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blueeyedclimber
Oct 14, 2008, 12:53 PM
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Does anybody have any more info on this?
http://www.wickedlocal.com/...ck-climbing-accident
All it says is that he was Climbing at Cathedral ledge and lost his balance..."while clipping part of his climbing rope to a rock." He fell about 20 feet. He WAS wearing a helmet which may have saved his life.
I do get a kick out of reporters when they report on climbing. They are like cute little n00bs.
Josh
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wonderwoman
Oct 14, 2008, 12:58 PM
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Here is what I found. Sounds like a 'leg behind the rope' situation. Glad the guy is okay:
http://www.unionleader.com/...fd-a2c4-f8452b94e027
Climber injured in fall from cliff
Monday, Oct. 13, 2008
NORTH CONWAY – A rock climber was injured in a 30-foot fall yesterday while attempting to ascend Cathedral Ledge with a group of climbers from the Harvard Mountaineering Club, a New Hampshire Fish and Game official said.
Christopher Townsend, 27, of Cambridge, Mass., was unconscious and dangling from a rope for two minutes before members of the local Mountain Rescue Service lowered him to safety, according to Conservation Officer Brian Abrams.
Townsend struck his head during the fall, cracking his helmet.
Abrams, who assisted in the rescue yesterday, said he believes Townsend suffered a concussion and a laceration on the back of his head. Townsend was taken to The Memorial Hospital in North Conway for treatment.
Townsend had difficulty finding fixed anchors, the conservation officer said. He edged out onto the face of the rock but lost his footing and started sliding down the cliff, Abrams said.
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epoch
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Oct 14, 2008, 1:05 PM
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I read elsewhere from our own banned Dominic7 about the situation. It's not my story to tell, and since dominic7 can't post here... He was 15' away from the climber when he fell and the account that I read was quite the shocker. Thankfully the people around reacted in a timely manner.
There are some things that you will never be able to get out of your head. Thankfully, the climber in question is alright.
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duncanlennon
Oct 14, 2008, 2:00 PM
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What route? Glad he was wearing a helmet.
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olderic
Oct 14, 2008, 2:29 PM
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The belayer is a friend of mine. here is her report:
You've probably read it in the news, but my friend and climbing partner for the day Chris was in a serious accident at the thin air face. He somehow got tangled in his ropes and flipped over backwards, falling about 20 feet to land on his head unconscious. Luckily there were a ton of s&r and emts floating around, so the rescue went really smoothly and everything turned out okay. Amazingly chris didn't even have a concussion - he just had a bad head laceration. but he was able to go home with us that evening after going to the hospital. I think if he hadn't been wearing his helmet it would have been pretty bad. It was a pretty terrifying and gruesome fall, and I'm pretty shooken up, but chris is okay and everything else is fine.
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blueeyedclimber
Oct 14, 2008, 2:53 PM
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olderic wrote: The belayer is a friend of mine. here is her report: You've probably read it in the news, but my friend and climbing partner for the day Chris was in a serious accident at the thin air face. He somehow got tangled in his ropes and flipped over backwards, falling about 20 feet to land on his head unconscious. Luckily there were a ton of s&r and emts floating around, so the rescue went really smoothly and everything turned out okay. Amazingly chris didn't even have a concussion - he just had a bad head laceration. but he was able to go home with us that evening after going to the hospital. I think if he hadn't been wearing his helmet it would have been pretty bad. It was a pretty terrifying and gruesome fall, and I'm pretty shooken up, but chris is okay and everything else is fine.
I am glad he is ok. Glad he was wearing a helmet, but there is a more important lesson here. If you fall with the rope behind your leg, you could be flipped upside down perhaps resulting in a catastrophic fall, with or without a helmet.
Heres to a speedy recovery.
Josh
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knieveltech
Oct 14, 2008, 3:10 PM
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epoch wrote: I read elsewhere from our own banned Dominic7 about the situation. It's not my story to tell, and since dominic7 can't post here... He was 15' away from the climber when he fell and the account that I read was quite the shocker. Thankfully the people around reacted in a timely manner. There are some things that you will never be able to get out of your head. Thankfully, the climber in question is alright.
Link to Dominic7's post?
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camhead
Oct 14, 2008, 3:16 PM
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knieveltech wrote: epoch wrote: I read elsewhere from our own banned Dominic7 about the situation. It's not my story to tell, and since dominic7 can't post here... He was 15' away from the climber when he fell and the account that I read was quite the shocker. Thankfully the people around reacted in a timely manner. There are some things that you will never be able to get out of your head. Thankfully, the climber in question is alright. Link to Dominic7's post?
naw, we probably shouldn't. it might be a script virus or something; he got permabanned for a reason.
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olderic
Oct 14, 2008, 4:21 PM
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blueeyedclimber wrote: I am glad he is ok. Glad he was wearing a helmet, but there is a more important lesson here. If you fall with the rope behind your leg, you could be flipped upside down perhaps resulting in a catastrophic fall, with or without a helmet. Heres to a speedy recovery. Josh
It's nice to compartmentalize but as you get more experienced you'll learn that sometimes accidents just happen. Here's more info:
On Sunday, October 12th a group of HMC members went to cathedral ledge in North Conway, NH as part of a two day climbing trip. Chris Townsend was leading up the first pitch of standard route at the Thin Air Face in order to get up to Toe Crack when he took a lead fall. Chris fell about 20 feet from a thin face onto a slabby ledge, flipping upside down in the process and finally landing on his head. Although it is not completely clear what flipped Chris upside down, as Chris had been doing a good job keeping the rope out of his feet, Chris later concluded that the rope may have accidentally got twisted around his foot during the fall. Chris was initially knocked unconscious and while his belayer Hannah Waight held him there, a search and rescue crew member was then able to solo up and try to stabilize him. With the help of said rescue worker Hannah was able to lower Chris to the ground where there were already EMT and medical professionals waiting. At this point Chris had already regained some consciousness.
