No Going Back?

They say that when you fall off a horse, you should just get back in the saddle.  What about if you fall off a big wall?

At 6am on the 3 October 2014, Simon and I were just setting off from Camp IV, a bivvy ledge two-thirds of the way up The Nose on El Capitan, when Simon slipped and fell.  He didn’t go far but enough to fracture his skull and puncture a lung.  An epic rescue, weeks in hospital and months of rehabilitation and recovery (for both of us) ensued. If you want to know more about the accident, read my 'Five Metres' post.

Over the last few years, we’ve continued climbing, but now with the certainty that we’re not invincible.  Now, each lead climb is wisped with the fear – what if?  Despite the niggling doubts, climbing is still enjoyable, we both love that time spent together and with friends tackling a challenge in beautiful rocky surroundings.  Being a climber is an important part of our identities.  So there is still the disappointment that we didn't finish The Nose.  We had been strong and capable on it, certainly up to the challenge of doing this most classic route.  The accident seems like an unfair disqualification. Since we flew home, broken, from California, there’s been hundreds, thousands of ascents up El Capitan and notable records achieved.  This 3000 feet rockface can now be climbed in under two hours, surely we can manage it over several days? 

So we are going back to The Valley, but not to climb The Nose.  We’re going to take a look at Triple Direct, a route which connects with The Nose at the point where we backed off.  We’ll take a look, but will we climb it?  Will we want to and will El Cap let us? We don’t know but we’ll keep you posted!