On September 27, a climber fell to the ground while leading Funeral March (5.9+), a wide crack climb. Funeral March is protected by very large cams, and the climber bumped one of these up the crack for about 10 feet. He had placed another cam but had not yet clipped it when he fell, and the first piece pulled out. The climber had a number of injuries, including a concussion; he believes his helmet prevented a worse head injury.

ANALYSIS

It is not certain why the protection pulled out. When using large cams to protect offwidth routes, accidentally stepping on or kicking placed cams, rotational forces causing a cam to “walk” into a worse placement, and the tendency to place less protection or the wrong size (“tipped out”) cams—often because of a shortage of large pieces—all may contribute to higher risk in the case of a leader fall. (Sources: Climber post at Mountain Project and Rocky Mountain Rescue Group.)