Tales from the Edge - Helmet Close Calls

[hank moon]

"Helmet saved my head" stories. Mostly climbing scenarios, but the same stuff is out there in canyons. Y'know, gravity, rock, potential energy, etc. :)

Excerpt from

http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/vert...t-stories-edge

Chouinard's Gulley

The route was Chouinards Gulley (WI3) in the Adirondacks. My partner was leading off to the side and was only about 30 feet up. I was tied off to a little tree at the base and thought I was safe, with a rock buttress next to me. I was belaying, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. I wasn't knocked unconscious, but the hit was forceful enough to make my knees buckle and drop me to the ground. I stood up, shook it off, and felt the top of my now-cracked helmet. My partner and I believe that at the top of the climb, more than 200 feet above, some climbers topping out knocked a chunk of ice down. Even if they'd yelled "ice," we wouldn’t have heard it -- and perhaps it's a good thing; if I had looked up, I could have gotten it in the face. All in all, the helmet saved my noggin’.- Anne Skidmore