Powerband mastermind and all-around nice guy John Palmer has sufferred a ten metre ground fall while climbing in the Gorges du Tarn in France. Information suggests he landed on his back after his belayer’s grigri failed to lock (reason unknown). John has a broken neck and is in hospital in Montpellier. There is no evidence of spinal cord damage at this stage. Best wishes John.
27 Responses to “Mechanical failure”
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Balls. Get well soon champ!
Does this mean there won’t be any more Palmasutra for a while?
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Hope the toothpick heals quickly! Best of luck champ!
jesus… all the best to you JP!
a ten minute ground fall - that’s a long way! max vibes yo
Yeah, he falls at the same speed his arm bends…
Pete- I’m sure he hasn’t lost his sense of humour and no doubt he’ll need some entertainment so I suspect the next palmersutra may not be too far away.
Oh shit… that sucks dude, hope you’re as ok as a 10m turf will allow.
Big healing vibes from the ChCh crew.
Shit, that sounds pretty awful - hope you have a speedy recovery!
Aw nooo! Thats awful JP - Get well soon, praying for a speedy recovery bro.
All the best JP
Hey John, hope you recover quickly, take it easy!
thoughts go out to you JP! If in doubt, attach a prosthetic head and you’ll be right
Thanks y’all. Looking forward to gettin’ home!
bloody ‘ell, all the best to you JP..
Wishing you a quick recovery, JP.
Wow. At least you’ve got all your fingers and toes… All the best to a quick recovery mate!
wishing you a quick recovery. all the best Matt
Hope you had good travel insurance too
Get well soon JP
Hi Mate, Hope you’re doing OK. Get well soon. Sharik and Jo
yo jp! dont you know polish for “hold the bloody rope”? get well soon mate and i always knew a 10 metre fall and landing on your head would be cushioned by your giant nose.
Does this mean I can have my Ruapehu project back now?
Kia kaha, JP, and get well soon!
Cheers all. @ Pete - yes, once you pay me for the hardware (which is really the same thing as a ‘no’).
Crikey- just saw this post. Hope you’re recovering OK. Mike
I don’t believe it, jp can’t climb further than 10 meters. I heard his neck broke when some french guy was giving it a good ringing. Hope you didn’t bite your tongue.
All the best and easy on the Bourgogne. Daniel Sarah and Pipi.
Actually it was 15 meteres.
Hope the trip back to NZ went well.
Kristen
JP, All the best and here’s to a speedy recovery. Hopo to see you climbing again soon.
All of the details need to be released before it can be called a mechanical failure. If the Gri gri is in one piece, then it was not a mechanical failure. Petzl is the first to say the Gri gri is not an auto locking device and says to never let go of the brake rope. Gri gris do not always lock, and if one doesn’t, it isn’t a mechanical failure. I am not fully aware of all the details of this accident, but the idea that Gri gris always lock is a widely spread myth and needs to be corrected. They need to be treated the same as an ATC or any other non locking device and are dangerous if not.
Again, my thoughts are with you JP for a speedy recovery. Get well soon.
Thanks for the well-wishes, anonymous. Against my better judgment, I’ve left your unattributed comment here because you raise an interesting point. For my part, I thought the heading “Mechanical Failure” was a oblique reference to my vertebrae, not to the Grigri. If you read Tom’s post carefully it simply says “…after his belayer’s grigri failed to lock (reason unknown)”. I thought that was fairly put myself…