Trip Report Falling on the Nose: A Four Month Journey

by

by MikeDrake Tuesday October 23, 2012 3:38am

My climbing partner, Zach, and I both learned to climb in Yosemite, but we never climbed together until we met at college in Philadelphia. We had been free climbing together for a few years and we finally decided to make the leap into the terrifying world of big wall climbing. I had some prior experience on a few other Yosemite big walls and Zach and I got on Utahs Moonlight Buttress together last Spring. As soon as college let out in May, we high tailed it across the country, climbed a bit in Tuolumne and the Valley, and started racking up for the big climb.



Zach and I defrosting on Moonlight Buttress

Zach and I defrosting on Moonlight Buttress Credit: Zach W

The Climb

A two day storm was expected to blow in the weekend of our climb, so our plan was to fix ropes up to Sickle Ledge (pitch 4) on day one, stash our gear, and then make the big push once the storm passed. As far as gear goes, we were climbing with two 70 meter ropes, one dynamic and one static, cams up to a #5, and a two person portaledge. Our first day of climbing came with its share of hitches. We started our day around 6 am, shuttled our gear to the base of the climb, and promptly core shot our static line. Somehow, while hauling our bag up the initial fourth class section, our rope ran awkwardly over a corner and cut strait through to the core. Luckily, it didnt break because Zach was anchored to it when we found the damage! Well, we scrapped the rope, ran over to the gear store to buy a new one and were finally back on the wall and ready to climb about three hours later and 200 dollars poorer. Excited to finally be climbing, I inaugurated our climb by taking a 25 foot fall on the first pitch when I popped an offset cam. That fall left me with just a scraped elbow and perhaps made me a little too comfortable in my ability to fall safely on the route.

Well, we made it to sickle ledge, fixed our lines, and spent the next two days shivering in our friends tent out in Curry Village. Those two days were supremely nerve racking, with nothing to do besides sit in a tent and think about how big El Capitan is. I think we wore through a copy each of our topo print outs as we religiously poured over them during those two days. When we came back to resume the climb, we found that we were not the only people with that plan. We ran into a bit of difficulty getting back up our fixed lines that morning and found ourselves behind about four other parties, none of which were moving particularly fast. Still a little apprehensive about the climb, we decided to wait the day out and just sleep up with our gear at sickle ledge that evening. This proved to be a great decision for two reasons.

1) We avoided what turned out to be a huge traffic jam on the stovelegs



A log jam on the Stovelegs

A log jam on the Stovelegs Credit: MikeDrake



Hans: Hey, Im Hans

Me: Cool. Im Michael. Have you ever climbed this route before? This is our first time.

H: Yup, about 50 times

M: Woah! Are you Hans Florine?

H: Yup



I also asked him what his first time up the Nose was like. He said that it took him 18 hours to make it to Sickle Ledge where he bailed. That made me feel a little better about myself. Hans and his friends did us the honor of rappelling off of some of our ropes before disappearing into the night.





Look, it's Hans!

Look, it's Hans! Credit: MikeDrake

The next two days of climbing went really well and were pretty indistinct from any other trip up the Nose. Sleeping on El Cap tower was cool, Texas Flake was scary, and the King Swing was wild. Zach and I swapped leads on every pitch and camped at El Cap tower and Camp IV. Heres a video of the king swing and some pictures of Zach looking cool.



[Click to View YouTube Video]



