Close call for Taco Del Rio

[Cy Kaicener]

There are some very graphic pictures of Taco Del Rio's accident in the Lightning Couloir (San Gabriel Mountains) Ouch
http://sangabrielmnts.myfreeforum.org/about1115.html

[FIGHT ON]

There are some very graphic pictures of Taco Del Rio's accident in the Lightning Couloir (San Gabriel Mountains) Ouch
http://sangabrielmnts.myfreeforum.org/about1115.html

Wow! That's messed up! Dude uses his hands for what he does. I hope he heals quickly! Hope there aren't any tendons or permanent damage. Man that looks ugly. It had to smash his hand against something else. Like another rock or a wall. At least it looks like that. Can't imagine it just hitting his arm in the air.

[EnFuego]

......Can't imagine it just hitting his arm in the air.

Yeah - the rock hit his hand in the air. His arm wasn't against anything else. His arm is ok. Just nasty gash, with lots of blood. Nothing broken or torn.

[FIGHT ON]

......Can't imagine it just hitting his arm in the air.

Yeah - the rock hit his hand in the air. His arm wasn't against anything else. His arm is ok. Just nasty gash, with lots of blood. Nothing broken or torn.

Really! Did you see it happen? Not even holding on to a rope?
Then it was either really going fast or it was very sharp or he was holding his arm stiff or any combo. Good thing it didn't hit his face! Seems like wearing some sort of eye protection would be wise. You peek up and it's over. Maybe the blood made it appear worse than it was. How large was the rock. Like shape and weight etc? I would have saved it!
That one pic in the hospital room, the stuff on the bench, it looks like he's bleeding coffee grounds! (from Starbucks)

[EnFuego]

Fight On -

No, I didn't see it happen first hand. I was about 100 feet below him. He was free climbing the route that another person and I were climbing with rope. After Ryan got hit, and was lowered down to my belay, I got the story first hand. Ryan said that he had just placed both his axes I was about to lift himself up when he was hit by a rock that looked to be about twice the size of a softball. So his arm was in a rigid postion, holding his body weight and when the rock hit, there was nowhere for the arm to flex to, so it absorbed the full blow.

And yes, wearing glasses or goggles is a very good idea as there was a lot of small pebbles and spindrift raining down. Glasses or goggles would have not helped though getting hit in the face with a rock that size.

[FIGHT ON]

Fight On -

No, I didn't see it happen first hand. I was about 100 feet below him. He was free climbing the route that another person and I were climbing with rope. After Ryan got hit, and was lowered down to my belay, I got the story first hand. Ryan said that he had just placed both his axes I was about to lift himself up when he was hit by a rock that looked to be about twice the size of a softball. So his arm was in a rigid postion, holding his body weight and when the rock hit, there was nowhere for the arm to flex to, so it absorbed the full blow.

And yes, wearing glasses or goggles is a very good idea as there was a lot of small pebbles and spindrift raining down. Glasses or goggles would have not helped though getting hit in the face with a rock that size.

Ya I know glasses wouldn't do much but seems like you gotta do something.
And a stone of that size flying down with a point on it would easily poke a hole in just about anything. Lucky it didn't hit a bone. I wonder how well your helmet would have taken a direct hit. On your climbs, are their always these meteor showers happening or does the snow have something to do with it?

[Hikin_Jim]

He was free climbing the route

Thank God he wasn't dislodged.