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climbingnurse
Oct 10, 2004, 4:29 PM
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Below is an account of a series of events that could have ended quite badly for me and my partner, but miraculously resulted in no injuries whatsoever. Feel free to blast me. I'm the first to admit I made some pretty foolish mistakes.
Friday night I watched the Presidential debates and ended up not getting to bed until around midnight. 5:30 rolled around and I was in my car on the way to Nick’s house. Nick is someone I know from school and is an excellent climber. I’d only climbed with him once before, but it was quite clear that Nick was both very strong and very knowledgeable about climbing. I watched him flash an 11c (sport) at Summersville as his first route of the day after more than a year hiatus from climbing. That inspires confidence. Nick also has a peculiar dislike for active gear. He leads everything on nuts and hexes, and manages to protect his routes quite well.
By a little after 6 AM we were on our way to Seneca for a day of climbing. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise as we headed out I-66 and the day dawned cloudy and cool. It was one of those absolutely perfect Fall days on the East Coast.
We pulled into the parking lot at Seneca a little before 10. We decided on West Pole (5.7) as our first route of the day. I was totally amped because of both the weather and the opportunity to finally get on West Pole. I’d been meaning to climb this route for over a year but was always sidetracked by one thing or another.
Nick lead the first long pitch (170 ft.) to a ledge below a roof system. He had won the ro-sham-bo to lead the first pitch, but I definitely got the money pitch. The second and final pitch of West Pole pulls through a three-tiered roof. The first roof is about 4 feet, the second 3 feet, and the last is about 2 feet. You can get bomber gear all the way.
I pulled through all three roofs and protected the moves quite well. I was totally stoked! West Pole definitely lived up to all of my expectations. I also later realized that this was probably the hardest route I had ever lead at Seneca. I’ve trad-lead a total of 2 5.10’s but that was “pre-nursing school.” I’m in nowhere near that kind of shape right now. 5.7 was probably my new trad lead limit, at least at Seneca. Pulling the roofs felt quite strenuous. I didn’t feel like I was going to fall at any point, but I was definitely treading that line.
Next Nick wanted to lead Triple S (world’s hardest 5.8?). We hiked over and found a party of three on the route. (What do you expect for Columbus Day Weekend, right?) Nick opted to climb what would also be his hardest Seneca lead to date as well. He hopped on Marshall’s Madness (5.9). Nick lead both pitches (again, with only nuts and hexes) in good style, but I hung once on each pitch when I followed him.
There was quite a backup at the rappel station and by the time we got back down to the ground it was a little before 6. We decided to try and squeeze in one more climb before it got dark. We hiked over to Ecstasy (5.7) and found a party of three Australians half-way up the first pitch. They were making good time, so we decided to climb up behind them. They were doing the climb in two long pitches and we opted to do the same coming up right on their heels.
I lead the first pitch and ended up getting up to the Belay ledge with two of the Australians still there. I brought Nick up and we ended up waiting about 15 minutes for the last Australian to get off the belay ledge. During that time the sun went down. I cast off to lead the final pitch with my headlamp turned on and the last Australian 10 feet ahead of me.
About halfway up the second pitch I was facing three major problems:
1. I had gone around a corner and could not make out a word Nick was saying
2. I had serious rope drag
3. It was now pitch dark. There wasn’t even moonlight.
I climbed up to a wire that the Aussies had fixed and clipped it without really inspecting it. My next piece was 15 to 20 feet below. I then made a 15 foot traverse to the right and climbed up about 10 feet where I clipped a fixed pin that looked… OK. On a scale of one to ten, I would put this pin at a 5. I continued up the now slightly overhung corner system about 10 feet to a point where I was completely pumped out. I could feel my hands slipping off the holds as I scrambled to find footholds in the glow of my headlamp.
I needed a rest. I decided to down climb to the pin and clip in direct to rest. I was a little bit surprised that I actually successfully completed the down climb and managed to clip in to rest. I tried to communicate my intentions to Nick but my words and his were too garbled coming around the corner and over the stream just below us.
I decided to place a nut while I was hanging out. I got in a “pretty good” #10 stopper just above the pin and clipped it into the rope with a long runner (the pin was also on a long runner). I then shook out for a couple minutes and cast off again.
