# tree climber fall



## smokerjumper68 (May 24, 2006)

today at 11:30am my best friend and co worker matt age 22 fell 80 feet out of a fir tree, after dead limbing and wind sailing it. he was going to rappel than he fell 
the only thing that saved his life was the two limbs that he broke on his way down. he has internal bleeding,bruised liver and spleen witch they removed this after noon,broken elbow,shoulder,and pelvis. he is banged upped pretty bad but is going to pull through. the only thing that we can figure that happened was that he un hooked his flip line before he was tied in, we think. i hope we all can learn from this and take are time and not get to comfortable and to make sure we check 
every thing we do. sorry about the spelling


----------



## woodchux (May 24, 2006)

I hope he's gonna be ok
BE SAFE


----------



## fmueller (May 24, 2006)

Holy crap he's lucky to be alive. I think it would be hard to get back on the horse after something like that. Hope he comes out of it O.K.


----------



## rbtree (May 24, 2006)

Ouch.....dang, I hate it when I have to read about another accident. Glad he is still with us.

I hope he doesn't work for Evergreen. Just a few months ago, one of their workers fell about 70 feet out of an ivy covered conifer. He cut his lifeline.


----------



## smokerjumper68 (May 24, 2006)

i just left the hospital, they have him knocked out right now,he's going to be fine. he told me last night that he grabbed the wrong carabiner(a dam key chain carabiner) he should have never had that on his belt. iam going to go finish that job today. always use a carabiner rated for the task your doing! and never have stuff like that on your gear for any thing.


----------



## smokerjumper68 (May 24, 2006)

no he dosnt work for evergreen, he had 4 years exp and 2 years on the ground


----------



## rbtree (May 24, 2006)

Be safe, smokerjumper.....I think I may have once grabbed a mini biner by mistake as well.....I use one for my saw lanyard to make it a breakaway.....


..positive vibes sent..

I've a bud who lives in Buckley and does landscaping. He's also a pro skier....I have to get up to greenwater and do some tree work for another Crystal skier.


----------



## boo (May 24, 2006)

rbtree said:


> Ouch.....dang, I hate it when I have to read about another accident. Glad he is still with us.
> 
> I hope he doesn't work for Evergreen. Just a few months ago, one of their workers fell about 70 feet out of an ivy covered conifer. He cut his lifeline.



was the evergreen guy accident in Wiggins MS?


----------



## rbtree (May 24, 2006)

No, the greater Seattle area...


----------



## maxburton (May 24, 2006)

Your friend is lucky to be alive. I heard from am OSHA accident investigator that the odds of surviving a fall from that height are less than one in one thousand. I hope Matt makes a full recovery.


----------



## rbtree (May 24, 2006)

I know a climber who fell 90 feet, back 15-20 yrs ago....he hit soft ground, bounced up in the air....lived to climb again...and the guy who just fell 70, onto his face--messed it up, plus a broken wrist, but no broken neck or body!


----------



## smokerjumper68 (May 25, 2006)

Matt is breathing on his own now,today they take him out of ICU,tomorrow he gets surgery on his shoulder. he expected to make a full recovery. the doctors said he wont ever climb again.his shoulder is totaled


----------



## bighugetrees (May 27, 2006)

Thought I would post since I'm from Puyallup and worked for evergreen in the past. I know the guy who fell. Was not there that day but heard about it. In the last four months there has been more property damage and people getting hurt than should happen over a 10 year period or more for that matter. I like life so I quit. Looking for work now.


----------



## Chris J. (May 28, 2006)

Much mojo being sent to your friend. Sounds as though he was very lucky.


----------



## tam (May 28, 2006)

that's awful. he'll be one tough guy if he starts doing the job again.


----------



## Sizzle-Chest (May 28, 2006)

smokerjumper68 said:


> he told me last night that he grabbed the wrong carabiner(a dam key chain carabiner)



i'm a little confused, are you saying that he was using a key-chain biner for his life support? i wonder if that means he uses non-locking biners for everything? either way, hope he gets better soon!


----------



## rbtree (May 28, 2006)

I believe he had it on his saddle, and clipped into it by mistake......Ouch. 

I have one on my chainsaw lanyard...and could see this happening. 

Staying safe requires double checking....confirm gate closure, confirm biner is around line and/or saddle attachment, confirm lifeline set, put weight on system before unclipping lanyard.....and on and on....


----------



## 046 (May 28, 2006)

no way I would have a look alike biner anywhere near my life line gear.

same goes for those look alike ropes at home depot, which have very low ratings.


----------



## clearance (May 28, 2006)

rbtree said:


> I believe he had it on his saddle, and clipped into it by mistake......Ouch.
> 
> I have one on my chainsaw lanyard...and could see this happening.
> 
> Staying safe requires double checking....confirm gate closure, confirm biner is around line and/or saddle attachment, confirm lifeline set, put weight on system before unclipping lanyard.....and on and on....


Excellent advice, ever since I stopped free climbing I look at my rope snaps and always walk down the tree a little after I clip my split tail together before I unclip my lanyard. I have two extra biners on my saddle, but they are both rated at 5k+. Lucky to make it, good wishes to your buddy Smoke.


----------



## 1CallLandscape (May 28, 2006)

I had one close call myself last fall while spiking down a locust. i am a very cautious and observent climber and its a good thing that i always double check before i put weight on the line. at the time i was carrying single action beaners on my saddle ( no locking machanism) and double acting and i accidently clipped intoa single, no lock, one and realized that my rope felt weird and i looked down to discover that i clipped in to the wrong beaner. now i only use double locking OSHA approved stuff.

. lucky.....maybe, but by double checking my gear i prevented a pretty nasty accident. needless to say i carry my extra beaners with a 5,000 lb load rate or higher now and with a double acting lock.

*i agree that a cautious approach is necessary but every now and then it will slip even the most cautious and experienced of climbers minds.* 

-mike


----------



## Sizzle-Chest (May 28, 2006)

i guess i have to admit that i have done something similar. my old saddle had a circular metal accessory ring right next to my lanyard D ring and two different times i found that i was tied into it rather than the D ring. Completely my fault, but also dumb manufacturing.


----------



## xtremetrees (Jun 15, 2006)

rbtree said:


> put weight on system before unclipping lanyard.....and on and on....





Man, I'm sorry about your friend. I'll be prayin fer um when I go up today.

In defense of the keychain saw biner, I use it like roger to ensure breakaway in case my log grabs my saw which its done and pulls be down the tree.40 feet. Its happened but I think the keychain will break. I'll video a stress test of each style keybiner and bungiee style and post it for us all.


----------



## woodchux (Jun 15, 2006)

One time while spiking my way up a large white oak, 35 - 40 ft up I clipped my lanyard above the next limb. Hearing the rope snap click, I leaned back to check tension, everything seemed OK. Looked down to unclip lower lanyard, and happened to notice that my upper lanyard was only hooked OUTSIDE the rope snap gate. I had heard it click, and it felt like it was hooked good, but it wasn't. Thank god that i noticed before i unhooked the other lanyard.
ALWAYS visually check you clips guys !


----------



## jerry1818 (Jun 17, 2006)

It's great to read how a guy can fall 80' and survive - I wish him a speedy recovery.

Last Saturday, a good friend of mine fell off his bicycle while riding a park trail and broke his neck in two places. He's a young healthy man and is now permanently paralyzed from the neck down. My point is, we don't often think about how thin our 'lifeline' really is and how tenuous our grasp. It doesn't take a fall of 80' to change your life or end it.

Be Safe,
Jerry


----------

