The Boy Who Fell 110 feet

On March 11, 2007, Isaac “Ike┝ Palatt, 21, took a 110-ft ground fall from the anchors of Soul Train, 5.12a, breaking both heels, four vertebrae, his left elbow, a rib, and bruising a lung.Palatt and his partner, both experienced climbers, had been warming up on the second route of the day at the Soul Asylum, a sport-climbing destination in southern Utah. Palatt was to single-line rappel the route with a Grigri, lowering and cleaning on one side of the rope while his partner sat as his counterweight on the other side. However, due to force of habit, followed by complete oversight, Palatt prepared to lower on the right side of the anchor, not realizing that it was the same side his partner was on.

It always boggles my mind that someone can fall this far and live. I knew someone who fell 60 feet and sustained worse injuries. Read the rest and view the video at Climbing.com.