I got to roughly the same spot from which I had last down climbed and found myself unable to grip the rock once again. I tried moving up. I thought about placing gear, but I couldn’t get anything even remotely resembling a stance at this point. I struggled there for about 5 minutes, unable to make the moves up or down at this point. I finally felt my fingers sliding off the holds ignoring my silent, pleading commands not to let go. I looked down to see my “OK” pin and nut about 10 feet below my feet. The next piece (the fixed nut I had not inspected) was only dimly visible in the glow of my headlamp beam. I couldn’t remember what gear I had placed before that.
“Falling!!”
I was off. Falling in the dark is a very strange experience. It felt like I was in space. I could not see anything. I could feel that I was falling, but couldn’t see that I was falling or what I was falling towards.
I ended up contacting the rock with my back and the back of my head. Fortunately, I had been wearing my bullet pack all day with a little bit of water and a warm jacket for belays. That and my helmet made for a soft landing. Things would have gone very badly at this point had I not been wearing a helmet as the back of my helmet smacked the rock with a rather terrific force.
“OK.” I said out loud to myself. I was OK. I found this fact rather surprising. I wiggled all my limbs and found them to be in fine working order. I looked up to see the nut and pin about 15 feet above me. “Hmmm…” I thought. “That’s the longest lead fall you’ve ever taken.” 25 feet. In the dark. Onto questionable gear. It held. I was fine. I was surprised.
I hollered over to Nick that I was going to climb back up to where I had fallen from and build an anchor to bring him over. He shouted something completely unintelligible back at me. I would later learn that he thought he heard me say that I had broken my ankle. So, on two different sides of a rock, connected by 80 or so feet of rope, Nick and I were living our own private hells.
I got back up to my new favorite piece of gear without too much trouble and clipped in direct to it while I built an anchor and equalized it with a cordalette. I yelled “Off Belay!” to Nick but again got a garbled response. We had worked out a rope tug system and I tried that a couple times until the message was finally transmitted through all the rope drag. I pulled the rope tight to him and put him on belay, again communicating with failed attempts at yelling and rope tugs. After about 10 minutes I could feel that he had started climbing.
It was quite a relief when Nick finally came around the corner and we could see and talk to each other. The first thing he asked was if I was all right. I replied that I was and this was when he told me he thought I had broken my ankle. I then apologized profusely for the mess I had gotten us in. I stated my firm preference for going down at this point. My plan was to rap off the anchor I had just built and then probably a second one before reaching the ground.
When Nick got to the Aussie’s fixed nut (15 feet to my left and 10 feet below me) he said that there was a good pinch we could sling. Excellent. He rigged that with a short piece of cordalette (which I had cut with my Simon Yates Belay Knife) and then brought me over to him. I was starting the rap off the cordalette and an old locker while Nick was trying to retrieve the Aussie’s nut. In the process he dropped his nut tool. The distant clanging of his tool against the ground gave us a pretty good indication that this was not going to be a single rappel.
I rappelled about 50 feet before I was getting to a point where the rock below me and to my right became overhung enough that I would not be able to touch the rock if I rappelled much further. I felt certain that the rope would not get me to the ground, but that if I built an anchor here, we could get to the ground. So, I started looking around for an anchor.
The best I could find was a small horn off to my left. It was about 6 inches tall and 4 or 5 inches across at its base. Not the most inspiring rappel anchor of all time, but adequate nonetheless. I built a gear anchor, clipped in, took myself off rappel and told Nick to come down.
Nick wasn’t exactly thrilled about the new anchor, but we were both laughing and joking with each other about the whole situation. Neither of us freaked out or got mad at the other. That part of the evening, at least, was going well.
I had Nick rappel off the horn with a doubled 2-foot fling around it and a locking biner attaching the rope. As I dropped one end of the rope I heard it smack against the ground below… Or was that a ledge?
As Nick rappelled I was still clipped into the gear anchor and the rope was backed up onto the gear anchor as well. Had the horn parted ways with the rock, Nick would have hopefully been caught by the gear anchor. If not, we would both be pulled into the darkness below.
