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Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 2:35 pm
by Captain Seafort
And suffers minor cuts and bruises.
A climber who fell 1,000ft (305m) down a mountain and survived was found by his rescuers standing up reading a map.
Adam Potter, 36, lost his footing at the summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor near Ben Nevis and plummeted down the near-vertical eastern slope.
Lt Tim Barker, from the helicopter rescue crew, said: "It seemed impossible... he must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell."
He said Mr Potter, from Glasgow, was shaking from "extreme emotional shock".
Lt Barker, the Royal Navy's Sea King helicopter crew's observer, said: "We began to hover-taxi down the slope and spotted a man at the bottom, standing up.
"We honestly thought it couldn't have been him, as he was on his feet, reading a map. Above him was a series of three high craggy outcrops.
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"It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall.
'Almost flying'
"It was quite incredible. He must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell, almost flying."
The helicopter, from HMS Gannet in Prestwick, Ayrshire, was already airborne on a training exercise when it was scrambled to the scene just after 1430 GMT.
A paramedic was winched down to check the climber over. He appeared unscathed aside from some superficial cuts and bruises and a minor chest injury.
Map showing Sgurr Choinnich Mor, a mountain near Ben Nevis in Scotland
Lt Barker added: "He is lucky to be alive. It's hard to believe that someone could have fallen that distance on that terrain and been able to stand up at the end of it, let alone chat to us in the helicopter on the way to the hospital.
"Really an amazing result - I have to say, when we got the call and realised the details of where he'd fallen, we did expect to arrive on scene to find the worst-case scenario."
The climber was walking with three friends who had reached the summit when the accident happened.
He is being treated at Glasgow's Southern General Hospital for non life-threatening injuries.
Bloody hell. How on Earth did he manage that?
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:03 pm
by Tsukiyumi
Incredible. Dude must've used up several lifetimes worth of luck on that one.
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 6:16 pm
by Nickswitz
That can't be possible, no injuries?
Even if he had glanced off the cliffs, how did he not have any injuries but the superficial cuts, that's quite impressive, I wonder if this will give him the balls to try something stupid like cliff diving, or give him the intelligence to sit at home and not move from a chair.
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 7:36 pm
by Mikey
There are stories of ancient Eastern monks falling great distances without major injuries by using a nearby surface to intermittently arrest their descent. This guy must have done something similar completely by accident.
Of course, there's always the chance that he gets run over by a runaway haggis cart tomorrow.
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:22 pm
by Foxbat
Watch that next step, it's a doozy!
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 5:11 pm
by Deepcrush
A lot like the skydiver who fell without chute and lived.
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 5:36 pm
by Mark
What am I not even a little bit this lucky?
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:00 pm
by Mikey
Mark wrote:What am I not even a little bit this lucky?
Of course you are - you haven't died from falling off a 1,000-foot cliff face either.
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:15 pm
by Sionnach Glic
Yeah, that's another way to think of it. Is falling off a 1000 foot cliff lucky in the first place?
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 8:33 pm
by Mark
Mikey wrote:Mark wrote:What am I not even a little bit this lucky?
Of course you are - you haven't died from falling off a 1,000-foot cliff face either.
Lol, excellent point. Silver lining there
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 12:34 am
by McAvoy
Sionnach Glic wrote:Yeah, that's another way to think of it. Is falling off a 1000 foot cliff lucky in the first place?
No but surviving one is.
I wonder how he survived though. There has to be an explanation.
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:08 am
by kostmayer
Don't think he plummeted straight down, some nice rocks slowed him down along the way.
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 4:41 pm
by stitch626
kostmayer wrote:Don't think he plummeted straight down, some nice rocks slowed him down along the way.
Nice, soft rocks with outstretched hands to cushion him?
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:08 pm
by Mikey
No, but arresting the acceleration and velocity of his fall is a lot nicer and softer than hitting the ground at terminal velocity.
Re: Man falls 1000 feet down a cliff face
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:35 am
by stitch626
I don't even see how a person could roll/slide down a moderate hill 1000 feet with only minor scratches.