Prime jackassery

[wiley_p]

I pulled a funny stunt this morning. Yesterday I went out with a buddy and his wife up to Baker lake to climb a big old growth I found. We had to pack gear thru deep snow and spent a good deal of time getting everything rigged.By the end of if it all I was spent. Of course we celebrated our climb in proper fashion.

So this morning I set a line in one of the firs at the house, planed on doing few laps. I did 3 to the first stance which is around 75 feet. I came down, drank some water, and decide to do one more and only go about 50'. I was getting flared, decided to set my hitch, and thought it was weird that it wouldn't set. That was when I realized i had really messed up BAD. I forgot to clip my system to my bridge. I had a foot ascender on the rope, and my lanyard over the shoulder tending my rig up. I barely made it the next 25 feet to where I could get feet on the first limb and clip into my system.


A reminder, ALWAYS, ALWAYS double check your rigging before you commit. I believe I got off lucky.

 

[Bodean]

Dang man, I second that.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Thanks for the reminder.... Be careful out there!
Happy you made it with out incident Dave .

 

[NeTree]

Holy chit! Jew gotta be careful mang.

 

[PCTREE]

Dave, don't know if you read a few months ago I had a similar deal. I rode the crane ball up to about 90' in an oak, tied in and then pitched my rope bag down only to notice that there was a knot in my climb line. I had a scare belt around the tree so unclipped the spliced eye from my hitch climber and unclipped the hitch climber so I could untie the knot. Threw spliced end around branch and clipped it to the hitch climber then untied the scare belt and leaned back to descend but didn't feel the rope take up, looked down to realize I hadn't clipped the hitch climber back to the bridge..... Think it was Gerry who said " luck is the things that don't happen...."

Glad you aint dead yet man...

 

[sotc]

 

[MasterBlaster]

We all have had our HOLT SHIT moments, for sure, and we're all the lucky ones for getting away with it. Good to hear it was merely a learning experience for you! Plus, you're an outstanding climber/rigger, so that just goes to show it could happen to anyone... even the best of us.

 

[chris_girard]

Wow, that is VERY scary, glad you're ok man.

 

[Jack]

what he ... ah ... said!

 

[Paul B]

Damn dude, thats lovely country (been there seen that), glad you got the chance to talk about your F up. work it safe Dave.

 

[Bermy]

Yoikes! Thanks for telling us!
Moment for reflection, I do sometimes unclip my hitchclimber system to pass it around a branch (while clipped in with a lanyard) rather than go down and back up...check double check when reattaching!!!

 

[gf beranek]

Thinking about where you're going instead of where you're at. Been there a few times. I should have been killed numerous times but it just wasn't my time I guess. Though fate didn't let me off easy on a few of those times. Man that hurts.

Good to see you're still with us, Dave. A wiser man today.

 

[PCTREE]

A wiser man today.

I sorely doubt that

 

[wiley_p]

Thinking about where you're going instead of where you're at.

Gerry, that is the fact of the matter right there.

 

[pete mctree]

Glad it ended well. Incidents such as this do strengthen you focus

 

[Burnham]

Wake up call for us all...happy to have it come out as a "painless" lesson.

 

[stehansen]

Doing something like you did is my worst fear about climbing. Glad it all worked out and was just a warning.

 

[Stumper]

Scary stuff Dave!

 

[MasterBlaster]

What's up, J?

 

[Stumper]

Hi Butch, Well not the temps-Today we barely made it into the 40's and tomorrow is supposed to stay below freezing all day....but had a lot of 60 degree days in January so I shouldn't complain. Mostly just work-- broke up with the GF which isn't pleasant but IS a relief.

 

[MasterBlaster]

That's a bummer to hear, but wth, now you can find a new one!

 

[Stumper]

Right...or not find one. In any case life goes on. Perhaps without drama for a day or two!

 

[pantheraba]

I appreciate you sharing the incident, Wiley_p...I have done more conscious visual checking of attachments since reading your account.

Being deliberate about safety does not usually take very long. Maybe the actions we use to clip/unclip, change attachments can become "second nature" but confirming that all is correct should be more intentional than cursory.