Well, I managed my first serious injury while climbing. I was climbing with Amy Nail at Rumbling Bald in the Flakeview Area. She led Drivin' and Cryin' a balancey 5.10a with six bolts. I followed and made it to the third bolt when I lost my footing and when down. There was considerable rope stretch and slack, so I feel about 10-12 feet back down to the second bolt. As I was falling my left foot caught the wall and became hyper-extended upwards. I don't remember exact if I heard a noise when that happened, but I tried to put weight on it and climb, and after about 10-15 seconds, I realized there was a serious issue. I had Amy lower me to the ground, and that's when I realized I couldn't put weight on the foot.
Amy found two sticks for me to balance with, and I hopped out of the crag (about a mile) on my right foot, scrambling part of the way on my butt. She carried both packs out, shuttle style, one pack at a time.
I'm left with thinking about the fall and how I could have handled it better. As for falling off the route, it always takes me a little while to get the hang of balancey/slab-like routes. I wonder if I could have pushed away from the wall some to avoid falling along the wall and instead have fallen through the air.
Tomorrow I will go see an orthopedic doctor to assess the extent of the damage and get a sense of the recovery time. As for climbing, I will have an extended break from it unfortunately.
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