Burning a Joker on All too Obvious - Spearhead- COLORADO USA
Back in the valley for a visit to Spearhead, this time to try and climb a slightly more difficult route than last time. All too Obvious, 5.11 R is a beautiful line that goes more or less up the middle of the wall. The route weaves in and out of crack systems with technical face climbing, sometimes a little bit run-out but never dangerous. One could compare the style of the climbing to Middle Cathedral in Yosemite Valley, the route Stoner's Highway comes to mind.
My partner Mark Ferguson and I planned on staying up at the bivouac site for two nights. A quick stop at the backcountry office at the park entrance to collect the permit and we are off on the 2+ hour trek it takes to reach the wall. Gorgeous weather welcomed us into the valley as we began our afternoon approach but as is common in the alpine the afternoon gave way to threatening clouds. Hiking into an area you must go into the experience with a "no expectations" attitude. Rain, lightning, altitude sickness are just a few things that can turn your climbing trip into a beautiful hiking trip with all of your climbing and bivvy gear in your pack.
The beginning was slow and methodical on the easier but wet pitches that lead to Middle Earth ledge. As we climbed up through the slippery cracks I was looking more and more forward to leading the crux higher up on the face. Difficult slab moves gain a twin corner system. As I led out I could not make the moves on my on-sight attempt. A nice clean fall onto a fat bolt allowed me to rest and think about the moves for another try. Again, no success! I take another fall and just when I collect myself the alpine Gods took over. Dark storm clouds appear above the summit and to the north in the blink of an eye. Our choice is a simple one, go down.
Mark led the rappels and as we came closer to gaining Middle Earth ledge the weather became more intense. The wind picked up and some light rain started coming down. Mark decided to skip a belay station in hopes of finding another anchor further down the face. Unable to locate one, he stopped on Middle Earth ledge. My job was then to go to the next anchor and rig the next rappel, allowing us to continue downward progress.
The next part of this story is difficult for me to talk about [ego] but I hope it helps me re-enforce the lesson I learned and maybe it will help someone else by reading about it. Believe me, you don't want to learn this lesson first hand, and no climber should ever have to. I committed one of the cardinal sins of climbing and I am beyond lucky to have lived through it. When I reached the rappel that mark skipped I stopped and clipped myself into the anchor that was constructed with two pitons and 7 mil chord in a "sliding x", tied off with a double fisherman's knot. My next action should have caused my death. Without bounce testing the anchor, I pulled the ropes and threaded the rappel ring. I assumed the 7 mil chord was safe based on looking at its color for signs of sun damage and pulling on it with one hand. I tied my friction hitch to back up my rappel device and went to weight the rope after disconnecting my personal anchor system. This haste was perhaps due the growing intensity of the rain, clouds and stupidity. Despite having deemed the anchor safe I did not commit totally to the rope. Call it God, a small voice inside my head, an innate survival mechanism, whatever you want but something kept me from committing totally to the belay and this is the only reason I am still alive. I slowly lowered myself onto the rope, clinging to the rock where the pitons were hammered into the dirty crack between the wall and a large flake. As I sat back in my harness the tension in the 7 mil chord came tight, I then let a little more weight off of my shoulders and hands onto the belay. What happened next was a worst nightmare scenario. The 7 mil chord snapped like a thin fishing line. There I was, roughly 60 meters above Middle Earth ledge in a free-solo space with the weight of both ropes pulling down on my harness, in the rain. My feet were pasted onto the wet rock face and my hands cinched down onto the cold granite. I knew exactly where I was right then. I knew exactly where death was. I knew exactly where life was. Mind and body were the only thing keeping me alive. As if a light switch was turned on, hard sleet unleashed from the sky above. Is this a fucking joke? I heel hooked the flake and hoisted my center mass onto the small ledge and clipped into one of the pitons. Gulp. After cutting away the death tat, leaving behind a double-length runner and a few biners I then continued on with my privileged life. When you have close call in the mountains and get lucky, the french say, " tu as brûlé un joker" or "You burned a joker". Easy lesson learned. We always read about it. Magazines and journals talk about it. The statistics state the facts : making errors while rappelling will likely kill us. As we climb more and more we get increasingly comfortable at belay stations, standing on ledges, in brief, being exposed. Remembering how exposed you are is the perspective we need to maintain. Here is an excellent video showing the proper procedure that would have kept me far away from this situation. The video is in french but the actions and method are what matters (see video here).