Zach finishes a haul

Zach finishes a haul Credit: MikeDrake

The obligatory Camp IV picture

The obligatory Camp IV picture Credit: MikeDrake



Falling

On day four of our climb, I fell and I fell hard. Zach and I had been climbing well and were pretty sure that we were going to be topping out at noon the next day. We had made it through most of the climbs cruxes just fine and had our systems dialed. Unfortunately, our success so far had made me a little over confident in my climbing ability. And after four days of non-stop climbing, all that really began to matter was moving fast. Well, sometime in the early afternoon, we arrived at the bottom of pitch 23, the Pancake Flake pitch. Zach had just done an amazing job blowing through the Great Roof and we were both pretty fired up. It was my lead and I started up the rock with a minimal rack, bringing pretty much just small cams and nuts up to a #1. I free climbed through the initial 10a section smoothly and got to a big, triangular ledge where the climbing suddenly changes drastically. Now, instead of a beautiful lieback flake, the climb turns into an ever shrinking crack. At first, the crack was wide enough to take good gear and I was able to get up past another small ledge with a combination of French freeing and straight aid climbing. Above me, I could see a huge blocky section with a big ledge that promised to contain the anchors that end the pitch. I clipped a fixed nut and stood up high in my aid ladder, hoping to make one final placement. Below me, I had a series of bad placements and had left no good protection behind for the last ten feet or so. The one good piece I had, a yellow TCU, I had back cleaned, thinking that I would need the piece again in another move or two. Well, I got in a really bad purple tcu that only had two lobes engaged. I knew that it wasnt good enough to hold a fall, but it held my weight and I climbed up on it until I was standing on one toe in the top loop of my aid ladder. I had my left hand on a mediocre, sloping hold and reached for the blocky section .which was still a foot out of reach! Suddenly, I was in a bit of a pickle, with nothing good to grab above me and too committed to move downwards. Situations like this, unfortunately, are pretty common in big wall climbing, so I wasnt really panicked yet. I tried to place some gear, only to find that my smallest piece, a grey TCU, was too big to fit in the crack. I tried to make a free move and only found a flaring finger pocket to grab. Back and forth, I kept trying out different placements and different holds until something clicked in my head and I realized, I can only hold on for another ten seconds! In a fit of desperation, I tried to jam my grey TCU in anywhere at all when suddenly my hand popped and I fell. The last thing I remember is falling sideways and seeing the big triangular ledge over my shoulder coming up at me alarmingly fast. A moment later I was caught by my rope and shocked by all of the blood that was suddenly everywhere. In my fall, I had clipped the first small ledge, which turned me sideways, and then was dashed against the large, triangular ledge square on my left side.



The two ledges that I hit. Photo by Lisa R.

The two ledges that I hit. Photo by Lisa R. Credit: MikeDrake

Rescue

I could immediately tell that several things were no longer working right inside my body. Something was grinding unnaturally in my left elbow and my hip seemed to be on fire in my harness. Zach quickly lowered me back down to him and we tried to figure out what our situation was. I tried to stand on the haul bag and couldnt bear weight on either of my legs. It was pretty clear right away that I wasnt finishing this climb and that I probably couldnt even safely retreat to the ground. It was with that realization that my fear of heights came back for the first time in years. Theres nothing like breaking a few bones that will suddenly make you realize just how far away from the earth you are when youre 2000 feet up. With more than a little bit of effort, Zach opened up our portaledge, laid me down in it, and started figuring out our rescue. We had both brought emergency cell phones on the climb, but we were in an odd concavity in the rock and had no reception. Luckily for us, a party had just rounded a corner on the Nose about 200 feet below us and was able to call Search and Rescue (YOSAR) for us. With them as our intermediates, YOSAR walked us through figuring out if I had hurt my spine or if I was in danger of bleeding out. Once we determined that I was mostly stable, YOSAR called for a rescue with an ETA of an hour and a half. I really should not be using the first person for any of this. In reality, Zach and our buddies below us were figuring out all of this while I was just lying down, trying to maintain. Zach really shined through at this moment. At every point along the way, he did my thinking for me and made sure that I was always safely attached to our anchor. Once he had me safely lying down, he had the herculean task of keeping me calm while waited for the rescue. The hour and a half window quickly came and passed and each extra minute on the wall was agonizingly long. I went into shock and was pretty useless while Zach fought the wind to keep me covered in sleeping bags and tried to stop the bleeding in my left arm. I cant even imagine being in that situation again without a partner like Zach, who I completely trusted. Zach kept making safe decisions for both of us while also having the patience to tell me stories to keep my mind off of the pain. Thank you again, Zach, no other climbing partner could have gotten me through that!



