Gimp.
That'd be me. I type here in the Bellingham Library and I have 26 min left to get this story out to you...
So, yesterday Jay and I decided to do the Grand Wall, which has two pitches of 11a (hard) on it, but all in all we are climbing at that level and it should not have been at all a problem for us. Two days before we had done another Squamish classic called Angel's Crest which is significantly easier, but a long day at 14 pitches. We rested for a day and went out yesterday morning to do the wall. It's a popular climb and we were happy to find no one on it, but they are doing a ton of roadwork in Squamish to prep for the Olympics and there was a HUGE jack hammer being used which made it hard to hear each other and just a bit unnerving the whole time. I was feeling kind of tired and a bit cold, but the pitch above me was only 10b (which I can easily lead without a problem) and a party had arrived below us, so I started off. There's a technique called lie backing where you essentially grab a crack with both hands and put your feet on the wall in front of the crack and walk yourself up. Think of sitting in a piked position in a corner and then walking yourself up the wall using a crack between the two walls. It's tough for me on a lot of levels, I don't like the exposure and I feel scared to take one hand off to place gear... mostly I'm just wimpy about lie backing. So-- it's good for me to do things that I am wimpy at, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger... Anyway, I got a piece in and worked my way another 6 feet or so up and then got a bit freaked. I got a piece in and it was good, but somehow in the midst of trying to clip it, I fell. That would have been ok except that I had the rope in my hand and somehow as I fell it wrapped around my right arm, so essentially all my weight landed on a rope wrapped around my arm. I wish I had a video, but that's how I remember it. If Jay would write on his blog you could hear a different perspective on what happened, but we all know that's not likely. So, I screamed like a little girl and was SURE that I had broken my arm. Jay lowered me about 20 feet to a rappel station and I used my left arm to clip myself in. I was holding my right arm as if it were broken and trying not to throw up or go completely into shock. We were about 400-500 feet off the deck at this point and needed to get down fast because I was almost hysterical. From that rap station Jay could lower me clear to the ledge that we started climbing on with our 200 ft rope. There was a guide there who was also a ski patroller and his client was a nurse. By this time I had a climbing sling supporting my arm, but the guide cut his t-shirt off and made me a more proper full sling. Jay did two rappels to get to where I was and then the guide lowered both of us down the to ground and we hiked out. Colin, the guide, also had called an ambulance for us, but we met the paramedics on the trail and had decided to come back to the states to go to the hospital in case it was something that was going to need our crappy insurance. I took two vicodin at the car and laid in the back of the Rialta making calls to my V-town friends who have friends and family in Washington. We made it to the ER about 4 hours after the accident and I finally got a chance to look at my arm. As I got less cautious with it (thanks to the vicodin) I was realizing that probably nothing was broken with the amount of pressure I could put on my elbow and my shoulder, but good lord to look at my arm-- it was HUGE.
To make a long story short, nothing is fractured. I don't know if this is good or bad. My bicep is the size of my calf and I can't straighten my arm at all. I have it wrapped in an ace bandage with two bags of ice on it and it's in a (real) sling. I am officially a gimp.
I have 6 minutes left on the internet. Mom, I hope this explains more about what happened. I'm fine is what it comes down to. The nurse and NP that I saw were worried about compartment syndrome, but it seems that is not likely at this point. I'm ok... :) Oh-- and Jay was incredible getting me out safely and reassuring me. He never ceases to be an amazing man!
So, yesterday Jay and I decided to do the Grand Wall, which has two pitches of 11a (hard) on it, but all in all we are climbing at that level and it should not have been at all a problem for us. Two days before we had done another Squamish classic called Angel's Crest which is significantly easier, but a long day at 14 pitches. We rested for a day and went out yesterday morning to do the wall. It's a popular climb and we were happy to find no one on it, but they are doing a ton of roadwork in Squamish to prep for the Olympics and there was a HUGE jack hammer being used which made it hard to hear each other and just a bit unnerving the whole time. I was feeling kind of tired and a bit cold, but the pitch above me was only 10b (which I can easily lead without a problem) and a party had arrived below us, so I started off. There's a technique called lie backing where you essentially grab a crack with both hands and put your feet on the wall in front of the crack and walk yourself up. Think of sitting in a piked position in a corner and then walking yourself up the wall using a crack between the two walls. It's tough for me on a lot of levels, I don't like the exposure and I feel scared to take one hand off to place gear... mostly I'm just wimpy about lie backing. So-- it's good for me to do things that I am wimpy at, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger... Anyway, I got a piece in and worked my way another 6 feet or so up and then got a bit freaked. I got a piece in and it was good, but somehow in the midst of trying to clip it, I fell. That would have been ok except that I had the rope in my hand and somehow as I fell it wrapped around my right arm, so essentially all my weight landed on a rope wrapped around my arm. I wish I had a video, but that's how I remember it. If Jay would write on his blog you could hear a different perspective on what happened, but we all know that's not likely. So, I screamed like a little girl and was SURE that I had broken my arm. Jay lowered me about 20 feet to a rappel station and I used my left arm to clip myself in. I was holding my right arm as if it were broken and trying not to throw up or go completely into shock. We were about 400-500 feet off the deck at this point and needed to get down fast because I was almost hysterical. From that rap station Jay could lower me clear to the ledge that we started climbing on with our 200 ft rope. There was a guide there who was also a ski patroller and his client was a nurse. By this time I had a climbing sling supporting my arm, but the guide cut his t-shirt off and made me a more proper full sling. Jay did two rappels to get to where I was and then the guide lowered both of us down the to ground and we hiked out. Colin, the guide, also had called an ambulance for us, but we met the paramedics on the trail and had decided to come back to the states to go to the hospital in case it was something that was going to need our crappy insurance. I took two vicodin at the car and laid in the back of the Rialta making calls to my V-town friends who have friends and family in Washington. We made it to the ER about 4 hours after the accident and I finally got a chance to look at my arm. As I got less cautious with it (thanks to the vicodin) I was realizing that probably nothing was broken with the amount of pressure I could put on my elbow and my shoulder, but good lord to look at my arm-- it was HUGE.
To make a long story short, nothing is fractured. I don't know if this is good or bad. My bicep is the size of my calf and I can't straighten my arm at all. I have it wrapped in an ace bandage with two bags of ice on it and it's in a (real) sling. I am officially a gimp.
I have 6 minutes left on the internet. Mom, I hope this explains more about what happened. I'm fine is what it comes down to. The nurse and NP that I saw were worried about compartment syndrome, but it seems that is not likely at this point. I'm ok... :) Oh-- and Jay was incredible getting me out safely and reassuring me. He never ceases to be an amazing man!
posted by torey at
12:00 PM
1 Comments:
I hope you are OK and can get back to your usual stuff soon! Be careful out there! Hope all is well.
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