On May 25, a 32-year-old male climber leading Agatha Christie (5.8 trad) fell and pulled out one or more pieces of protection. He fell about 45 feet to the ground, sustaining broken bones and internal injuries. He was short-hauled from the scene and transferred to a Life Net air ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries.

ANALYSIS

This route is popular but is considered a sustained and somewhat tricky-to-protect lead. To ensure solid protection, trad leaders must become proficient with a variety of protection types (cams, nuts, micro-nuts, offsets). A great way to practice protection on tricky routes is to toprope the climb and mock-protect it with the safety of a toprope belay. (Source: The Editors.)