught him, but a second later the block the bolt was in came off and he and the block fell. The next bolt caught both he and the rock, but the the rock busted (if it hadn't the rope would have broken) and the bolt came out. The block hit Ed and pulled his belayer, Rusty Baillie (famous Brit climber), up to a roof he was belaying under (which is why he wore no helmet) and he cut his head and chest, but is fine. We actually had dinner with Rusty the next night. Ed on the other hand had to be lowered from the top of a 3 pitch? route because the chopper couldn't safely reach him. All of his ribs on his right side are broken, he had a collapsed lung, a broken collar bone, and his hand was badly mangled. I don't see how he stood the pain. By the time we started carrying him on the backboard, he was yellow and appeared totally absent minded, but I guess he was exhausted from the pain, as it took about 5 hours from the time of the accident to when he got on the helicopter. The two had been carrying radios, but didn't that day for some reason. Luckily, there were a few climbers close by to go get help and a Dr. from Aspen happened to be in Hidalgo and aided him as much as possible. He was sent to intensive care and will remain in the hospital for at least 4 days. I'm glad he made it, if that block hadn't have busted...you know what would have happened.
Thank you very much , now we know what happened, first when i heard about it , i was totally in shock well still i am but makes me feel better now that i know Ed is stable..
Best wishes for both climbers and their family
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gargantua
Mar 20, 2007, 11:19 PM
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Thanks for the info. It seems that it was actually way worst than it looked in the tv. Also they mentión that the injured climber was Edīs partner (Rusty) and not Ed.
ED: Iīm still happy to know that youīll be around in the park.
Estás bien cabrón compadre
Saludos
Ramón
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jeapord
Mar 21, 2007, 1:08 PM
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Rusty was injured, but he just got a few stitches in his head, he was able to walk himself casually down the scree slope, all the while smiling and joking.
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redpoint73
Mar 21, 2007, 1:51 PM
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Hope Ed heals good. Sounds nasty, I hope the hand injury does not affect his climbing (or anything else for that matter).
gargantua wrote: Acording to the rescuer ... everything could have been prevented if the climbers had carried the proper gear with them. This proper gear is, acording to this guy: a helmet AND: a pair of globes, a lantern, clothes for cold weather, a wistler, a piece of cord, a lighter and a cell phone. So, if you come to Potrero, please do not forget your helmet and allways carry: a pair of globes, a lantern, clothes for cold weather, a wistler, a piece of cord, a lighter and a cell phone. Specially if you plan to venture on some kind of crazy too tall thing (also words from the rescuer)
I assume they meant "gloves" not "globes". Unless they mean that you should carry a globe of the world so that you can locate yourself in Mexico and tell your rescuers where to find you.
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tradclimber911
Mar 22, 2007, 9:04 PM
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Hey Ed,
Just heard about the accident. Hope you are recovering well. Tell Rusty nice catch!! I put a few emails into Tami asking for your email address but we both know how often she ckecks that thing. So if you happen to read this drop me a line(tami has my email). If you guys need anything just ask. And maybe next year I'll help you finish that line. Heal fast.
Climb On,
Matt
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potreroed
Mar 23, 2007, 7:23 PM
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Magic Ed here recuperating back home after 5 nights in the hospital. jeopard's description of the events is fairly accurate altho there will always be a gray area because everything happened so fast that we will never know the exact sequence of events. The newspaper report that I saw was hilarious saying that I fell 80 meters and saved myself by grabbing the rope!!
The first thing I want to do is publicly thank the four climbers who came up the fixed ropes and got us safely off the wall: Toby from Quebec, Chris Martinez from Aspen, Rick Ross from Vancouver and Jeff from Boulder. And thanx to all of you who helped carry the litter down the last tricky trail to the waiting chopper.
So here's what happened from my point of view. I went up with Rusty to finish bolting the last 40 feet of the new 10 pitch route we had been working on for he past two months. Rusty had forgotten to bring his helmet that day but we figured he would be safe enough because the belay was off to one side and under a small roof. I had climbed past my last bolt on what appeared to be a solid hook. It had already taken all of my weight and I was stepping up into a higher step when everything in front of me cut loose. From this point on it is all a blurr. I felt myself falling, then a brief stop when I hit the first bolt and then I just kept going. When I stopped I was hanging upside down and somehow knew right away that I was injured. I managed to pull myself upright with my left arm and the first thing I saw was my right hand all mangled and bloody--I remember thinking that it looked worse than the photos I had seen recently on RC.com.
I called up to Rusty (I was now well below him) to see if he was OK and it took a while for him to respond. I kept asking him to lower me to the next belay ledge and he kept saying yes I'm lowering you, but nothing was happening. At this point my vision began to blurr and for a long time all I could see was blue stars. Finally Rusty began lowering me and I clipped into the bolts at the belay. When Rusty came down beside me I realized for the first time that he was also injured. Catching me had yanked him upward and he had smacked his head pretty hard on the roof above him. He had blood streaming down his face and he told us later that he had blacked out for a couple of minutes and when he came to he was having hallucinations and was unsure what was real and what wasn't.
By the time he lowered me two more pitches to a large ledge a rescue helicopter was flying into the canyon and Toby and Chris had come up to meet us. Chris, who is the head of the trauma emergency unit in Aspen diagnosed my injuries: broken collar bone, broken ribs and punctured lung. After learning that the helicopter would not be able to pick us off the wall we began the 4 hour process of lowering me down.
At the hospital they confirmed Chris' diagnosis: fractured collarbone, shoulder blade and 3 ribs, collapsed lung. They also detected some kidney damage which had healed up by the time they released me. I had to have some skin
grafted onto my right ring finger and I lost the nail and about a quarter inch off the tip of my thumb. But don't feel sorry for me--feel sorry for Tami who had to organize the ground phase of the rescue and now has to nurse me for the next few months.
I guess I'll have to postpone my planned trip to the Dolomites this Summer.
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bandycoot
Mar 23, 2007, 7:37 PM
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Glad you're OK after such a wicked fall. I hope you heal quick and thoroughly!
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jdouble
Mar 23, 2007, 7:40 PM
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Wow Ed. You are one tough hombre. Best wishes and good luck with the recovery!
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saxfiend
Mar 23, 2007, 7:46 PM
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Glad to hear you're recovering well -- sounds like a horrendous accident. I hope you're partner is okay too.
JL
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chill41
Mar 23, 2007, 8:12 PM
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Wow Ed, glad to hear you and your partner aren't too seriously hurt.
What really strikes me about this accident is that it happened while you were doing what you do best ...putting up long and amazing routes for climbers of all abilities. Thanks so much for all the great work!
Best of luck with your recovery...and here's hoping that route gets finished without anymore trouble!
chill
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