Injured climber at Octopus Garden on Sat. May 11, 2013

[123]

Anyone know what happened?

-What caused the accident?
-How's the climber?

Hope they are doing OK and we can all learn from the incident.

[tobyfk]

I heard an account from people at the cliff (Octopus Garden) a couple of hours after the accident: the victim had set up a top-rope at the top, then either he started rappelling and something failed, or he slipped before rappelling. Either way he fell the full height of the cliff.

No idea on his condition.

EDIT: information above is probably unreliable! See below.

[J Mace]

rapped halfway down, one half of the rope was not touching, a big group of people first time out for the season no one noticed including the guy rapping. Fell from a ledge around halfway or so. He apparently has been climbing for a few years. Broke his jaw, some bad wounds, maybe some other broken bones, never heard the prognosis.

[123]

Thanks Guys.

Hope they make a speedy recovery!

[123]

Isn't it a bit odd that there's no news coverage of this?

Most popular/populated (Van) climbing area on the west coast and I can't find a single story about it?

[jonny2vests]

Me & a few others were teaching at Call it a Day and we helped with the carry. The story J Mace gave is the one I heard.

[gamos]

hey folks, Greg here - I'm the guy who fell.

I'm at VGH now where I've had a rod thrown in my femur, multiple stitches, and facial surgery on my jaw nose and sinuses on Sunday. you might say I'm banged up, but it could be a lot worse.

I'm shocked this happened, as I've climbed solidly for four years, sport lead lots, set up lots of anchors, even bolted a few routes.

I think I got impatient to go, as the large group meant a slow setup. I would normally notice an uneven rope right away. don't usually throw knots in the end of ropes, have always simply looked first to confirm things are Ok.

I don't remember if I tossed the rope in this case; I always throw in two even halves, which maybe makes me less likely to consider it might not reach the ground.

I'll be back climbing, hopefully this fall!

[hans]

Glad you're going to be ok. I hope the recovery goes well, and maybe this will help all of us to be vigilant. Climbing is dangerous enough.

[squamish climber]

Greg, good to hear you survived this fall. Those are serious injuries so take care of yourself and best wishes for a steady recovery. That's not the first accident to happen at Octopus Garden. Everybody stay sharp out there.

I had a couple of questions:
- Were you wearing a helmet?
- What climb was it you were rapelling down
- What are the things you take away from the accident?

Heal up
BTW your former colleagues in Tumbler Ridge are following your recovery
Former Editor Recovering After Fall

[scrubber]

Kudos to you for having the guts to post up about your accident so that others might learn. I'm glad to hear you're going to be alright. Hopefully you came away from the incident with more than just one of your nine lives missing.

Kris

[c-plus]

Wow Greg- glad you're okay. Sounds like there'll be a lot of rehab, but it could have been worse. Kudos for posting up and I hope you recover quickly.

Just reminds you though that climbing can be pretty darn safe if, and only if, you do everything right. Get it wrong and...

[Brendan]

From what S&R told me, Greg was not wearing a helmet. They also mentioned that he smashed his face on a stump and apparently the helmet wouldn't have done much in the way of preventing it.

I had just finished TR soloing Senate Seat when they brought you past me. They stopped for a minute or two while regrouping and I walked over to have a look... your face was pretty badly smashed, your eyes were sealed shut and it looked like your right femur(*edit-or was it left? can't remember now cause you were all twisted up) was badly broken. Could have been worse.

It's really good to hear you're going to be ok.
Get well soon!

[gamos]

Thanks to everyone for the support, I really appreciate it. it would be easy to write me off as a reckless rookie after a fall like this; thanks for understanding this fall was a bit more of an anomaly given my experience.

I did not know until now that my face met a stump on the way down!

what I take away from this fall is the importance of knotting the rope ends before rapping. it's something every climber knows is an added level of safety when rapelling, but so few of us bother to do it.

I never thought I would fail to notice a rope hanging so unevenly, but somehow I did, so from now on.... knots.

I'm out of hospital now after staying exactly two weeks, and should be able to weight my left leg by early August.

[Jonny5]

I was bouldering that day and recognized one of the rescue workers as an old roommate of mine. I am very very new to bouldering and have not participated in other forms of climbing. My inexperience means that I'm not 100% sure what mistake you made (lingo issues). You better believe that I'm now more scared of climbing/heights than before and this healthy concern will lead to me researching about this "knotting the end of the ropes" situation that you speak of and use it when the time comes. Thanks for sharing your experience. J5

[J Mace]

I never thought I would fail to notice a rope hanging so unevenly, but somehow I did, so from now on.... knots.

Nor did anyone at the entire crag.

There is probably more to learn here than just knotting your ropes, such as communication, group size, and appropriate partners.

I hope your recovery goes well

J