On October 14, I started leading the direct start to Ventre de Boeuf, which begins with an easy squeeze chimney leading to a short 5.10 offwidth. Because of the chimney start, my first piece of pro was a number 4 Camalot maybe 20 feet off the deck. I tried working the offwidth move for a bit, but ultimately found it to be a little too slimy and hard. The regular 5.9 start avoids this offwidth by climbing up a thin crack maybe 12 feet to the right. Because I didn’t want to yard on the cam to bypass the OW section (as it was my only pro), and not wanting to take a pendulum swing if I fell off the line to the right, I removed the cam, downclimbed a bit, and then started traversing up and to the right to join the regular start.

I found only two marginal pieces of pro: a small offset nut and then a sort of upward-facing number 0.1 (red) Black Diamond X4 cam. These pieces were about 1.5 feet apart from one another. As I was making a move maybe two feet from where I could reach with my left hand to the crack above the offwidth, my foot blew, along with the two small pieces of pro. I instinctively kicked out from the wall when the cam blew, and I think that zippered out my nut.

I fell about 16 to 18 feet and briefly landed upright on my feet, but most of the impact was absorbed on my right butt and right hand. I was wearing a helmet and didn’t hit my head. I suffered two compression fractures (L1 and L2) and a good deal of trauma to my lower abs and pelvic area (although thankfully didn’t break my pelvis), and I needed a few stitches in my right palm.

ANALYSIS

In retrospect, I should have kept the big cam in. I would have pendulumed into the corner if I fell, but this likely would have been much better than hitting the ground. I hate placing nuts as the first pro, but the pickings were slim. (Source: Daniel Negless.)