Nick got to terra firma about 70 feet below. He stayed on rappel and walked around a little before confirming that he was indeed on the ground. My heart lightened a little. Now for the exciting part.
I clipped in my belay device and clipped in directly to the rappel anchor. I then proceeded to unclip from my gear anchor and take it apart. I checked the horn and the sling one last time before taking a deep breath and weighting it. I unclipped from it and began to rappel very carefully and very smoothly. A few minutes later I was on terra firm and pretty well thrilled about it.
We pulled my rope and went home. We had gotten away unscathed and only losing a 10 foot length of cordalette, an old 2’ runner, and two old lockers. And we had a great story to tell in exchange for the gear.
Lessons learned:
-Leading near your limit at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day are different things entirely.
-Climbing anything in the dark makes the moves considerably harder.
-Headlamps are a good thing to have in your pocket.
-Helmets kick ass!
-#10 BD stoppers rule!
-Nick is a good belayer and even better epic partner
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jefffski
Oct 11, 2004, 3:05 AM
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well done. you kept your head in a tough situation.
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climbsomething
Oct 11, 2004, 3:30 AM
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That really wasn't an epic. You got benighted and you took a leader fall. You had a headlamp, and you weren't hurt. Being scared isn't an epic.
But one thing you didn't mention in your list of lessons learned is that you shouldn't have followed within 10 feet of a party of 3, on a multipitch lead at your limit, in the dark. Bailing from that first pitch would have been prudent, don't you think?
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texasclimber
Oct 11, 2004, 4:30 AM
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I don't know...that story seems epic to me! Epic or not, great story. On the same note, I was in Potrero Chico years ago and 2 buddies of mine got stuck on a route, in the dark, 5 pitches up with a stuck rope. Glad they made it down safe; we quickly fed them with warm tacos
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deschamps1000
Oct 11, 2004, 5:04 AM
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Wow! We were actually hiking out the road below you in the dark that night. We saw your headlamps up there, and heard you yelling at each other. We couldn't hear what you were saying. We didn't hike up and offer help because you had headlamps, and we assumed would be fine with headlamps, which was correct. Sounds like a good lesson to learn from! We were climbing on the east face all day, and were happy to have our headlamps for the way down.
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ascender30
Oct 12, 2004, 7:13 AM
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Smart move to find that last rap station before you got too far away from the rock over the cave there on the south end. You DEFINITELY wouldn't have had enough rope to get to the ground from above there. And from your story, sounds like you pumped out on the hardest part of ECSTASY.
Dumb move to start out on Ecstasy at 6 pm in the fall, especially behind a party of three. I've seen SO many people creeping up that route. A party of three, especially, has the potential to be on it for hours, even though it's 3 relatively easy short pitches (or 2 long ones if you know where you're going.
Had you ever climbed Ecstasy before? Sounds like it was your first time on it, judging from the rope drag. How much have you climbed at Seneca?
Hope you don't find me too critical...I'm glad you guys made it down alright. I've often wondered if anyone got in trouble over that cave and had to rap off.....
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danhickstein
Oct 12, 2004, 11:40 AM
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Good thing that the nut caught you. Those Seneca pitons are about 30 years past their expiry date. The only time I trust them is if I know that John Gregory has just lead the route. Then I know that they've all been thoroughly tested. Also, isn't Ecstacy a 5.6? It's easier than Soler and Traffic Jam. Good on you for climbing until dark. It's not a real climbing trip until you hike out by headlamp.
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mischief8
Oct 12, 2004, 12:21 PM
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No, it is a 5.7
daniela
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fanederhand
Oct 12, 2004, 1:13 PM
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In reply to: That really wasn't an epic. You got benighted and you took a leader fall. You had a headlamp, and you weren't hurt. Being scared isn't an epic. But one thing you didn't mention in your list of lessons learned is that you shouldn't have followed within 10 feet of a party of 3, on a multipitch lead at your limit, in the dark. Bailing from that first pitch would have been prudent, don't you think?
