UKC

After his leg got stuck in a crack at Rosyth Quarry in Fife and a rescue team were called out, Jacob Holder never imagined that a photo depicting his misfortune would win the popular vote ahead of 5* mountain shots in our UKC Photo of the Week competition.

While wedging a limb in the rock can be a serious issue - with the worst outcomes ranging on a sliding scale from soiling oneself to a 127 Hours-esque self-amputation - thankfully Jacob did not require medical attention and can see the funny side.

In response to comments asking for more details—despite the image of ladders and high-vis jackets surrounding a climber stuck a few metres off the floor being 'worth a thousand words', as one commenter wrote—we spoke to Jacob to find out what went wrong and asked WideBoy Pete Whittaker for tips on how to help prevent every climber's worst nightmare. 

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Filling out the incident report form after this was the highlight of my week

Time to dust down this classic. Worth watching to the end….

https://youtu.be/1dJLN43G6KA?si=Me207YrjUv9NiT3M

Many thanks for the "soiling oneself" video link. Can't watch it now but have saved it for later.

"Jacob is 21 and has been climbing for about eighteen months."

That's a long time to be stuck in that crack. Presumably the rescuers kept him going with regular food drops.

Seen that a few times before, but always worth a rewatch 🤣

I got my foot stuck in Savage Slit (Summer) (S). We’d wanted to do a quick route before going over Cairn Gorm and Ben Macdui before dropping down to Loch Avon, so I was wearing big boots and got one thoroughly stuck in the crack. I was on lead and my partner had basically no experience, it took about 15 min of painful twisting and wrenching before I freed myself. We carried on with the plan, the next day we went back to Aviemore via Cairn Toul and Braeriach and hit a distillery; in the morning the area round my Achilles heel had swollen to the size of an orange and that was the end of the planned 2 week holiday after only 2 days. 

I got my knee stuck in Aladdinsane (E1 5a) at Trowbarrow back in 1977. Luckily I was given a top rope and could extricate my knee.

I saw this photo and read the article with a sense of "there but for the grace of God.." as well.

Too chicken for the layback, I got my knee stuck in Crewcut (VS 4c) a few years ago.  I managed to extricate myself after a few minutes with only minor bruises to knee and ego, but strength and coolness were already beginning to fade - any longer and I think I'd have ended up waiting for the MRT to turn up with a winch and a big bottle of vegetable oil.

PS: Good call making an article out of this - the photo was begging for the story to be told.

I have seen someone require Mountain Rescue to extricate them from Crewcut a few years ago.

Thanks for the follow up- what a story!

When I was pretty new to trad I was climbing at Rosyth and a solo climber I didn't know got her foot stuck in one of the cracks on the left- may well have been on the same climb. We were at the bottom and I ended up scrambling up to the top and dropping a rope to her. It was my first time doing ropework under some real time pressure and that moment had a big impact on me. After getting on the rope she managed to wriggle free and finish up the climb. After that, she decided enough was enough and traipsed back down to the road past the burnt out motorcycles and smashed bottles.

In short, not the first, not the last...

Gotta love Rosyth.

Must have been a good session in the distillery.

Good read, amusing and serious both. Nice to have a happy end.

At the bottom of the page, this: " This post has been read 10,205 times " !!! Excellent !!!

Especially as there’s none near Aviemore.

Back to the op, we used to climb in the quarry a lot. There’s a few interesting routes and in nice weather and no neds it could be quite enjoyable, have seen roe deer there.

Actually trying to figure out how the fire brigade accessed the quarry, we used to park in the industrial estate and bush whack to the top.

Brilliant! A lighthearted read and respect is due to Jacob! Good luck in your future climbing and enjoy 'The Dream'!

Tomatin is pretty close. Went there after a similar truncated Cairngorms trip