Stranded 2000' from the ground. This photo is from El Cap Report

Stranded 2000' from the ground. This photo is from El Cap Report Credit: Tom Evans



More rescue photos on Tom Evan's site here: http://www.elcapreport.com/content/elcap-special-report-rescue-elcap-53012

More rescue photos on Tom Evan's site here: http://www.elcapreport.com/content/elcap-special-report-rescue-elcap-53012 Credit: Tom Evans

Recovery



That night, I had a few x-rays and finally got the verdict on my damages:

Four breaks in my pelvis, four broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and the last inch of my ulna broken clean off. By some stroke of fate, neither my head nor my spine received any significant impact, a fact for which I am incredibly grateful. Every physician I have seen has made a point to remind me how close I was to never walking again. Most of the next two days were a morphine induced blur, but eventually I went into surgery and had my elbow and hip put back together with plates of steel. Here are some x-rays!



This is not what a pelvis is supposed to look like

This is not what a pelvis is supposed to look like Credit: MikeDrake

The sweet new additions to my elbow

The sweet new additions to my elbow Credit: MikeDrake

I ended up spending a week bedridden in the hospital before I was moved to a rehabilitation clinic for another week and a half. My mother came down from Seattle for this entire period and was invaluable to have at my side. Climbing is an amazing sport because it makes you independent, self-reliant, and confident. However, it was interesting to become completely passive for a while and know that I had a support network of family, friends and doctors that would take care of me. I think that this shift into the passenger seat of life was one of the biggest changes that came with my fall.



Not looking so good in the hospital

Not looking so good in the hospital Credit: MikeDrake

While in the rehab clinic, I had an unexpected visitor. One day, while doing my feeble exercises, the one and only Royal Robbins came by to say hi! Apparently, my physical therapist knew RR and asked him to come by and check up on some poor, injured climber. Royal was amazingly genial and was happy to put up with me fawning over him for a while. The best exchange happened between him and my mother, when she asked if he had ever hurt himself climbing. He responded, Yes, but never has bad as he did. I guess thats why hes the climbing legend.



Royal Robbins is a cool person.

Royal Robbins is a cool person. Credit: MikeDrake

Return

Eventually, I was shipped back home to Seattle and spent the rest of the long, beautiful summer in a wheelchair. I got my arm cast off after two weeks and got out of the chair after two months. Along the way, I went through some pretty intense physical therapy as I coxed my arm into straightening out and figured out how to walk again. After three months, I was hiking. After four, I was back at the climbing gym. My biggest milestone came a few weeks ago, when I went back to Yosemite for the first time and saw the Captain again. It was pretty strange, sitting out in the meadow and looking up at that monolith. Strange, in an after-school ABC special kind of a way. Returning as an able bodied man to a place that I had left in a stretcher brought me a significant amount of closure and was oddly moving. It was great also to see all of my old Valley friends. I had worked a few summers in Yosemite and the last that most of my friends there had seen of me was me telling them that we would catch up when I was done with the climb. Most importantly, I got to meet and have a beer with Scott Deputy, one of the guys that plucked me off of the wall. I finally got to shake someones hand and say Thank you for saving my life, which is probably one of the most cliché phrases out there. That is, until you actually mean it! I think it was meaningful for both of us to reconnect in a much different setting than how we met and talking with him on the bridge was a very singular experience for me. Deputy, by the way, recently soloed the Nose and took a crazy fall himself. However, being a super hero, he just shrugged it off and finished the climb. You can read more about that here:

http://www.elcapreport.com/content/elcap-report-100712



It was strange seeing Scott Deputy on the ground

It was strange seeing Scott Deputy on the ground Credit: MikeDrake

Well, thanks for reading my rather long trip report. I want to thank the endless number of people that were involved in rescuing and rehabilitating me. This was not an experience I could have got through on my own. I must say that I have a very different take now on the risks involved in climbing and I will forever be a much more cautious person. That being said, I cant wait until Im back on some rock again!



Back on my feet, back at the Nose!

Back on my feet, back at the Nose! Credit: MikeDrake

Keep climbing and always land on your feet!

