Friday July 22, 2005. I drove home from California where I had just finished a job for work. I was gone for two weeks installing an audio/video system for an Indian Casino. The weather back in Utah was perfect, which gives me an itch to get up in the mountains to climb. Friday night I prepare to climb the next day, call a few friends, make sure my gear is in order, and check the weather online. All looks good except a few rain clouds that may come out in the afternoon, but chances are slim.
Saturday July 23, 2005. Waking up early, to make sure I get my errands finished so I have the rest of the day to climb. The weather looks good with just a few small white puffy clouds in the sky. At about ten A.M. my buddy calls and cancels, he wont be able to make the climbs today because something came up. That leaves just three of us, my buddy Casey, Eric, and myself.
Kalen, the friend who cancelled, was one of the better climbers I've climbed with. We were taking Casey and Eric to give them some experience. Casey has climbed before and Eric only a few times. I decided that with Casey's help we could still pull it off, besides the weather was just perfect and I needed to get up before work sent me out of town again.
So together we headed up the canyon to the spot we had previously agreed on. The only thing left to do was the strenuous hike up to the base of the climb. It was a zig zagging trail at the beginning and turned quickly into a steep ascent of scree and loose rock. After a few curse words and loose rock in our shoes, we made it to the ledge at the bottom of our climb. The ledge was only about 8 feet wide traveling along the side of the mountain. We unpacked, geared up, stretched, and did the usual safety tests. All was good and we were ready to go.
I was the lead climber and Casey was belaying, I looked over my route imagining my exact moves. Then I started to climb. It was an intermediate climb, which at the time was not terribly difficult for me, but was still a little intimidating. Relaxed but excited, I work my way up. about 3/4 the way up I start to get a little tired or 'pumped' and decide to take a break. I call down to my belayer to 'take' or pull in the slack on the rope and hold me in place via my gear placed into the rock.
I shake out the sting in my arms and take the opportunity to look around...what a beautiful canyon! I look up the canyon and could see the rain clouds brewing and noticed the wind started to pick up a little. Well I didn't want to wait to long if those clouds were coming in, the climb is almost done and my friends were getting excited to tackle this beast. So I continue, making it to the top with no more difficulty. Placing my gear and yelling down to my belayer 'take' so he knows I'm at the top. At this point we couldn't see each other anymore. The climb was a little overhung and at the top was a small shelf for me to stand on. The wind had picked up a little more by now and my voice was unheard. I yelled again and waited to see if they heard me. I heard something shouted back in my direction and felt the rope's slack get taken in, so I assume Casey is ready to lower me down slowly to the lower ledge.
I take one last look around at the beautiful canyon below and step backwards to allow Casey to lower me... I just dropped... 50 feet. As I was falling, I instinctively went into my falling position, knees slightly bent, arms at the ready, feet ready to brace for impact against the rock wall. All climbers have the opportunity of falling. It is a regular occurrence, and is no surprise to me at first. I was expecting the rope to catch and swing me into the rock face. It never did. I fell quickly too fast to really think anything else and barely landing on the ledge my friends were on. At first landing on my feet, but immediately falling to my back.
Apparently Casey believed I was going to repel down on my own. Miscommunication. Now what? At first I just lay there pissed, I go through a little mental check: first, I go through what just happened trying to figure it all out, then I start to feel some pain so I check to see what's broken. My wrist is already swollen and my feet really hurt... there is a slight pain in my back and I taste blood...
Casey hurries over to me and is just freakin' out. As I'm checking to see my injuries, I'm also trying to calm him down. Finally he starts to think straight and tells Eric to hike down and call 911. There was no service here, or anywhere 'till halfway back down the canyon.
As he rushes away to call for help, other climbers around the area rush over after hearing the commotion. I lay wondering what will happen to me and notice the wind has died down. I also notice that I had fallen in the perfect spot. There was a boulder next to me on the right and sharp jagged scree on the left, and beyond the ledge was 200 feet of steep scree down to the canyon floor. I didn't dare move for fear of making the injuries worse.
We all calmed down after we realized I was dead yet. Then the jokes started to come out. Nothing like a good joke after you just about killed yourself. The pain of laughing was too much though so I tried to calm my nerves by singing... not recommended. We started talking about the oddest things to keep my mind off the pain in my wrist and feet, which was unbearable with my climbing shoes on.
In case your were wondering, yes, the body does slightly bounce. In my case at least... not the most pleasant feeling in the world.
It toke Canyon Rescue 2 hours to reach me. Finally the wait is almost over! The first to arrive is a police officer who was kind of a big guy. He was breathing so hard from the hike that before coming over to check on me he sits down on a rock to catch his breath. The EMTs were in far better shape, and immediately went to work assessing my situation. One stepped over me trying to be careful not to fall himself, but ended up kneeling on my wrist. This was the most pain I had felt the whole time. That's when they decided to give me a dose of that sweet medicine morphine.
They put me on a stretcher and hiked me down to the road were the ambulance was parked. They drove me back up the canyon to Life Flight and flew me to LDS Hospital.
I had a broken wrist, 2 hairline fractures in my back, and my feet were bruised. Miracle. I stayed there for a week and ended up having 3 surgeries on my wrist. After 18 months I was finally healed.
After all this I think the most important thing I learned was that I now know I don't need to use any climbing equipment (ropes mostly) under 50 feet. Stay tuned I got some pictures I'll throw up soon.
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