Weekend Whipper: Failed Bail, Broken Heel, Dislocated Shoulder

This comes to you from across the Pond. And you get two-for-one in this Whipper, as two people end up eating it.

Pads set, spotters in place, countdown initiated, helmet on: everything was ready for Rogelio Medina to have a nice, safe and controlled bail off of Kayak (E1 5b) at Curbar, in the Peak District, U.K. Except, well, things didn’t go quite according to plan.

After dislocating his shoulder on a particularly reachy move, Rogelio, unable to continue, made a leap of faith off the wall—only after his friends had strategically arranged the pads and assumed some athletic spotting positions. Unfortunately, he didn’t put enough umph into his jump and came up short. He feet hit the slab below, and he ended up fracturing the calcaneus bone in his heel (as if dislocating a shoulder wasn’t enough!?). He also sent one of his spotters, Alex Goodall flying down the hill. Ryan Timms, who captured the carnage on video, reported that Alex was okay, escaping with just a “face full of butt and a bloody nose.”

It just goes to show that, even when you are doing everything right, things can go awry. Luckily, Medina will live to climb another day and is in good spirits about the accident. He and his gaggle of spotters would like to extend a thank you to the Edale Mountain Rescue and the other climbers in the area who all helped with the evacuation.

Happy Friday and climb safe this weekend!

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