-Michael

Sometime at the end of May, my climbing partner, Zach, and I took our first attempt at climbing El Capitan and started up on the Nose. It did not end well. This trip report is as much about climbing as it is about dealing with the consequences of not climbing as well as I should have.My climbing partner, Zach, and I both learned to climb in Yosemite, but we never climbed together until we met at college in Philadelphia. We had been free climbing together for a few years and we finally decided to make the leap into the terrifying world of big wall climbing. I had some prior experience on a few other Yosemite big walls and Zach and I got on Utahs Moonlight Buttress together last Spring. As soon as college let out in May, we high tailed it across the country, climbed a bit in Tuolumne and the Valley, and started racking up for the big climb.A two day storm was expected to blow in the weekend of our climb, so our plan was to fix ropes up to Sickle Ledge (pitch 4) on day one, stash our gear, and then make the big push once the storm passed. As far as gear goes, we were climbing with two 70 meter ropes, one dynamic and one static, cams up to a #5, and a two person portaledge. Our first day of climbing came with its share of hitches. We started our day around 6 am, shuttled our gear to the base of the climb, and promptly core shot our static line. Somehow, while hauling our bag up the initial fourth class section, our rope ran awkwardly over a corner and cut strait through to the core. Luckily, it didnt break because Zach was anchored to it when we found the damage! Well, we scrapped the rope, ran over to the gear store to buy a new one and were finally back on the wall and ready to climb about three hours later and 200 dollars poorer. Excited to finally be climbing, I inaugurated our climb by taking a 25 foot fall on the first pitch when I popped an offset cam. That fall left me with just a scraped elbow and perhaps made me a little too comfortable in my ability to fall safely on the route.Well, we made it to sickle ledge, fixed our lines, and spent the next two days shivering in our friends tent out in Curry Village. Those two days were supremely nerve racking, with nothing to do besides sit in a tent and think about how big El Capitan is. I think we wore through a copy each of our topo print outs as we religiously poured over them during those two days. When we came back to resume the climb, we found that we were not the only people with that plan. We ran into a bit of difficulty getting back up our fixed lines that morning and found ourselves behind about four other parties, none of which were moving particularly fast. Still a little apprehensive about the climb, we decided to wait the day out and just sleep up with our gear at sickle ledge that evening. This proved to be a great decision for two reasons.1) We avoided what turned out to be a huge traffic jam on the stovelegs2) That evening, none other than Hans Florine, the current holder of the speed record on the Nose, showed up at Sickle Ledge with a few of his buddies and chatted with us for a bit. My first exchange with him went a little something like this:Hans: Hey, Im HansMe: Cool. Im Michael. Have you ever climbed this route before? This is our first time.H: Yup, about 50 timesM: Woah! Are you Hans Florine?H: YupI also asked him what his first time up the Nose was like. He said that it took him 18 hours to make it to Sickle Ledge where he bailed. That made me feel a little better about myself. Hans and his friends did us the honor of rappelling off of some of our ropes before disappearing into the night.The next two days of climbing went really well and were pretty indistinct from any other trip up the Nose. Sleeping on El Cap tower was cool, Texas Flake was scary, and the King Swing was wild. Zach and I swapped leads on every pitch and camped at El Cap tower and Camp IV. Heres a video of the king swing and some pictures of Zach looking cool.On day four of our climb, I fell and I fell hard. Zach and I had been climbing well and were pretty sure that we were going to be topping out at noon the next day. We had made it through most of the climbs cruxes just fine and had our systems dialed. Unfortunately, our success so far had made me a little over confident in my climbing ability. And after four days of non-stop climbing, all that really began to matter was moving fast. Well, sometime in the early afternoon, we arrived at the bottom of pitch 23, the Pancake Flake pitch. Zach had just done an amazing job blowing through the Great Roof and we were both pretty fired up. It was my lead and I started up the rock with a minimal rack, bringing pretty much just small cams