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arkangel
Jul 7, 2003, 3:01 AM
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Hey, I've only been toproping, bouldering, and once I was a second for trad climbing. Where I climb it is pretty slabby and whenever I look at that and think about taking a lead fall there it seems pretty painful. Now I've heard people talking about falling being fun?? :-) Anyway, Just wondering how much the average lead fall hurts (hopefully not as much as I am thinking) and what the best form is for taking it I guess. Thanks:-)
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cjcalls
Jul 7, 2003, 3:08 AM
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It hurts when i hit a ledge or when my nuts have moved under my legstraps. other than that it is quite fun.
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dirtineye
Jul 7, 2003, 3:32 AM
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Well, I feel 20 feet to the ground today on my ass, and it hurt a lot. I was lucky to land on soft dirt and the belayer got some tension in the line, of it would have hurt a lot more. I had jsut finished saying, I don't think you'd like this gear, it soes not look too good, let me get something better in to LOL.
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hangerlessbolt
Jul 7, 2003, 3:33 AM
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In reply to: Hey, I've only been toproping, bouldering, and once I was a second for trad climbing. Where I climb it is pretty slabby and whenever I look at that and think about taking a lead fall there it seems pretty painful. Now I've heard people talking about falling being fun?? :-) Anyway, Just wondering how much the average lead fall hurts (hopefully not as much as I am thinking) and what the best form is for taking it I guess. Thanks:-)
Wow…you couldn’t paint a broader question with a paintbrush the size of a small truck. heeheehee:D
It’s all relative:
Pain in relation to what? Scratching your pinky or giving birth? ;)
As far as climbing goes...
Assuming you're leading...
How far above your last piece are you?
How steep is the route?
What kind of rock are you on?
How much slack is paid out?
Does your belayer know how to give a dynamic belay?
Etc…
All of this, and then some, comes into play when discussing pain.
So far the falls I’ve taken, and there have been plenty, have been easy to take…even when I damned near shattered my heels when I decked onto a tree stump.
I’ve busted my head (wear a helmet!), slid 15 ‘down a slab after popping off a roof and slamming into the rock…etc…
So much adrenaline was running through me that I barely felt any of it.
With all of them… I went on to finish the climbs.
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brianthew
Jul 7, 2003, 3:35 AM
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Depends on the route....you said slabs. Slabs falls = cheese grater unless you find some clever way to do it. I recently took my first notable fall on trad lead, it ended up to be about thirty feet after my last three nuts pulled (stupid flared crack...should've read the topo better :P ) on slightly overhanging rock....and found it to be great fun (the flight, not the falling thing. Wouldn't do it on purpose). Anyway, falls can be great when you don't hit the rock with anything but your feet. Just a brief second of flight before your wonderfully elastic rope catches you. The fact of the matter is that most lead falls take much less than a second to stop, so you really don't have too much time to say "Dang, this sucks" before you stop falling. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
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col_sanderz
Jul 7, 2003, 6:35 AM
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Id say, probably less than a stick in the eye but more than getting hit by a paper airplane(not in the eye). Seriously, it all matters on the situation as earlier stated. The best way to find out? Try it!!!
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legless
Jul 7, 2003, 6:44 AM
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it aint the falling that hurts! (to plagiarize a bit)
the most painful aspect of falling is usually mental.
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deadpointman
Jul 7, 2003, 8:44 AM
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I've yet to take a long lead fall on a slab, but I've heard that the best thing to do is to try to stay on your feet and basically skid down on your shoes. I've heard of people taking 30 footers in this manner and escaping without injury. What you don't want to do is panic and start flailing, which will lead you to start bouncing or tumbling down.
Falls on vertical (as long as you don't hit a ledge) and ovehaning rock don't hurt at all, as far as I'm concerned. The rope stretching absorbs most of the shock. Even if you ate it hard on a slab it probably wouldn't hurt much while it's happening 'cause it happens so fast and you'll get a little surge of adrenaline. Of course once that rush wears off, your battered body will be in pain if you're injured. But the fall itself might be kind of exciting. :lol:
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timstich
Jul 7, 2003, 11:44 AM
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How much does falling really hurt?! I want to know, too! Does it hurt this much? How about this much? No? Uh, well, THIS much? Is it like when my older brother pushes me down? That's falling, right?
Sorry, but this has got to be the stupidest question posted around here in a long fucking time.
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hunter
Jul 7, 2003, 12:43 PM
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Tim,
Stupid is often a matter of opinion. If someone has never experianced a clean fall onto a rope they have no way to guage what it is going to feel like, so what's wrong with asking?
A clean fall on a nice stretchy rope with lots of rope out is similar to bungie jumping no real noticable shock to the body at all.
A clean fall on static rope often used for top roping is likely to feel like you got hit by a mack truck if you take a fall over about 3'. A longer fall on static rope and you probably won't feel anything at all before your spine gets shoved out your rear end or snapped in half.
A fall on slabs (as mentioned) is likely to result only in multiple small injuries provding you are wearing a helmit.
A fall where you hit the deck or a ledge is probably going to hurt a lot!
