27/07/2024

Lord Stublock Deepvoid Breaks the Chain of Causation

Climber pulled off a torso size block between the 8th and 9th bolt, the rock felt ok until it wasnt. The climber fell immediately, quickly followed by the block with grazed their arm on the way down but misses the rope. The climber shouted "Rock" multiple times immediately and looked round during the fall and saw the block's trajection being alarmingly close to both their belayer and the adjacent belayer but miss them by a couple of metres hitting the bushes on the steep ground behind them; both belayers braced/ curled up quickly and held the rope for climber's fall superbly. The climber, belayer and also the adjacent pair all checked in with each other to make sure we were ok and what to do next. Other climbers at nearby sectors also called out to check we were ok. The climber double checked the surrounding rock to make sure what's left are sound and was initially happy to carry on but the route was slightly harder without the block and not in the right head space to push hard; stick clipped carefully the rest of the way up to retreat. Knocked and checked a few other spots carefully during the lower off to make sure no other rock was prone to detach soon. The crag and belay spot is on a narrow path which meant it was impossible for anyone to be resting or hanging out where the block landed. The climbers were somewhat familiar with the crag, certainly hazard aware as a habit and during the day of the incident; whether that's objective danger or factors contributing to human errors. Near miss, no major physical injury, some mental injury. Lucky day

28/05/2022

One Fine Day

Two blots up the route diverges into three, It was while assessing which line to take a large chunk of rock I was holding onto came out. Nearby climbers reckoned approximately the size of an under counter fridge. This caught my knee as it fell - ultimately requiring 5 stitches. Belayer was paying full attention and reacted quickly to press against the wall to avoid. People were walking on the path below as well but similarly alert to me climbing above. This could clearly have been an incredibly serious incident that we were luck to walk (limp) away from. Route picked as a warm up and based on guidebook description - 1 Star without falling rock symbol - see lessons learnt.

31/07/2021

Dust in the Wind

Waiting for Pregnant Pause to free up we decided to walk along and do Dust in the Wind. I led up and noting the Rockfax description of crumbly rock took my time and picked my way carefully up. Even so minor rockfall (pebbles etc) occurred, each time accompanied by the obligatory shout of Rock. The route looks chossy, and is in places but has surprisingly cleaned up in others. Reached the top, set anchors and descended. Second went up on top rope and near the top dislodged a large fist sized rock along with a number of pebbles etc, shouted rock. I watched the rock plummet down directly onto someone walking underneath the route on the narrow path. Luckily the person had heard the shout and had crouched down, even so the rock struck them on the shoulder, albeit luckily being deflected slightly by the large pack being worn at the time. Once second had descended we went over to the person and administered first aid and made sure they were ok. The injury was already presenting with a substantial bruise with a large hole where the rock had pierced the skin. We applied liquid bandage to stem the bleeding, all of us were wearing helmets and commented on how had it struck a few inches higher then the outcome could have been much worse, even with the helmets. Even so and looking around there were many climbers without helmets nearby (madness!) Injured party then walked out with help of a friend and hopefully sought medical attention to check for broken bones etc (hope you're ok if reading this).

30/07/2021

While walking down the path at the bottom of the crag, a climber on a route above the path shouted rock. The climber wasn't climbing directly above me. However the rock went a far enough distance that it still impacted my shoulder, causing a puncture wound.