and nuts up to a #1. I free climbed through the initial 10a section smoothly and got to a big, triangular ledge where the climbing suddenly changes drastically. Now, instead of a beautiful lieback flake, the climb turns into an ever shrinking crack. At first, the crack was wide enough to take good gear and I was able to get up past another small ledge with a combination of French freeing and straight aid climbing. Above me, I could see a huge blocky section with a big ledge that promised to contain the anchors that end the pitch. I clipped a fixed nut and stood up high in my aid ladder, hoping to make one final placement. Below me, I had a series of bad placements and had left no good protection behind for the last ten feet or so. The one good piece I had, a yellow TCU, I had back cleaned, thinking that I would need the piece again in another move or two. Well, I got in a really bad purple tcu that only had two lobes engaged. I knew that it wasnt good enough to hold a fall, but it held my weight and I climbed up on it until I was standing on one toe in the top loop of my aid ladder. I had my left hand on a mediocre, sloping hold and reached for the blocky section .which was still a foot out of reach! Suddenly, I was in a bit of a pickle, with nothing good to grab above me and too committed to move downwards. Situations like this, unfortunately, are pretty common in big wall climbing, so I wasnt really panicked yet. I tried to place some gear, only to find that my smallest piece, a grey TCU, was too big to fit in the crack. I tried to make a free move and only found a flaring finger pocket to grab. Back and forth, I kept trying out different placements and different holds until something clicked in my head and I realized, I can only hold on for another ten seconds! In a fit of desperation, I tried to jam my grey TCU in anywhere at all when suddenly my hand popped and I fell. The last thing I remember is falling sideways and seeing the big triangular ledge over my shoulder coming up at me alarmingly fast. A moment later I was caught by my rope and shocked by all of the blood that was suddenly everywhere. In my fall, I had clipped the first small ledge, which turned me sideways, and then was dashed against the large, triangular ledge square on my left side.I could immediately tell that several things were no longer working right inside my body. Something was grinding unnaturally in my left elbow and my hip seemed to be on fire in my harness. Zach quickly lowered me back down to him and we tried to figure out what our situation was. I tried to stand on the haul bag and couldnt bear weight on either of my legs. It was pretty clear right away that I wasnt finishing this climb and that I probably couldnt even safely retreat to the ground. It was with that realization that my fear of heights came back for the first time in years. Theres nothing like breaking a few bones that will suddenly make you realize just how far away from the earth you are when youre 2000 feet up. With more than a little bit of effort, Zach opened up our portaledge, laid me down in it, and started figuring out our rescue. We had both brought emergency cell phones on the climb, but we were in an odd concavity in the rock and had no reception. Luckily for us, a party had just rounded a corner on the Nose about 200 feet below us and was able to call Search and Rescue (YOSAR) for us. With them as our intermediates, YOSAR walked us through figuring out if I had hurt my spine or if I was in danger of bleeding out. Once we determined that I was mostly stable, YOSAR called for a rescue with an ETA of an hour and a half. I really should not be using the first person for any of this. In reality, Zach and our buddies below us were figuring out all of this while I was just lying down, trying to maintain. Zach really shined through at this moment. At every point along the way, he did my thinking for me and made sure that I was always safely attached to our anchor. Once he had me safely lying down, he had the herculean task of keeping me calm while waited for the rescue. The hour and a half window quickly came and passed and each extra minute on the wall was agonizingly long. I went into shock and was pretty useless while Zach fought the wind to keep me covered in sleeping bags and tried to stop the bleeding in my left arm. I cant even imagine being in that situation again without a partner like Zach, who I completely trusted. Zach kept making safe decisions for both of us while also having the patience to tell me stories to keep my mind off of the pain. Thank you again, Zach, no other climbing partner could have gotten me through that!After three hours, I finally saw the feet