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Activity
Other
When
Injury
Serious injury requiring medical treatment
Incident
Weather: Clear, Dry.
Familiarity: Locals.
Skill level: Debatable.
Objectives: Climb, laugh, make memories, survive.
Route: incident occurred off-route, see below.
Hazard evaluation: see below.
Having been foiled by the crux move of an otherwise charming route, we were forced to abandon a brand new quickdraw and retreat. An abseil was used to recover the quickdraw, after which one person had scrambled up the easy slope to the right of the wall to recover the ab rope.
The incident occurred on the descent (same route as ascent) following recovery of the now coiled ab rope; the rope was thrown down to allow hands to be used for balance. The person checked the stability of a large rock at the top of the slope and satisfied themselves that it was stable and connected to the planet. As they passed the rock it came loose and fell away causing the person to also fall.
A strong attempt was made by the person to sing Led Zepplins 1970 hit, Immigrant Song, while freefalling roughly 1/3rd the height of the crag, this was a bit weak so the person tried again while tumbling the rest of the way to the bottom of the slope, achieving multiple smaller bounces but getting nowhere near the original vocals until finally stopping next to the now stationary rock at the bottom of the slope.
First aid happened. As the person had maintained consciousness throughout the event and felt able to walk, the decision was made to self evacuate and travel to A+E.
Final tally:
Multiple bumps and swellings to the head
1 x Wounded ear
1 x Subluxed Shoulder
1 x Fractured Ankle
Gravel rash that would make a 2nd hand Waka Tuna look factory fresh.
Did we meet our objectives? Yes
Lessons
Helmets work better when worn on the head. Wet wipes can go out of date. After much discussion, all of our party agreed that we would each have conducted ourselves in the same way. There was no single action taken that directly contributed to the the event that any other person would not also have taken. Two of us had travelled the exact route that same evening without issue. Unfortunately, the third pass was one too many for us but if it hadn't happened then, we strongly suspect that it would have happened to the next person to pass that way.
Would a helmet have made a difference? It wouldn't have stopped the boulder from relocating, it wouldn't have saved the ankle or the shoulder and the person would still have hit their head multiple times and shredded their back... Will we keep our helmets on in future anyway? Absolutely... probably...
Causes
Anonymous?
Yes
Reported By
Observer
Wearing Helmets?
Rescue Services Involved?
None. Just a positive attitude and long list of motivational phrases.

Author
17 June 2025 at 15:35:55
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