I fell yesterday

Matias

Matias

Been here much more than a while
Location
Butte County
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So, the more I think about it, the more I see how I could have prevented this. I was 40' up and 30' out on a very sideways branch in a big Raywood ash, and I was on a base tied SRS with my rope over a decent central-ish union up high- about 60'. I had finished one zone and moved to this next one, and pulled my rope through a second union, half of which is pictured above. About 4'-5' above this union were my target branches. I got into position with my feet in the bigger fork there where I had routed my rope through and lanyarded into a smaller one at chest level. It felt a little sketchy when I shifted my weight a little, but it didn't crack or even bend that much, so I proceeded to make a little face cut with my handsaw. Halfway through the back cut, I guess the jostling became too much, and suddenly the entire branch broke off at the union I hoped would catch me if the smaller one I had my lanyard on broke. My rope slid down to the next big union, and I fell upside down into a 20' whipper, with the 100 pound branch connected to me by my lanyard. I grazed my shoulder on who knows what, and I dropped my Silky, and I fell for long enough to think, "oh shit, I'm still falling". I was unhurt, so I went ahead and got back to work, but nobody could believe what they just saw.

I know Raywoods to be brittle pieces of shit, that grow in annoying patterns that make pruning decisions difficult, but I have been on thinner branches in many other trees of the species and have never even accidentally broken a branch by leaning on it, which I have done in Liquidamber and others.

I had a premonition but I ignored it. I will probably listen to that little voice if it speaks up again. I got lucky and fell into open air between limbs. I didn't even get any rush of adrenaline, just embarassment.

I will definitely be more cautious with my angles moving forward.
 
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Glad you are ok man, that’s a scary fall. Those little voices never fail to let us know. While climbing various species of Ash, I will always prefer to cano-base and add a lot of redundancy through unions and distribute my weight, spreading the load and bringing branches into compression even if it takes more time-I find it to be worth the peace of mind.

My little voice told me today that I would need a scrench before going up a doug fir, and sure enough I threw the chain during 5th cut on a larger stub finish cut.
 
False Hemlock said:
Glad you are ok man, that’s a scary fall. Those little voices never fail to let us know. While climbing various species of Ash, I will always prefer to cano-base and add a lot of redundancy through unions and distribute my weight, spreading the load and bringing branches into compression even if it takes more time-I find it to be worth the peace of mind.

My little voice told me today that I would need a scrench before going up a doug fir, and sure enough I threw the chain during 5th cut on a larger stub finish cut.
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That little voice doesn't say much, but when it speaks, I'll listen closely. I am glad it wasn't my upper TIP, which I did go and double secure after the fall, JIC. The angles in this thing sucked, but I could have used another rope. At least there's still next time. And yea, cano-base tie FTW
 
Thanks guys. I keep running it over in my head, trying to understand how I'm still here, and unharmed. I feel like that was supposed to fuck me up. I keep thinking that I got to keep more than I'm supposed to when better climbers than me have had so much taken away. I appreciate the reactions here; haven't read one of these threads with this tone, and it really makes it hit harder, and I feel like I needed a good smack to make it feel like what it was. I am glad to be able to tell the story; it took a day to get past the feeling of utter embarassment. I expected the admonitions to be a little more harsh, to be frank. Thank you all.
 
Treezybreez said:
Wow, I’m glad you walked away from this job without a scratch. God must have plans for you. Do you think that your climbing line was compromised after the fall?
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What are the odds I would have been climbing an all nylon rope that day?! I worry about that, but it felt like a soft catch. I am replacing my bridge cords and downgrading the rope though. Justin Case says it best practice.
 
Matias, glad you're OK and hope you're not all bruised up at minimum. Sometimes it takes a while for this stuff to come out. A 20' whipper is nothing to play with, gravity being a squared dimension. In good light, check your harness (tree gear isn't meant for fall protection just work positioning), webbing, etc. and esp. the "feel" of the rope(s) - I've seen alpine rope that looked OK on the surface/ sheath but had something lumpy happening in the core on closer feely exam. It was retired and chop job done on it. If the fall and arrest involved you and wood bits and no dynamic belay (solid base tie) the forces can get huge real quick like. Church on Sunday?
Cheers buddy.

"Every day we look at the grass from the green side rather than from the brown side is a pretty good day."
 
Addenda: Tom/ Mark and all the guys that are way, way more experienced than me - I'v always thought how useful it would be to work on a list of tree species that are known for having week unions/ propensity for falling apart, for the newer folks getting into tree work (and for old farts that forget to match our socks in the morning)?
 
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Glad it wasn't worse and you're telling the story with an unbroken body. We don't have Raywood Ash in our neck of the woods. Anyone know of a Midwest equivalent for reference, in terms of characteristics?
 
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