of our rescuers come over a bulge above us and I will never again see such a beautiful sight. What had happened, unbeknownst to us, was that a team of rangers were helicoptered to the top of El Capitan. There, they set up a huge anchor and then lowered two rangers and a gurney down to us with some truly gargantuan ropes. These two rangers, Chris Belino and Scott Deputy, are true super heroes and I am forever in their debt. When they got to me, they gave me some sweet, sweet pain medication and dragged my tattered body from the portaledge to the gurney. That five foot transition was the single most painful event of my life, but it had to be done. From there, though, it was clear sailing. I was lowered to the ground, carried out to an ambulance and made it to the trauma ward of a hospital in Modesto by midnight.That night, I had a few x-rays and finally got the verdict on my damages:Four breaks in my pelvis, four broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and the last inch of my ulna broken clean off. By some stroke of fate, neither my head nor my spine received any significant impact, a fact for which I am incredibly grateful. Every physician I have seen has made a point to remind me how close I was to never walking again. Most of the next two days were a morphine induced blur, but eventually I went into surgery and had my elbow and hip put back together with plates of steel. Here are some x-rays!I ended up spending a week bedridden in the hospital before I was moved to a rehabilitation clinic for another week and a half. My mother came down from Seattle for this entire period and was invaluable to have at my side. Climbing is an amazing sport because it makes you independent, self-reliant, and confident. However, it was interesting to become completely passive for a while and know that I had a support network of family, friends and doctors that would take care of me. I think that this shift into the passenger seat of life was one of the biggest changes that came with my fall.While in the rehab clinic, I had an unexpected visitor. One day, while doing my feeble exercises, the one and only Royal Robbins came by to say hi! Apparently, my physical therapist knew RR and asked him to come by and check up on some poor, injured climber. Royal was amazingly genial and was happy to put up with me fawning over him for a while. The best exchange happened between him and my mother, when she asked if he had ever hurt himself climbing. He responded, Yes, but never has bad as he did. I guess thats why hes the climbing legend.Eventually, I was shipped back home to Seattle and spent the rest of the long, beautiful summer in a wheelchair. I got my arm cast off after two weeks and got out of the chair after two months. Along the way, I went through some pretty intense physical therapy as I coxed my arm into straightening out and figured out how to walk again. After three months, I was hiking. After four, I was back at the climbing gym. My biggest milestone came a few weeks ago, when I went back to Yosemite for the first time and saw the Captain again. It was pretty strange, sitting out in the meadow and looking up at that monolith. Strange, in an after-school ABC special kind of a way. Returning as an able bodied man to a place that I had left in a stretcher brought me a significant amount of closure and was oddly moving. It was great also to see all of my old Valley friends. I had worked a few summers in Yosemite and the last that most of my friends there had seen of me was me telling them that we would catch up when I was done with the climb. Most importantly, I got to meet and have a beer with Scott Deputy, one of the guys that plucked me off of the wall. I finally got to shake someones hand and say Thank you for saving my life, which is probably one of the most cliché phrases out there. That is, until you actually mean it! I think it was meaningful for both of us to reconnect in a much different setting than how we met and talking with him on the bridge was a very singular experience for me. Deputy, by the way, recently soloed the Nose and took a crazy fall himself. However, being a super hero, he just shrugged it off and finished the climb. You can read more about that here:Well, thanks for reading my rather long trip report. I want to thank the endless number of people that were involved in rescuing and rehabilitating me. This was not an experience I could have got through on my own. I must say that I have a very different take now on the risks involved in climbing and I will forever be a much more cautious person. That being said, I cant wait until Im back on some rock again!Keep climbing and always land on your feet!-Michael

