In reply to A Jo by any Other Name:
Yes, I suppose I am overlooking the point that in essay competitions a person is not upon oath.
My first multi-pitch lead - actually this isn't true, I led some of One Step in the Clouds earlier in the day, but anyway - was the evening of my third day climbing, when I thought it would be cool to do a Severe called Oakover (I think) at Tremadog. I arrived at the belay, put a sling round a tree, clipped myself to it by means of my only screwgate krab, carefully did up the gate, and brought up my second. Only then did it become apparent that the gate had jammed and neither of us could undo it. I was irretrievably anchored to this tree.
I lowered my equally novice partner back to the ground and he went and got More Experienced Climbers. Several of them stood around laughing, and one or two soloed up, tried to undo it, and soloed back down. It got dark. The minibus was waiting. Jokes - unfunny, I thought them -, were made about calling the fire brigade, and/or getting some butter from the hut.
In the end a desperate effort on my part succeeded in undoing the gate, and all was well, but it was a humiliating half an hour or so.
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