Weekend Whipper: Daniel Woods’ Carabiner-Snapping Fall on First Round First Minute (5.15b)

D-Woods goes a muerte and barely avoids an early muerte when gear breaks.

Daniel Woods has been sending things left and right during his sport climbing trip to Spain, but his hot streak nearly came to a scary and unceremonious end while he was projecting Chris Sharma’s testpiece First Round First Minute (9b/5.15b).

On one of his burns working the line, Woods took a commonplace fall but what happened was far from it. As he sails beneath the last quickdraw he had clipped, the bolt-side carabiner snaps into two pieces with a ping and a poof of dust. “Came pretty fucking close to hitting the ground/road,” Woods wrote on Instagram. “The gear appeared to be fine but ended up being choss.”

He used his close call as an excuse to issue a public service announcement that bears repeating: “Reminder to check your gear and pre placed gear to prevent anything serious from happening. Be safe out there.”

Hard, overhanging sport climbs frequently have perma-draws or old draws that have been dangling up there for too long. Before going a muerte on gear of which you don’t know the origin or story behind, check its integrity or just pony up and replace it.

Happy Friday and climb safe this weekend!

Video by Alex Kahn

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