Trip Report Views: 13,930 MikeDrake About the Author

Michael is a climber from Seattle that spends as much time as he can in Yosemite.

Comments enjoimx



Trad climber Yosemite Oct 23, 2012 - 04:27am PT Cool report man...glad you survived.



Don't know if you remember me but me and you hiked a load to the top of El Cap a couple years ago in the snow above the Falls. That was fun hahaha.



Rob RP3



Big Wall climber Newbury Park Oct 23, 2012 - 07:42am PT Congrats on the recovery. Now go back and GET IT! John Butler



Social climber SLC, Utah Oct 23, 2012 - 09:36am PT great report... and happy ending



:-)



Jaybro



Social climber Wolf City, Wyoming Oct 23, 2012 - 09:53am PT Wow!

Well told, well lived!

And how about that Robbins guy.



Nice full account, when you probably wanted to jump ahead to the traumatic stuff.

Thank you! telemon01



Trad climber Montana Oct 23, 2012 - 10:02am PT

Gnarly- that xray is gnarly.



Thanks for the report- I am glad that you are OK spenchur



climber Flagstaff/Thousand Oaks Oct 23, 2012 - 10:05am PT It looks from that x-ray that your elbow has a talon hook in it now!



Hope your recovery continues and you get another shot at the beast. Mikemcee



Social climber Mill Valley, CA Oct 23, 2012 - 10:05am PT Fantastic, honest TR.



Glad you made it back to the Valley in one piece. scuffy b



climber heading slowly NNW Oct 23, 2012 - 11:58am PT Great report, thanks.

Mike Bolte



Trad climber Planet Earth Oct 23, 2012 - 12:10pm PT really well told and a really big adventure. Thanks! Karl Baba



Trad climber Yosemite, Ca Oct 23, 2012 - 12:16pm PT Great report! Kudos to Zach, Yosar and Royal. Bless all~!



Glad you're OK. El Cap seems to demand a pound of flesh now and then. I paid a couple times



Peace



Karl pplachta



Trad climber san jose, ca Oct 23, 2012 - 05:38pm PT Amazingly honest trip report relating to the dangers of climbing. I know it's something I avoid thinking about -- or at least, deny it will happen to me. Otherwise, how I could go back out there ?



I loved the description of when you knew you only had about 10 seconds left before you let go... I could SO relate.



peter KabalaArch



Trad climber Starlite, California Oct 23, 2012 - 06:50pm PT Sickle Ledge

it's pronounced: "Sickly."



(;= X Mungeclimber



Trad climber Nothing creative to say Oct 23, 2012 - 07:17pm PT Superb report.



I'm reading Joe Fitschen's book "Going Up" and apparently it's not the only time Royal has extended himself for an injured climber.



Very cool Clint Cummins



Trad climber SF Bay area, CA Oct 23, 2012 - 07:47pm PT Ouch - good thing you had the rescue pros available to get you down in one piece and other pros to put the pieces back together.

I've been hurt on climbs as well, and thought I'd never need a rescue, but fortunately the rescue guys knew better and were there when the bad stuff happened.



It looks like you were not aware at the time that the upper part of the Pancake Flake pitch is one of the aid cruxes of the route, requiring small wired nuts (along with the pitch reaching Sickle, the pitch above Camp 5, and the pitch above Camp 6).

Did you have your own copy of the topo in your pocket?



My first time up the Nose, my partner took a fall on the Pancake Flake pitch lower down when he weighted a cam that was tipped out.

He burned his hand when he instinctively grabbed for the rope to stop himself.

We taped over his hand and kept going (not so easy for a broken pelvis!).

It's a spectacular location and maybe that can be a bit distracting!

The trick is to take a little extra time and try to consider all the risks, I guess. climbski2



Mountain climber The Ocean Oct 23, 2012 - 08:11pm PT Wow, Hard to believe the amount of damage you took. Why? cause I met you at the bridge when you met Deputy again and got to thank him. Pretty sure those are my knees in that pic of you and deputy lol.



You looked great and seemed to be moving fine! Though you said you were still recovering. Impressive recovery to say the least after reading this great TR.



Keep getting stronger. Really look forward to your next Nose TR. 426



climber ☬ Oct 23, 2012 - 08:16pm PT Good stuff, glad you are okay. That little section along with the ledge above camp 6 always gave me the heebie jeebz. You do the spectacular pancake into that dicey section, I can visualize right where you fell and probalby had the same crap purp 2 cam 0 in.



Best of luck in future adventures! Nate101



Trad climber Aliso Viejo, CA Oct 23, 2012 - 10:47pm PT Get well soon Mike! I'm sure you and Zach will send that sucker on the next go!

Nate Mighty Hiker



climber Outside the Asylum Oct 24, 2012 - 12:01am PT Thanks for the report! It must have been delightful to have a visit from Royal at the hospital.



