The crag at Castleberg after the incident
A climber has warned he had a ‘near-death experience’ on a North Yorkshire crag.
The man was climbing with a partner on Castleberg above Settle when a large rock flake came off as he was on it and narrowly missed the woman who was belaying him. The crag was reopened for climbing last July with support from the British Mountaineering Council.
Writing on the UKClimbing forums, Lukerockwalker describes the incident yesterday – his birthday. He said: “The rock I was climbing made a horrid crack and then the rock was moving. I remember pushing away the rock with my arms, being upside down, and then staring at my belayer Claire who had originally been about 5 to 6m below me.
“Claire had spotted the 4ft x 2ft [1.2m x 60cm] flake/block coming toward her and dived toward the crag for shelter – giving me a bit more slack and saving me from hitting a lot of rock and allowing me to swing into the space below the bulge I had climbed over, to avoid certain death.
“We were very shaken and realised we had both been very lucky, the only injury being a sprained ankle for me.
“It was a near death – serious injury experience and I believe, due to the nature of the shattered rock and the recent, severe freeze-thaw Settle has experienced it has led the rock to become very unstable.
“I believe the crag needs to be re-inspected before another serious incident occurs to a climber or a member of the general public, as it is a popular walking path, and hopefully stop the cliff getting closed down which would be a great loss to all.”
The crag, overlooking the market town on the southern fringe of the Yorkshire Dales national park, officially reopened last summer after being closed due to the danger of loose rock.
A woman climber was injured in a fall the day after the opening and taken to hospital after being rescued by members of the Cave Rescue Organisation.
Dave
19 February 2010I do have to say, whilst I'm all for circulating information about unexpected rock falls and obscure hazards I think this article says a lot more about the 'it must be safe' attitude people have to sport climbing than it does about this particular crag. Would this have been newsworthy if it had happened at Whitestone Cliffe for example?
Perhaps extra reminders may be pertinant. To warn about the objective dangers associated with climbing both to participants and people nearby. But only because of the crag's relative accessablilty and it's potential to attract people who may fail to appreciate the hazards there. Castleberg was made safer by a lot of hard work, but it is a natural crag and so no amount of work can ensure that it is a 'safe' place to climb, depite what anyone might have told the council!
In reality, climbers should be responsible for the risks they might encounter and it would be a very different sport if this ever changed- this kind of thing happens to climbers a lot more regualrly than some people realise and doesn't generate much news... maybe a story to tell people about in the pub!
But not much more.