Going for it!

This Sunday I went out climbing (for the first time in two years) but also hung on a rope and took photos of my buddies while they climbed.
Paul here, was going for that small, jizzlly little hold you see chalked up above and right of the bolt. The hold for his left hand was really bad and his feet weren't too good either. Paul is a good climber but this is a difficult route and in 3 tries, he wasn't able to latch the hold. He fell about 8-10 feet every time. The bolt he was falling onto is right at his knee so it was pretty casual.


D80, 18-200 at 31mm, f/8 at 1/60, 400 ISO, handheld while dangling from a rope.

Nice angle here Mark. Good all around adventure action shot IMO. It's been a while since I have done any rock climbing, but it is a fun sport. I know though that any fall, especially 8-10 ft, is never easy on the body.

The bolt he was falling onto is right at his knee so it was pretty casual.

And the ground was how far? Man, I don't think there would be anything "casual" about slipping if it were me!

Great action shot, Mark. This is really well done. Which route?

Sweet action shot! Reminds me of the old days when I used to climb. Thanks.

Thanks,

Curtis, he was about 50 feet off the ground so 50 feet of rope was absorbing the shock of the fall. Additionally the rope was a thin one so it had a low impact force, meaning it was a "soft" fall.
Marc, some new cliff west of Dufur towards Mt Hood. There are a bunch of great climbs there. This route is 5.13a.

Great action Mark. Makes me nervous just looking at it. This makes me really want to get out and do some climbing myself.

Great shot Mark. This makes me not want to ever get out and do any sort of climbing

I'm with Rick! I'll keep my feet on the ground, thank you, and enjoy terrific shots like this. Like how you kept the movement of his rt arm in there. That and the expression on his face combine for a real cool "one picture = a thousand words" kind of shot.

I agree with Rick, Not For Me, However, this is a great action shot..