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shockabuku
Dec 12, 2008, 4:45 AM
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Registered: May 20, 2006
Posts: 4868
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I was climbing in the gym with my partner the other day. I had a heel hook on an arete to keep me from barn dooring while I made the second clip and my heel slipped as I was reaching for the draw.
My belayer, unknown to me, was standing nearly under me. Since I was a little laid back, away from my heel, I fell right onto her. She broke my fall pretty well but I was pretty worried that I hurt her. One foot hit her in the chest and left about an 8" smear on her skin. Her back was sore, and her right eye had a burst blood vessel.
Really scared me, she's my 16 year old daughter.
Fortunately she was okay.
I guess she learned to stand a little farther away and not in the direction of the fall. I decided not to clip like that so close to the ground.
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rockforlife
Dec 12, 2008, 5:08 AM
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Registered: May 14, 2002
Posts: 563
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Glad to hear you are both ok, and just goes to prove things can go wrong any where.
And not to say i'm glad she got hurt, but i'm glad you fell on her from 10? feet and not 15 plus. I;m sure she will stand in a better spot next time.
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zeke_sf
Dec 12, 2008, 5:32 AM
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Registered: Apr 28, 2006
Posts: 18730
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Glad to hear your meatdecking was minor. Leading's leading, whether it's in the gym or outside, I guess. Well, except those padded floors are pretty nice.
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notapplicable
Dec 12, 2008, 7:23 AM
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Registered: Aug 31, 2006
Posts: 17771
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shockabuku wrote: I was climbing in the gym with my partner the other day. I had a heel hook on an arete to keep me from barn dooring while I made the second clip and my heel slipped as I was reaching for the draw. My belayer, unknown to me, was standing nearly under me. Since I was a little laid back, away from my heel, I fell right onto her. She broke my fall pretty well but I was pretty worried that I hurt her. One foot hit her in the chest and left about an 8" smear on her skin. Her back was sore, and her right eye had a burst blood vessel. Really scared me, she's my 16 year old daughter. Fortunately she was okay. I guess she learned to stand a little farther away and not in the direction of the fall. I decided not to clip like that so close to the ground.
Good to hear she didn't get banged up any more than that, could have been quite a bit worse. I saw a guy at our local crag take a fall similar to that but he swung into his belayer instead of coming down right on to of him. The falling leader instinctively brought his knees up to his chest to cushion the blow to himself and unwittingly kneed his belayer/friend right in the mouth. I don't think he ended up loosing any teeth but one was "feeling a bit loose" shortly after it happened.
Belayer position and contourting oneself around a falling climber is a bit of an art. I never anchor in when belaying but doing so might keep her out of the line of fire during a fall at the first or second bolt, especially if you out weight her by much. Of course you could just end up getting the ultimate crotch wedge (I've experienced it, its not good) so it could be a win/lose type of deal.
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