Are you thinking about going back to the climb? Alexey



climber San Jose, CA Oct 24, 2012 - 01:50am PT Mike, thanks for report. I am very glad that everything ended up relatively good and you walking in the Valley again GhoulweJ



Trad climber El Dorado Hills, CA Oct 24, 2012 - 07:52pm PT Heal fast...



Oh, and thats me in the picture with Hans... I'm the guy NOT wearing a helmet.



Cheers,

Jay Renneberg MikeDrake



Trad climber Seattle Author's Reply Oct 25, 2012 - 03:32am PT Hey Jay and Rob! I remember both of you guys! It's great to hear from you.



And thanks to everyone else for the good wishes. I'm pretty much healed now and actually just got back from the climbing gym. The only problem is that my left arm doesn't quite get straight, which makes those long reaches hard! The doctor says that'll get better with time though.



Thanks again everyone

-Michael jcory86



Big Wall climber Grass Valley, CA Oct 25, 2012 - 02:16pm PT Hey Michael!



I was one of the two guys in the party below you. My buddy Jarad and I heard you take the whipper. Scariest sounds Ive ever heard man! Really glad that we could help and your are right, Zach came through big time. Also glad we were able to get your gear back to you. It WAS pretty crazy bivvying at the anchors you guys were at that night. Blood everywhere! I lead the pancake the next morning and placed about a 100 pieces above that ledge. We were trying to figure out how it happened because your aider was still clipped to a piece in the wall. We figured out you free climbed then switched to aid but it was cool to hear it first person. Anyways, really glad you are ok and back on the road to the capitan!!!

Justin Mark Hudon



Trad climber On the road. Oct 28, 2012 - 06:15pm PT Excellent TR! Crimpergirl



Sport climber Boulder, Colorado! Oct 28, 2012 - 06:44pm PT I can't add anything that hasn't been said. Thanks for the TR and happy your are healing so well! Rhodo-Router



Gym climber sawatch choss Oct 28, 2012 - 08:55pm PT Way to hang tough,Mike. It'll be there when you're ready. SCseagoat



Trad climber Santa Cruz Oct 28, 2012 - 09:01pm PT Oh boy. Oh boy....so glad you are mending and lookin' good





Susan David Wilson



climber CA Oct 28, 2012 - 09:11pm PT Great TR. Thanks for sharing. We are all susceptible to a bad turn of events. I'm glad you made it through yours.



And hats off to Royal for showing up bedside - wow ! canyoncat



Social climber SoCal Oct 28, 2012 - 10:25pm PT Knarly. What does your mom say about all this? Dave Sessions



Trad climber Thousand Oaks, CA Oct 28, 2012 - 10:55pm PT Thanks for the TR. The angels must have been with you! Glad it all worked out. God bless you. Avajane



Trad climber Seattle Oct 29, 2012 - 01:36am PT Wow nice report. It sure brought back some memories. The video of the King Swing got me dizzy! Sorry you got hurt so bad. Knock on wood, my falls have always been near misses. Lately my falls are exclusively on ski slopes. Rocks are much harder and unforgiving. Good luck on your next attempt! Dirka



Trad climber Hustle City Oct 29, 2012 - 08:55am PT Great report. Glad ur ok. justthemaid



climber Jim Henson's Basement Oct 29, 2012 - 09:13am PT Bump for a good TR. It's great you have had a good recovery and are climbing again. Kudos the Fet



climber Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La Nov 29, 2012 - 11:03pm PT HOOOO MAAAAANN!!



Just saw this TR. Bravo for the honest write up. The King Swing video was cool.



RR is one cool man.



I hope you have a full recovery and send it someday! ms55401



Trad climber minneapolis, mn Nov 29, 2012 - 11:49pm PT RR came by to say "hi" ...



... like Jesus Christ coming by to say keep your pecker up





nice going, man graniteclimber



Trad climber The Illuminati -- S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Division Jun 10, 2015 - 11:32pm PT I hope you have recovered fully and are climbing again.