Thankfully these EMTs, who had just happened to be in the area, were able to immediately stabilize Chris until the arrival of Search & Rescue and the ambulance. Together the ambulance workers and Search and Rescue team were able to bring Chris out to the ambulance waiting in the parking lot, from there he was transported to the hospital.
Chris remarkably did not sustain any major injuries besides a large gash on the side of his head and some cut up and bruised shoulders. After five hours he was cleared of any major head injuries and allowed to return home with the rest of the HMC crew to Cambridge. He is now doing fine and resting.
What is important to note about this accident is that Chris did not make any major errors of experience or judgment that caused him to have such a bad fall. This serves to underscore that climbing is a fundamentally dangerous sport with objective risks that are beyond the control of the climber. That is to say that even the most experienced climber cannot predict rock fall, but he or she can increase the odds in the climber's favor by being smart
and responsible. In this case, It was a helmet that saved his life and
allowed him to walk out of the hospital later in the day. Please keep this story in mind in your future climbing endeavors and remember to always put safety first.
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blueeyedclimber
Oct 14, 2008, 4:31 PM
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olderic wrote: blueeyedclimber wrote: I am glad he is ok. Glad he was wearing a helmet, but there is a more important lesson here. If you fall with the rope behind your leg, you could be flipped upside down perhaps resulting in a catastrophic fall, with or without a helmet. Heres to a speedy recovery. Josh It's nice to compartmentalize but as you get more experienced you'll learn that sometimes accidents just happen.
Yes, I completely agree, but I still believe that all of us can take away something from every accident. I wasn't pointing fingers merely stating something that we might be able to learn from it. All accidents should be reviewed.
Josh
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cracklover
Oct 14, 2008, 6:21 PM
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Any idea where he was on the climb when he fell?
GO
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camhead
Oct 14, 2008, 6:29 PM
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from the report I heard, he was about fifteen feet below the belay at the top of the first pitch. I could be wrong, I do not know the route or the area at all.
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Gmburns2000
Oct 14, 2008, 6:51 PM
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cracklover wrote: Any idea where he was on the climb when he fell? GO
I'm actually a bit confused by this, as Eric's repost notes that he was on his way up the Standard Route to get on Toe Crack. Now, if I remember correctly, there is a particularly unnerviving blank section between the dike at the start of Standard Route and the bottom of Toe Crack, but I don't remember Toe Crack being all that high off the ground (20 feet, give or take?). In fact, if I remember correctly, Toe Crack is essentially the first pitch variation of the Standard Route (though maybe it continues on to P2 - I can't remember exactly).
I guess what I'm trying to understand is just how far off the ground he really was, and if he was close to decking.
But, my memory of the climb may be failing me, so I could be spewing poor assumptions here.
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olderic
Oct 14, 2008, 6:55 PM
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From the horse's (Chris's) mouth (keyboard):
Also, just for the record, it was the first pitch of Repulsion, NOT Standard Route. I've lead that before without problems. And now that I know not to trust the party ahead of me that the squeeze chimney is "the way to go" on Repulsion, I'll probably go back and lead that without problems as well.
Also for the record...when I fell, I had just decided NOT to go ahead and climb the sketchy squeeze chimney with no gear. When I slipped, I was in the process of moving out left to where I surmised the route must actually go (which turned out to be true).
and:
A few of my own notes from the incident:
(1.) the EMTs and ER folks did a fantastic job. They were true professionals, and I thank them for that. If you end up getting hurt, there are few better places than Cathedral. Within a half hour of the leader fall, I had been admitted to the ER at Memorial Hospital and they were preparing to send me for a CT scan. Within about 4 hours, I had been released from the hospital and told to take it easy for a few weeks.
(2.) Wear a helmet. Seriously. Even at Rumney. If you read the annual Accidents in North American Mountaineering publication, every year a lot of the broken bones and bad injuries are short falls near the ground, and they often occur on bolted sport-climbing routes. They also happen equally often to experienced individuals as to novices. Thus, to repeat: WEAR A HELMET.
Although I'm pretty certain I would have survived the accident without a helmet, the helmet unquestionably limited the injury's severity. If I hadn't been wearing it, I might still be in the hospital with IVs stuck in my veins. Instead, I'm back at work today feeling (almost) completely back to my normal self.
(3.) No matter how much experience you have, bad stuff can still happen.
Don't let down your guard, and always look out for objective hazards. In this case, I thought that the lead rope would stay free of my feet/legs in a fall, which proved untrue. Little chance things like this can make an accident much worse. For instance, I've talked with other HMCers recently who've shared stories about how, unlike me, they emerged unscathed from a leader fall in which, for instance, the rope wrapped around their leg during the fall. The critical lesson: JUST BECAUSE YOU GOT AWAY WITH IT ONCE -- OR EVEN TWENTY TIMES -- DOESN'T MEAN IT'S SAFE.
With that said, here are some links to the media coverage. I came close to refusing interviews, but decided that such action might be a little extreme.
Instead, I insisted that they promise to play up the instructional value of the story (i.e., "always wear a helmet") rather than sensationalize it.
Overall, I think they held true to their promise -- more or less. ;)
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Gmburns2000
Oct 14, 2008, 7:10 PM
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Thanks Eric. That helps a lot. I've never done Repulsion, but at least I'm not scratching my head on where it could have happened on Toe Crack / Standard Route.
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