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arkangel
Jul 7, 2003, 1:40 PM
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Easy killer. Just because you can't think of an intelligent way to answer my post like the others have doesn't mean you still have to try. Maybe your vocab isn't big enough to describe the pain you've felt falling? Maybe you just haven't fallen. That's probably it. :)
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timstich
Jul 7, 2003, 2:09 PM
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In reply to: Easy killer. Just because you can't think of an intelligent way to answer my post like the others have doesn't mean you still have to try. Maybe your vocab isn't big enough to describe the pain you've felt falling? Maybe you just haven't fallen. That's probably it. :)
No moron, the gist of the problem is this. Pay attention and maybe you won't feel like asking similar questions in the future. When you ask "How much does this hurt?" you are asking someone else to tell you how YOU would feel. So how is anyone other than yourself going to be able to comment on an internalized perception such as that? You might as well ask people if you are going to be scared tomorrow when you lead that climb, etc. We have no f-ing idea how much it would scare you, hurt, make you sad, etc., etc., ad nauseum.
Now if you didn't mean to ask that question as you worded it, consider reading what you write before you post it. I'm happy to give you the benefit of the doubt on that.
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arkangel
Jul 7, 2003, 2:19 PM
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In reply to: Anyway, Just wondering how much the average lead fall hurts (hopefully not as much as I am thinking) and what the best form is for taking it I guess. Thanks:-)
Notice I didn't ask how much it is going to hurt me to fall on a lead climb. I was just asking people how much falls have hurt for them knowing that, I, being a human, will probably experience similar results. If you thought it was a stupid post no need to be a jack about it. In fact the other posts answered my question just fine, including the form one as well (which you probably didn't notice). Ease up man, I've only been on this site for a bit and was just asking a question, not asking for idiots.
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arkangel
Jul 7, 2003, 2:42 PM
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You know what... Sorry, I don't really feel like getting into a lame flame war. I actually saw your name on a post and thought it was a pretty good response so I don't have anything against you. I understand it sounded a bit stupid and I probably shouldn't have said "average falls" but all I was really asking is how much do your usual falls hurt, not really talking about the long whippers or anything but just a medium fall. And I was also just curious about the form to take them, someone talked about obviously not having your rope behind you and between your legs. Someone else mentioned turning around and running. Anyway just curious and I guess sorry man, I understand the urge to contend is pretty high on forums (judging by the ones I've read). Later
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bumblie
Jul 7, 2003, 2:45 PM
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Lead falls on sport routes (this thread is in "Sport Climbing") are usually fun. The worst part is anticipating the fall. Anything vertical or overhanging should be a piece of cake. Learning how to fall helps. Not the falling, but rather how to position yourself prior to the rope becoming taut.
Also, it depends on your belayer. Short ropers are the worst. Hopefully your belayer knows what to do.
My advice is to get on a slightly overhanging wall and practice lead falls.
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rrrADAM
Jul 7, 2003, 2:48 PM
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Never been hurt (pain) in any falls, and I have logged a fair bit of "air time".
Two 40+ footers, and not even a scrape.
Have been scraped up on smaller sport falls, as I was short roped and swung under a roof.
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timstich
Jul 7, 2003, 2:54 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: Anyway, Just wondering how much the average lead fall hurts (hopefully not as much as I am thinking) and what the best form is for taking it I guess. Thanks:-) Notice I didn't ask how much it is going to hurt me to fall on a lead climb. I was just asking people how much falls have hurt for them ...
No you didn't ask how much people got hurt in their falls. You asked, "How much does it hurt?" Can you tell the difference between those two questions? One is fairly thought provoking and the other is idiotic.
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tradmanclimbs
Jul 7, 2003, 2:55 PM
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I wouldn't have thought that this subject would have warented a flame war but maby someone has nothing better to do. A clean fall on steep rock usualy no problem. Slabs I don't know as I have never fallen more than about 4 ft on slab. I have gotten the rope caught arround my leg which flipped me upside down and hurt a lot (rope burn) If you hit a ledge or deck out it really can suck. A guy at my local crag decked out top ropeing when the water knot on his non redundant anchor system failed. He went about 35ft and broke 21 bones. The EMT told me that his heel bone went through the bottom of his rock shoe and then retracted back into his heel :shock: sometimes falling will kill you. It all depends on what you hit.
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timstich
Jul 7, 2003, 2:59 PM
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No "flame war" here. I said what I wanted to say, it got responded to, end of story. No undue disrespect intended. Nannies may go back to threat level yellow, or if you are feeling good, lavender.
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arkangel
Jul 7, 2003, 3:22 PM
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Alright, when I said that I was wondering how much that average lead fall hurts I was assuming (and most people understood) that people would respond drawing from their own experience climbing and respond (as many did). Pretty simple I think. Anyway whatever.
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timstich
Jul 7, 2003, 4:17 PM
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In reply to: Alright, when I said that I was wondering how much that average lead fall hurts I was assuming (and most people understood) that people would respond drawing from their own experience climbing and respond (as many did). Pretty simple I think. Anyway whatever.
So you want to collect anecdotes and then average them into "how much that average lead fall hurts"? You really should buy this book:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3616632118&category=30106
Maybe they have a quick chart about falls.
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sspssp
Jul 7, 2003, 4:27 PM
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Falling (or rather sliding) on a slab isn't a big deal if you don't tumble.
My longest fall was on a slab (30+ feet). The only thing that hurt was that it trashed both my shoes (one was so badly worn it even wore a small hole through the leather). If the slab is really smooth and uniform, you stand a pretty good chance. If the slab has irregularities, then most likely you will start tumbleling. If you tumble, its going to hurt.
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dingus
Jul 7, 2003, 4:33 PM
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In reply to: No "flame war" here.
Your usenet manners will get you no where here Tim.
I think you'd make an excellent moderator for the bouldering forum.
DMT
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rrrADAM
Jul 7, 2003, 4:33 PM
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Seems like I just posted this question in another thread...
How often do threads asking a rather simple question devolve into "hair-splitting" ???
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