Here are some pics from that day:
My partner Mark Ferguson and I planned on staying up at the bivouac site for two nights. A quick stop at the backcountry office at the park entrance to collect the permit and we are off on the 2+ hour trek it takes to reach the wall. Gorgeous weather welcomed us into the valley as we began our afternoon approach but as is common in the alpine the afternoon gave way to threatening clouds. Hiking into an area you must go into the experience with a "no expectations" attitude. Rain, lightning, altitude sickness are just a few things that can turn your climbing trip into a beautiful hiking trip with all of your climbing and bivvy gear in your pack.
The beginning was slow and methodical on the easier but wet pitches that lead to Middle Earth ledge. As we climbed up through the slippery cracks I was looking more and more forward to leading the crux higher up on the face. Difficult slab moves gain a twin corner system. As I led out I could not make the moves on my on-sight attempt. A nice clean fall onto a fat bolt allowed me to rest and think about the moves for another try. Again, no success! I take another fall and just when I collect myself the alpine Gods took over. Dark storm clouds appear above the summit and to the north in the blink of an eye. Our choice is a simple one, go down.
Mark led the rappels and as we came closer to gaining Middle Earth ledge the weather became more intense. The wind picked up and some light rain started coming down. Mark decided to skip a belay station in hopes of finding another anchor further down the face. Unable to locate one, he stopped on Middle Earth ledge. My job was then to go to the next anchor and rig the next rappel, allowing us to continue downward progress.
The next part of this story is difficult for me to talk about [ego] but I hope it helps me re-enforce the lesson I learned and maybe it will help someone else by reading about it. Believe me, you don't want to learn this lesson first hand, and no climber should ever have to. I committed one of the cardinal sins of climbing and I am beyond lucky to have lived through it. When I reached the rappel that mark skipped I stopped and clipped myself into the anchor that was constructed with two pitons and 7 mil chord in a "sliding x", tied off with a double fisherman's knot. My next action should have caused my death. Without bounce testing the anchor, I pulled the ropes and threaded the rappel ring. I assumed the 7 mil chord was safe based on looking at its color for signs of sun damage and pulling on it with one hand. I tied my friction hitch to back up my rappel device and went to weight the rope after disconnecting my personal anchor system. This haste was perhaps due the growing intensity of the rain, clouds and stupidity. Despite having deemed the anchor safe I did not commit totally to the rope. Call it God, a small voice inside my head, an innate survival mechanism, whatever you want but something kept me from committing totally to the belay and this is the only reason I am still alive. I slowly lowered myself onto the rope, clinging to the rock where the pitons were hammered into the dirty crack between the wall and a large flake. As I sat back in my harness the tension in the 7 mil chord came tight, I then let a little more weight off of my shoulders and hands onto the belay. What happened next was a worst nightmare scenario. The 7 mil chord snapped like a thin fishing line. There I was, roughly 60 meters above Middle Earth ledge in a free-solo space with the weight of both ropes pulling down on my harness, in the rain. My feet were pasted onto the wet rock face and my hands cinched down onto the cold granite. I knew exactly where I was right then. I knew exactly where death was. I knew exactly where life was. Mind and body were the only thing keeping me alive. As if a light switch was turned on, hard sleet unleashed from the sky above. Is this a fucking joke? I heel hooked the flake and hoisted my center mass onto the small ledge and clipped into one of the pitons. Gulp. After cutting away the death tat, leaving behind a double-length runner and a few biners I then continued on with my privileged life. When you have close call in the mountains and get lucky, the french say, " tu as brûlé un joker" or "You burned a joker". Easy lesson learned. We always read about it. Magazines and journals talk about it. The statistics state the facts : making errors while rappelling will likely kill us. As we climb more and more we get increasingly comfortable at belay stations, standing on ledges, in brief, being exposed. Remembering how exposed you are is the perspective we need to maintain. Here is an excellent video showing the proper procedure that would have kept me far away from this situation. The video is in french but the actions and method are what matters (see video here).
Here are some pics from that day:
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