I agree with Texasclimber, that was an epic, a happy ending epic at that. Thanks for sharing this with us Climbingnurse your lessons learned are good ones, I also agree with climbsomething that following another party that close is not a good idea unless you have an agreement that they will help out if you get into trouble and that you can watch them close for rockfall, rockfall is a big issue in muti-pitch climbs, as you probably know already. Now wouldn't it have been nice if they (the Aussie team) had dropped you a line to help out when you needed it!. Anyway good luck in nursing school, and climb safe.
Frank
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crater
Oct 12, 2004, 1:45 PM
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I was hoping that you would say that you accidently knocked off the television size boulder on West pole. I will kick that down in the middle of winter this year. It is above the first roof.
Don't trust pins at Seneca. I bet you clipped the one on the first pitch of Marshal's madness. It is just below the small overhang. It is loose. I will rip that out too.
Yes, I am the safety police.
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tradmanclimbs
Oct 12, 2004, 3:01 PM
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Sounds like you guys did just fine. the only real mistake was following a threesom that late in the day. getting pumped out and falling though not desireable can happen. kudos for wearing a helmet. Did you have doubble ropes. I find them quite usefull at seneca. Even with doubles you may not have reached the ground in one rap. Best to keep the rope signals really simple. when the leader pulls up all the rope and then keeps incistantly PULLING it means it is time for the second to climb 8^)
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dennyg
Oct 12, 2004, 8:27 PM
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Thatz Funny
Pat and I where just talking about that second belay...
.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dcoutdoorrockclimbing/message/8399
Three pins rite...top two marginal
{ depends wheather u tied off or cliped} ...
First won look good to me thow
and one of my favorit climbs ends that same station...sixth sence 9+
Live to fight another day...ok!
glad everyone made it safely
Dennis
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david.yount
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Oct 12, 2004, 8:39 PM
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headlamp in pocket - beautiful
helmet on head- even more beautiful
puffy pack on back - interesting for me to consider
good choices!
radios - priceless, and they rarely don't work
placing solid gear more often than 15-feet on a route that's not a comfortable onsight considering the conditions..... something to consider?
double length, 4-foot, runners when your intended line has corners, vertical then traverse right then vertical again...... something to consider?
david yount.
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crater
Oct 12, 2004, 8:43 PM
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It is a single pin under the over hang as you get to the first belay. I shifted it with my fingers the last time I was on marshal's. I was beginning to burn so I just set it a bit with my hands and pulled up over the overhang. We were going to Crack of Dawn so I never got a chance to pull it. I think the way that someone would fall on the overhang would pull the pin. But your pro should be good below so I didn't think it was much of a big thing to pull it. I'll get to it later if it doesn't get pulled before then.
I only use pins when I am trying to move fast over easy terraine. I know that sounds odd. It is more of just a tiny back up when I am on "good" ground and don't have time to slam in a good piece.
I have liked Ectasy in one pitch with NO rope drag by doing this.
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j_ung
Oct 12, 2004, 8:45 PM
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Totally off subject, but did several routes at Seneca get downgraded? I remember West Pole being a .7 originally, but then being upgraded to an .8. Same for Ecstacy. I also remember Sixth Sense being a .10a.
Not that any of this matters, as they're all great lines. I just thought it was curious considering Seneca's rep for sand bags and the prior grade changes. I also haven't climbed there for some time.
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crater
Oct 12, 2004, 8:58 PM
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Where did you see those grades?
I hope they were not changed. Just more of the "give me" society, why work for anything when you can just change the rules?
Yeah I am beginning to rant.
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cchildre
Oct 12, 2004, 9:10 PM
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Nice! I love the near miss stories. I prefer them to the fatatilities that roll through every so often. Great info and good story over all. Things of this nature help me to stay on top of things safety wise. More reports like this should get posted. Would stick up my near miss but I can't stand the criticizm from everyone decrying my fall as 'not epic' or not a 'really accident' of coarse I consider rope burn an injury. In my book a nasty fall, weather you were hurt or not is worth hearing about. Can you have a better case for a brain bucket? Think of yourself unconscious hangning inverted on that rope in the dark. What does your partner do? How screwed are the both of you. Could have been worse but luckily you shined through.
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aikibujin
Oct 12, 2004, 9:14 PM
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Glad to hear that you're ok, Keith. I've climbed all those routes as a second. Nice lead on West Pole. That overhang scared the tart out of me, it took me a good five minutes standing under the overhang before I worked up enough courage to commit the moves (as a second!). The moves aren't particularly difficult, just scary.
