Who: 31-year-old Chris Boratenski
Where: Vail, Colorado
His mistake: He used nylon cords instead of metal carabiners as an anchor
What happened: A climber fell 72 feet after choosing to anchor with a nylon cord instead of a metal carabiner.
The man, an experienced climber who has climbed other gnarly pitches, was the lead climber on a frozen waterfall with a couple friends. His friends were able to ascend and descend fine, but when it was his time to descend, the friction already put on the nylon cord was too much to handle a third climber.
The cord snapped and the man was sent to the ground. He suffered nine broken vertebrae, a broken rib, a collapsed lung, lacerations to his face and a broken nose. He was unconscious for 30 seconds after the fall.
Rescuers were immediately alerted and, in 30 minutes, arrived at the scene. It took rescuers 2 ½ hours to get the man to a waiting ambulance. The man is expected to make a full recovery, but will have to spend eight weeks in a back brace.
Read the story here.
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