THE SHORT END OF A LONG ROPE

Last week I was told by my neurosurgeon that my scans where good and I could go take some whippers, well actually he said 'return to normal activity and don't fall off any mountains'. To me that's pretty good news. At the start of November  the day before my girlfriend Kerryn's birthday I messed up an abseil and fell. Now I'm pretty sure I fell some 10m but somewhere between Simon, Oli, Danny, the SES, Ambos and Police rescue it turned into 15m shit; I aint gonna argue with that, so I fell fifteen fucking metres man.

I fractured vertebrae T9-11 anterior burst but not displaced, ligament damage in my cervic spine with a micro fracture in C7, some small stuff in L5 and fractured my 5th meta-tarsal in my right foot.

On the 5th of November last year Simon, Kez and I rolled on into the Buffalo camp ground (after we missed picking up Simon from his flight from Tas and overheated three times on the road up). Really psyched up we wasted no time and with Oli and Danny, Simon and I headed out to the to get some routes in before dark. Kerryn stayed in camp with the laptop to do some work.
Simon and I both climbed Peroxide Blonde. I went first, lowered back down and then Simon led the pitch, when he was safe at the top he abseiled back down and meanwhile I took off my harness and helmet and soloed the route next to Peroxide Blonde named The Pintle; On getting to the top I asked Simon to tie my harness to the rope. Thinking I should pull both ends I fatefully for some reason did not, I hauled up my harness, pulled some slack and chucked the rope. Putting on my harness I checked the buckles, checked the belay device and launched off... I was cruising down looking out over the buffalo plateau and the rope lost all resistance, I saw an end shooting past me.  Oli reckons I said 'Oh Fuck'... yep oh fuck, I remember thinking well this is it when I crunched into the corner of The Pintle, thought to myself SURVIVE and tried to grab the corner with of course no hope, I tumbled further down and out of the corner system into Simons loving open arms! Simon says he looked up and saw me coming flying towards him so he stepped under me and put his hands up, I would say that he bloody saved my life. Then I crunched, was winded severely, broke some bones, thought I was royalled and felt really guilty for killing myself on my girlfriends birthday (the next day).

I won't go into the details of the rescue—suffice to say a lot of people helped me out greatly and I am humbled by the effort others took to ensure my safety, comfort and eventual rescue.

I would consider myself one of the last true romantics for arranging a scenic helicopter flight over the Alpine National Park for my girlfriend on her birthday, none of which would have been possible without the support of the very giving tax payers of Australia.

The situation is human error, my ropes were not equal from a retrievable abseil, I went past one end which was around 3-4m from the anchor so the system of course pulled through. I was enjoying a conversation and the view of the Mt Buffalo plateau at sunset (my first trip here) and didn't check the system thoroughly . Knots in the end of the rope would have prevented this accident. Personally I find this easy to deal with and can move forward from it, I made a mistake and luckily enough can learn from it, gear failure on the other hand would result in forever second guessing equipment. It has been frustrating to think how avoidable this accident could have been, especially for someone like myself who as a guide prides myself on safety but there is always a difference between workplace setting and personal climbing.

The posse enjoying Kez's BDay a day late, I hang in the Alfred

I take away from this accident, a little bit of climbing knowledge but a lot about life, I have learnt so much about friendship and love in such a small amount of time compared to my previous 27 years. I went climbing for the first time about a few weeks ago with some mates at Bundaleer (love this cliff! It was pretty much home for me when I lived in Halls Gap). While back in my first climb top roping Enter Sandman a close friend Earl heckled me to put in a double knee bar and bat hang, I laughed and said Na which he responded 'Gaan do it' and so I did, but not because he pressured me or I felt I had to prove myself but because I knew either way I went Earl would have something positive to say about what choice I made. True friends encourage us to explore, try new things, develop and support us no matter what we choose. We truly stand on or mates shoulders, literally, next up came Manic Depressive but I felt the first throw move was too much so I stood on Earls shoulders and pulled through it, this too me sums up so much, although we may grasp onto and latch the next hold we truly are only propped up by those around us.

Thank you.

THE WARM-UP & COOL-DOWN

WHATS IT ALL ABOUT?
A good warm-up (pre activity) and cool-down (post activity), should become an integral part of your climbing/training routine. There are several important reasons for warming up by slowly and systematically increasing the stress on your body you properly prepare it for peak activity and reduce the risk of injury, you can nurture optimal mental focus to gain good psychological performance levels. Similarly warming down allows the body to return to resting activity level, aids in dissipation of body heat and flushing out lactic acid built up in skeletal muscle during high intensity activity.
Thinking of your warm-up and cool-down as an essential part of your climbing routine rather than separate and it as time lost to not climbing or training is important to keep you focused and regularly engaging in these processes.
Imagine a day in which you get straight into hard climbing; hurt yourself, perhaps get a mega flash pump or sketch out feeling awkward and uncomfortable on rock. A day in which you work a route or problem over and over till failure then just stop and go home feeling waisted and sore. Half an hour spent warming up aids avoidance of the first example and half an hour cooling down will aid in the recovery of the latter, quicker recovery means on the rock sooner. So an hour dedicated to the warm-up cool-down process isn’t an hour lost but an hour well spent ensuring optimal performance level and better recovery to get you sending again sooner!


