Cams might not be as bomber as you think. We are stoked to kick off our Prescription video series by unpacking some magical thinking around cams. This video series will give you greater detail and visual insight into the accidents analyzed in our monthly Prescription newsletters. Featuring Accidents in North American Climbing Editor Pete Takeda, and IFMGA/AMGA Mountain Guide Jason Antin, these bite-sized lessons will get you thinking about how this accident analysis applies to you and your climbing.
For Rocktober we have two accidents that represent a larger trend we noticed in 2023. This trend involves: 1) Placing an inadequate number of protection pieces and 2) Poorly placed camming protection.
Lead Fall on Rock | Cam Pulled Out
Smith Rock State Park, Morning Glory Wall
The crux section of Lion’s Chair Start (5.10c/d R) at Smith Rock. The larger red circle marks the bolt that Genereux was attempting to clip, prior to falling to the ground. The smaller red circle marks the location of the 0.4 cam that pulled out when he fell. Photo: Garrett Genereux.
Garrett Genereux submitted the following report to ANAC:
At the end of a great day of climbing on May 15, my partner Lance (30) and I, Garrett Genereux (34), decided to do one last route on our way out of the main area. We stopped at Lion’s Chair Start (5.10c/d R). As usual, no one was on it despite the routes on both sides being busy. I had been on the route several times before.
I didn't realize how tired I was until on the route. I was trying to conserve energy by not placing too much pro. I was about one body length above my first two pieces of gear and placed a 0.4 cam. My belayer asked if it was a good placement. I assured him that it was fine and kept moving. As I approached the first bolt, where the crack pinches down, I became very fatigued and started getting scared. I wanted to clip the bolt as fast as I could. I was able to hang the draw at my farthest reach. Then I pulled up rope to make the clip. As I inched the rope closer to the lower carabiner, my left foot greased off and I fell.
There was a ton of rope in the system, and when I heard the 0.4 plink out of the crack, I knew I was going to the ground. My left foot briefly hit and then I landed on my butt. I lost my breath and made some guttural noises trying to get it back. I lay supine. My ankle hurt and my lower back was pretty tight, but I had full sensation and movement below. I even remember feeling like I needed to pee while lying there and took that as a good sign.
The folks nearby were able to clean up the lower pieces and someone with the longest stick clip I've ever seen, snagged the draw off the bolt. Someone let me borrow their camp chair. I was able to slip off my climbing shoes. My left ankle was dark in color and already beginning to swell, but I could bear weight and felt that we didn’t need a crew to carry me out.
My partner carried the gear and I used my stick clip as a walking stick as we hiked to the road. My ankle was just a soft-tissue injury, and my back had compression fractures at T12, L1, and L2. Two months later, I was back climbing and feeling well. Since then I have even gotten back on the same route. I sewed it up with 11 pieces rather than three.
ANALYSIS
Simply put, I did not place enough protection. In the first 15 feet, I only placed three pieces: a nut and a cam protecting the start and then the 0.4 cam that pulled. Also, I could have climbed a bit higher to a better hold and clipped the bolt with the same amount of rope in the system as I had when I fell. I also should have checked in with myself mentally and physically. While it is not the most difficult route, it does take focus and it gets an R rating in the newest guide. (Source: Garrett Genereux.)
Leader Fall on Rock | Protection Pulled Out
Lander, Sinks Canyon, Sandstone Buttress
Gunky (5.8) is a popular route in Sinks Canyon that protects well with hexes and nuts. Familiarity with passive gear and more cam-placing skills might have helped prevent an accident that occurred in July 2023. The high X marks where Taylor fell, and the low X marks where he landed. Photo: Joe M.
On the morning of July 10, Mac Taylor (25) fell on the first pitch of Gunky (2 pitches, 5.8). He wrote the following account for ANAC:
“Two friends and I hiked to the base of Gunky (5.8) at the Sandstone Buttress. I was new to the area. We hiked with gear on our harnesses while carrying ropes and a bag with water and extra gear. I decided to lead the first pitch, despite being told that there was a scary roof section. Part of the reason I chose to lead it was that I already had most of the gear racked on my harness. On the route, I placed a large nut and a number 1 Camalot. I then clipped a bolt and placed a 0.75 Camalot in a shallow slot deep in the crack that I was climbing.
“Halfway up the pitch, I rested and placed a number 2 Camalot deep in an offwidth-sized crack. I laybacked the crack and got established below the roof. From there, I struggled to find comfortable holds. I was about 10 feet above my last piece.
“I decided to backtrack. My belayer was pulling in slack while I downclimbed. About five feet above my last piece, I fell. My hands slipped first, and my feet were still on the wall. I flipped upside down and pulled two pieces. The number 2 was a good placement, but it was placed straight in the crack, not oriented in the direction of the fall. It levered out and tweaked the cam lobes. The 0.75 just pulled out. I was caught by the bolt after falling 30 feet. My belayer was yanked up then dropped back to the ground as the last piece pulled. This resulted in bruising on their elbows and lower back. I split my lip, sprained my ankle, and cut up my left forearm, with heavy bruising on the right side of my abdomen from my harness.
“I had stopped right before hitting a ledge. I was lowered to our belay stance, a very large ledge above a slabby wall. My belayer ran down to the car to grab my first-aid kit while I lay on the ground. In the parking lot was an AMGA guide who was also a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT). Rather than navigate the entire approach, the guide lowered me down the slabby wall. I walked out with the help of my friends, and we went to the emergency room. I was given a stirrup and crutches for my ankle, and I got stitches in my lip. I had no internal injuries.”
ANALYSIS
Taylor wrote, “I think the two biggest factors were my overconfidence and my poor gear placements. I had been warned the route had a scary section, and it was the hardest trad climb I would have done up to that time. I definitely should have let a friend lead this pitch while I took the second, less scary pitch. I also really thought I had placed some good pieces on the climb. I should go back and practice my placements more and get some critical feedback from someone more experienced.” (Source: Mac Taylor.)
Editor’s Note: Cams vs. Nuts
In the 2024 ANAC, there were 13 accidents caused or aggravated by pulled protection. All of them involved a failed cam placement. Whether placed by a novice or professional climber, none of the pulled protection was a nut, hex, or other passive gear.
In my own climbing career, I’ve been as guilty as anyone when it came to magical thinking around cams. When I got my hands on a set of rigid Friends (the first commercially viable spring-loaded camming devices) they were like fast food—quick and convenient. The subconscious belief was that devices of such expense and complexity must have had hidden powers. In some cases, cams outperformed our expectations. But we were to discover that also like fast food, cams came with hidden health risks. I’d often find myself placing a marginal cam, even when there was an obvious and solid nut placement staring me in the face. On several occasions, a poorly runnered cam fell out below my feet, creating a unexpected runout. Another time while I belayed, my partner fell, snapping the shaft of a poorly placed Friend. After these incidents I embarked on a trad curriculum that saw me using only passive gear for a good part of an entire season.
While not as sexy as a rack of the latest cams, a set of hexes, nuts, and Tricams provides light, simple, and intuitive protection. Though cams are often “easier” to place and frequently cover a wide size range, they are also intricate and fussy gadgets that require advanced skill to properly set and assess. As Taylor notes above, simply not orienting the stem in the direction of loading can cause an otherwise good placement to lever out. It is good to remember that although cams will sometimes hold in flares, soft rock, choss, and in shallow placements, sometimes they don’t. And due to a multitude of unseen factors inherent to their mechanism of action, cams can even fail in perfect looking placements.
—Pete Takeda, ANAC Editor