Good to see that you and your partner kept a cool head and didn't make things any worse by panicking and stepping on each other's toes. Whether it was an epic or not... I think each person are allowed to have their own definition. One person's dirt hill is another person's Everest. Heck, I had mini-epics on sport routes! :oops:
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pjcozzi
Oct 12, 2004, 9:24 PM
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Great story. Good lessons learned. As soon as I read this
In reply to: During that time the sun went down. I cast off to lead the final pitch with my headlamp turned on and the last Australian 10 feet ahead of me.
I knew you were heading for trouble. It seems so many accidents happen at night.
Glad your ok.
Pat.
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crag
Oct 12, 2004, 9:28 PM
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Sounds like you might have gotten a bit off route, although just guessing from what you've written. Perhaps maybe onto 6th Sense, which goes 10a new, or 5.9 old if memory serves me correct.
It's not about how or why it happened it’s about what you did. Maintain! In the grand scheme, what happened to you is not really all that epic, but working through each objective was well done.
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moeman
Oct 12, 2004, 11:04 PM
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In reply to: I was hoping that you would say that you accidently knocked off the television size boulder on West pole. I will kick that down in the middle of winter this year. It is above the first roof. Don't trust pins at Seneca. I bet you clipped the one on the first pitch of Marshal's madness. It is just below the small overhang. It is loose. I will rip that out too. Yes, I am the safety police.
That chockstone on West Pole is a bit of a mixed blessing. It scares a lot of people when they pull on it and it shifts, but then again if you use it carefully it makes for a fantastic jug hold. Once that chockstone goes (hopefully when no one is underneath), that move will end up being a good bit harder, since your nice juggy chochstone would be replaced with a wierd offwidthsy section- potentially making the route a bit harder-maybe even giving it the bump to 5.8 (yes, it is still 5.7+ now and Ecstacy is still 5.7, so don' listen to any claims otherwise)
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climbingnurse
Oct 12, 2004, 11:30 PM
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Hey y'all. Thanks for reading my lloonngg TR. I'm surprised this many people read the whole thing. Glad some of you felt like you could learn from it. That was the point.
I'd encourage everyone to post about their near misses, but you will have to endure people who will tell you that their epic is bigger than yours. Such is life. And then there are people who will tell you that you made mistakes. Well, yes. Did you read my title? Anyway... Happy to have people extract lessons, but let's try and keep a positive attitude. mmm'kay?
Yeah, I usually climb with radios on multi-pitch. I haven't been able to find mine since my trip to NH though... Doh!
I was actually right above that cave when I took my fall. Nick built an anchor a little to the left and I traversed over to start the rap from there. The 2nd anchor was also a little to the left of that. Had I gone straight down from where I had fallen... It would have been a much longer night.
No, I didn't have a 2nd rope. That would have certainly made matters less complicated. I could have gone straight to the ground from just about anywhere. I hate doubles though.
West Pole and Ecstasy are still 7's. And Marshall's Madness is still a 9. But umm... They're at Seneca. Marshall's Madness would be a hard 10 if it had bolts on it at Rumney... (But let's not start that business.)
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tradmanclimbs
Oct 12, 2004, 11:38 PM
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Crater. you shouldn't pitch any blocks unless they come off with your bare hands. If you have to use a pry bar or a jack that rock was meant to be there. Nothing wrong with that rattely chockstone in the 2nd west pole overhang :twisted: Why do so mant people think they have climbed west pole when they get to the rap tree? the direct finish is a must do 8^)
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pattray
Oct 13, 2004, 12:53 AM
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My partner Ryan and I were heading down for Beer and Pizza at the front porch when we saw you guys up there, it looked like there were 5 or so guys spread out all the way up to the top. That pin you clipped into was just about 15 to 16 feet from the second belay station. Good job on getting down.
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crag
Oct 13, 2004, 12:03 PM
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In reply to: I was actually right above that cave when I took my fall
Me thinks for sure that you were off route, although it depends on what your perspective was when you say "right above the cave" Again glad to read that you and your partner were able to keep your composure.
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