In reply to Jack Geldard - Editor - UKC: The summer before last my partner and I were climbing Emulator when there was an enormous bang followed by a huge rumble and a further enormous bang as a block bigger than my car smashed to pieces at sea level (where we had been 10 minutes before). We reached the top of Emulator then as my partner was leading Fail Safe a helicopter came in and hovered 50 feet above her. Clumps of grass were raining down and our ropes were blowing about wildly. As I was seconding Fail Safe the helicopter flew away.
It turned out that there was another party on Gauntlet, and when the leader reached the top she tied her rope around an apparantly solid block. The block promply slid down the slab with her attached - by a miracle, her rope snagged on a spike and she was swung in to a ledge. She was badly bruised but basically OK. Her two companions were meanwhile still at the belay at the top of the first pitch. Fortunately a passing walker hear the bang and peered over the top of the cliff to see if anyone required rescue.
