UKC

Has anyone ever fallen out of the Harding Slot? First hand experiences or apocryphal stories equally welcome

In reply to Tyler:

I think you'd have to be quite thin to fall out of the slot itself. People have been rescued from the slot because they were stuck. But you could fall out of the flare below the slot quite easily.

In reply to Andy2:

Thanks Andy, so does it widen once you wiggle into the bottom of it, so its like a funnel?

In reply to Tyler:

It gets slightly tighter as you get higher, but the squeeze section is probably about 5 metres.

In reply to Tyler:

Have you heard my story?

July, having spent 5 weeks in the Valley. Can't get a partner to go on Astroman with. Eventually hook up with some dude. Bonus - he wants to lead the Harding Slot. We arrive at the base of the slot, me having led the Enduro corner just as the sun was starting to hit the route. He takes a fall out of the initial crack, ripping a red Camelot straight out of the slick crack and landing on me/the belay. He gets back on and established in the slot. An hour passes. He pees himself. There is wimpering/crying. The sun beats down on me, frying me in the niche belay below the slot. Another half hour and eventually he reaches the belay and necks all of his water. I'm flaking out on the belay from sunstroke. He rappels down with his T-shirt in shreds and blood oozing from scratches on his back. We bail. It's 110 Fahrenheit when we get back to the base of the valley.

In reply to Tom Briggs:

I'd not heard that before Tom, I'll add it to my list of routes never to do! Did you/will you ever go back?

In reply to Tyler:


No, I've not been back. The Valley sounds a bit too busy thesedays unless you're up on a wall. There are other places I'd prefer to visit for free climbing (Zion, for example).

In reply to Tyler:
It feels hour glass shaped. Once beyond a certain point just holding your breath is enough to keep you in place! Unfortunately breathing is essential and become more ragged! Wish I had taped my back or used a wetsuit, full body, legs, arms, and head!
I was seconding/being hauled up the route!

In reply to Tyler:

Does anyone know if the story about a certain world class British climber of the 1990s being reduced to tears in the Harding Slot are true?

In reply to Tom Briggs:


Sounds like an effective mid-pitch weight saving technique to me.