WHAT TO DO & WHY TO DO IT
0-5 minutes aerobic activity 1 minute of light intensity aerobic exercise 1-3 minutes should be medium intensity aerobic exercise you should be able to maintain a conversation, 3-5 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic exercise you should find holding a conversation difficult. Doing this will raise your heart rate, increase blood flow and begin to warm-up muscles for high intensity exercise. Eg. Jogging, Cycling, Skipping
5-10 minutes light dynamic stretchingto begin to ‘limber up’ each of the following areas:
HEAD gently roll the head from left to right for 15 seconds and then front to back for 15 seconds (do not rotate like a ‘NO’ response)
SHOULDERS roll your shoulders forwards for 15 seconds then roll them backwards for 15 seconds
ARMS spin your arms together slowly forwards and increase the speed over 30 seconds and spin your arms slowly backwards and increase speed over 30 seconds
HANDS clench your fist and open them as wide as you can for 15 seconds and shake them about for 15 seconds
TRUNK start with small rotations and begin to get bigger and bigger circles with your hips for 30 seconds
LEGS one leg at a time for 15 seconds make increasing arc ‘kicks’ from back to front then for 15 seconds each leg try put your knee on your chin and for 15 seconds each try to kick your bum
FEET write your name with each foot for 15 seconds each
Doing this gross movement will promotes joints to release synovial fluid which lubricates joints and you begin to put the body through some of its range of motion you are going to engage when you begin climbing
10-30 minutes of sport specific activitythis means climbing! Do several easy climbs/boulders with each climb/boulder engage in these activities:
BREATHING: focus in on your breathing, hear yourself breathe in and out, concentrate on moving fluidly with each breath.
BODY: close your eyes between moves and zero in on your balance point, focus a moment on each hand and each foot and what it feels like on the given hold, close your eyes again and concentrate on each limb relative to the other
PACING: concentrate on the speed at which you climb, begin slowly and increase your speed to as fast as you can whilst maintaining excellent technique


By now you should start to feel pretty warmed up you can begin to increase the intensity of the climbing/bouldering you are doing bringing it to just below the level that of your desired climbing/training for the day. You may choose to isolate some specific movement or holds and use them. Eg lock off left arm and hold then repeat for right. Hang on a finger boards off a medium edge. Here you want to bring on a near pump but definitely do not waste yourself, now after a short period of active rest (you don’t want to get cold again!) you are ready for your session


Sometimes the constraints of an area or climbing partners etc. mean a regimented program like this may not be possible, this doesn’t mean you should throw out your warm-up routine. Instead be creative, here is an example warm-up for a ‘real’ climbing day.


Your walk-in will become your aerobic warm-up bringing up your heart rate, if the walk in is too short go for a quick jog on the spot or along the base of the crag. Whilst still warm (don’t sit around for ages talking shit and getting cold) by all means still chat with friends and have a good time but whilst doing this begin your light dynamic stretching as described above. If reasonable traverse the base of the cliff and begin your sport specific activity or choose a very easy climb to conduct this stage, don’t think of this as a waisted climb if it is easy enough it won’t take you very long, engage in the activities whilst doing the climb, and if possible a top rope may make closing your eyes and adjusting your pacing better. For the final stage you can find some holds and begin increasing intensity hangs or moves at the base of the cliff, or choose a second route that will be a step up from the first but not too hard that you can’t get the desired effect of this stage. A short rest maybe a snack and you are really ready for a day of crushing.


THE WHATS AND WHYS AFTER YOU GET YOUR CRUSH ON

COOLING-DOWN

So many times I have just packed up and gone home after trying a route/problem at my max, leaving my body feeling tired and soar. It may often seem inconvenient but cooling-down properly in the longer term will aid recovery, meaning we can send/train harder sooner so surely every minute spent cooling down is a minute well spent.

The idea like I said above is to allow the body to return to resting activity level, aids in dissipation of body heat and flushing out lactic acid built up in skeletal muscle during high intensity activity. So initially we simply need to reverse our warm-up process slowly decreasing the intensity of our activity, creating nice blood flow to flush out muscles and slowly cool down our body. This will be followed by twenty minutes of static stretching aiming to elongate our muscle which will have tightened up after intense activity.

0-10 minutes gradual decrease in climbing intensity Climb 1-2 routes or a handful of problems well below your max, again concentrate on style and technique and shake out, you will feel tired but shouldn't struggle on the routes you choose

10-30 minutes static stretching Check out the following sight

www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/rehabilitation-exercises/stretching-exercises

and work through:

Front/Doorway/Back shoulder stretches

Wrist flexor and extensor stretches

Back stretch, lumbar rotation and side stretch

Quad stretch, hip flexors and hamstrings

Calf muscles

www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/rehabilitation-exercises/stretching-exercises/types-of-stretching

Read the section on static stretching to guide you in what to do.

Now you should go enjoy a nice meal, hang with some pals and get a good night sleep OR drink beer.