Crash and Burn
Name: Crash & Burn
Grade: V10
Location: Quantum Field
Style: big moves between big holds to a high committing crux
Status: Quantum test-piece. Classic hard highball
Of all the harder lines around Castle Hill, this one stands out as one of the proudest and most alluring. Straddling a wide sloping arete on the huge Headlights boulder, the unwitting climber can’t help but stare up at the top section and go, wtf!? I’ve always been drawn to the taller lines, not so highball that falls become deadly, but the big, the proud and the imposing. Perhaps a little rashly I was seduced by the easy first section and even after doing the huge span at the midpoint, I thought it was in the bag. How wrong I was.
To begin with, the boulder traverses right along a series of huge and hand gobbling hueco’s, and by the time you”ve got both hands and a foot in the last one you’re already high off the ground. Then comes what I initially thought was the crux: a big pendulum out to a narrow edge. Lock the heel into place just below the left hand and lean out near horizontal to match the edge. Having looked at this move and seen how the body position is, I always wondered what would happen should the hands ping off, leaving the heel alone and lost, still locked in its position.The thought didn’t bear thinking about considering I wanted to keep trying it. Unfortunately for me, my enthusiasm punched judgement in the back of the head and on a solo day with one pad I did indeed discover first hand how bad a fall from the aforementioned position would be. I swung down, ripped the heel out and landed on my head…about a foot away from my pad. pwnd.
I waited for the world to stop spinning and for the wind to wear off and stood up. I thought i could walk it off and try again, but double vision prevented me from actually finding the house sized boulder, so I (perhaps a little unwisely) got back in my car and limped home. So began 6 weeks of bouldering with torn rib cartilage. Only now do I appreciate how close I came to breaking my neck. As JP said recently, 3 cheers for the human body. Succumbs to the most basic of injuries yet can survive a four meter fall onto the head. Although whether this is a testament to the human body itself or the consistency of my thick skull remains to be seen.
I spent a while after the fall trying the problem but it wasn’t to be until late the following year when I took a trip south with a few friends. After so long away from it the memory of the fall was still as fresh in my mind as the day after and I had to force myself into the same position. From the match, cross over to a bad crescent edge, unwind from the distant heel hook and tackle a very thin and sandy mantle, 5 or so meters from the pads. This requires some delicacy, and luckily I didn’t sample a fall from the top.
To this day Crash and Burn remains one of my best sends, by no means the hardest, but I had created my own short history on it, and I recommend it to anyone who has a penchant for high hard problems. Just make sure you have plenty of paddage, spotters and at least a thimble full of common sense before getting on it. Only after you’ve fallen from the top moves will you fully appreciate why it was given the name it has. ftw!
A classic indeed!
I think 5 metres might be a bit of hyperbole… also you forgot to mention the glue. But a great problem none the less.
poetic licence! and besides, falling on the head is one thing, but if i add the glue nobody will want to touch it. And they should, because its awesome
Fair enough. Definitely a height you don’t want to land onyour head from, but in my book that’s anything over 20cm!