“Accidents don’t exist before they happen,” wise words from a Polish climbing partner.

“today, most climbers probably climb in a gym… For those climbers, the risk of falling off the side of a cliff to their death is exactly zero. So I can confidently say that the risk of that particular event for that large portion of climbers, has definitely shrunk from a non-zero quantity to a zero quantity”. By cracklover

The irony of this last comment makes my neck hurt even more. You don’t need a cliff to fall off of to be in trouble.
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ACCIDENT: Early on Tuesday afternoon 04 March, I was climbing at a local gym using an auto-belay. I had been climbing for about 45 minutes. I was up about 20’ when I fell. I hit the deck. On this last climb, I had not clipped into the auto-belay.

CONSEQUENCES: I was aware of the start of the fall but do not remember anything after that. When I hit the padded floor, I was rendered unconscious. I was in an alcove by myself. When I came to (I’m not sure how long—at the most a couple of minutes), I yelled for help. I remember some of the staff members rushing to my side and calling 911. Don’t remember much after that until the EMTs arrived, and I was immobilized and put in a gurney. I don’t recall the ambulance ride but pretty much remember most everything after getting to the hospital. The x-rays indicated small compression fractures in T7, T8, T11. The emergency room doctor was sure there was more and ordered a CT scan of the neck. He was right, a significant compression fracture in C7 and that’s where it really hurt. He put me in a cervical brace, said I should see an orthopedist or neurosurgeon the next day, and prescribed pain-killers and muscle relaxants. I saw an orthopedist the next day. More x-rays were taken of my neck in various postures. He said the fractures were stable, and I would not need pinning or a cast, but that I would need to be in a cervical collar for a couple of months. His opinion was confirmed by a colleague, who also happens to be a climber. Had a follow-up appointment today, 02 April. Healing is coming along OK. The pain in the neck is tolerable in the day but disturbing at night unless I medicate. I now need to wear the cervical collar only when I’m being active. I’m walking a couple of miles most days and doing trivially light weight lifting. The back doesn’t really hurt in the thoracic area but it tires quickly. After walking 2 miles without a pack, it feels as tired as if I had walked 15 miles with a heavy pack. I also have a bruised sternum that makes sneezing painful. The left elbow and left scapula are also mildly painful.

ANALYSIS: My first thought after the accident was, What is there to say? Why even write a post on it? If you’re using an auto-belay, clip into it. End of advice. Also, I found it hard to imagine anyone else would do something so stupid.

However, talking to other climbers, from e-mails, and reviewing earlier threads in rockclimbing.com, e.g., auto-belay accidents I’ve learnt that not clipping into the auto-belay is a common source of accidents in gyms. Many people have made this mistake and not been harmed. Others have suffered injuries.

My reason for this post is that some readers might learn the cheap way how to avoid this accident and to emphasize that there is a unique aspect to an auto-belay that can cause one to do the unimaginable (at least I couldn’t imagine it): not clipping in before starting up. It’s clear from my own experience and that of others that there is something in the nature of gym climbing that deadens the brain of otherwise conscientious and safe climbers. I’ve now climbed for 37 years and aside from a bouldering fall that was bad for the knee haven’t had anything more than some scratches and a sprained ankle to show for it.

SUGGESTIONS: Any of the following 3 actions would greatly reduce the possibility of forgetting to clip into the auto-belay. The first two were told to me in the past month by well-known climbing guides who always take these actions before using an auto-belay. Both of them have had the experience of climbing to the top of the wall without being tied into an auto-belay. Both were able to climb down safely. Fortunately one realized the problem just before he started to lean back at the top. Remember, if these techniques are to work they must be used every time before starting to climb. That is the key. They are especially important if you’re doing laps, because that’s where the habit can develop of not always checking to see if you are clipped in.

1. Always clip in while sitting down. Even if doing laps always sit down and check that you are tied in before starting back up.

2. Have a trad draw on your harness. After clipping into the auto-belay, clip one end of the draw into the auto-lock carabiner. The sole purpose of this action is to be a reminder that you’ve clipped the auto-lock carabiner into your harness. As soon as you come down, unclip the draw from auto-lock carabiner even if you’re doing laps.

3. When starting up a route, climb just a few feet and then lower off to make sure that you’re clipped into the auto-belay. This also provides evidence that the auto-belay is working properly. If doing laps, repeat the procedure before starting up again.

This last advice was given by none other than me. auto-belay precaution How did I come to ignore my own good advice? Explained below.

DISCUSSION: Until this spring, most of my gym climbing did not involve using an auto-belay. I either went with partners or bouldered or took one or two of my grandchildren. And for the most part I did not indulge that much in gym climbing. On the days, I would take the grandkids, I started using the auto-belay, since the grandchildren are too small to belay me. I would only get a few routes climbed since I couldn’t leave the kids unattended for very long. After reading about the auto-belay failure auto-belay accidents, I started the safety precaution No. 3 mentioned above mostly to make sure the device was working.

This spring, I started taking care of a grandson on Tuesdays after school. During the winter, I had been in my weight-lifting mode, where I don’t climb at all. As the spring started, I came down with a flu, which dragged on for almost a month. As I started recuperating, I decided that doing laps on moderate routes on auto-belay would be a good way to recover endurance. Time wise this worked out perfectly just before picking up the grandson. I mixed in the auto-belayed climbing with some traverse bouldering. These regular Tuesday encounters with the auto-belay habituated me to its use and decreased the apprehension and alertness I had when I was only using it a little bit. I wasn’t always careful about carrying out step 3 above. As you can read, from the many first-person episodes in auto-belay accidents laps, bouldering and frequent use is a common way to delude oneself into thinking one is clipped in. I read this thread two years ago, so why did that lesson not sink in? As time went on I forgot about the not clipping in part. I realized I could clip in badly, e.g., having an open gate stuck on the belay loop, clipping into a gear loop, but it seemed incomprehensible that I would not clip into the device and that if I had not done it that I would not notice its absence after a few feet of climbing. However, my experience was exactly that of the previous posters—mixing laps with bouldering, unclipping, studying a route from the ground and then taking off without tying in. The people that I’ve talked to since the accident who have taken off without tying in, all pretty much say the same thing. So what’s needed is an action that one always performs before climbing, hence the 3 string-on-the-finger techniques above.

Cheers,
Rob.calm

Now, I know this is a common problem. Yet, I don't understand how it can happen to people that have climbed on AB. Isn't it noticeable that there is a complete lack of an upwards pull? (Just curious, not critical.)

I don't understand either. If I did, this accident wouldn't have happened. My guess is that it's displacement, thinking about something else, like studying the route or deciding on one more lap, etc. As I stated, one of the reasons this happened to me is that it seemed so inconceivable.

Cheers,
Rob.calm

When on a wall climb with Brutus and Em, these habits are continually reinforced. We check each other, all the time, as friends who'd like to live and climb another day, not because we think the others are fumbling fucktards bound to make a mistake.

Know why?

WE'RE ALL BOUND TO MAKES THESE MISTAKES.

Can I ask a quick question?

At my gym, the autobelay is clipped into anchors in the ground about 12 feet away from the climbing wall. Is this true for the gym you fell at?

Sometimes it's clipped into an anchor on the wall about 4 feet off the ground. I'm curious if it's easier to forget to clip in if it's in front of you and you see it anchored to wall...or if it's behind you while climbing and the tether is well behind your head and out of your visual field ...sorry if this seems stupid (cause I know either way people can forget)...

Just another variable I'm curious about. Heal well!