My work on ladders has convinced me trhat most climbing storys involve a serious ammount of Climbers math
When you stand at the top of a 28ft ladder and look down, then you realize that the working height is only 24ft mor likly 22ft even if you stand on the top rung OSHA be damned. now look down and think of that last 30footer you took. probobly not as far as that 24ft you are looking at from your ladder.
Climbers math goes a bit like this.
The first time a story is told the run out and fall lengths are about 2/3rds of the actual distance and the dificulty of the runout is usually correct or slightly inflated. Depending on how much booze is consumed by the time the story has been told half a dozen times the distances are more like 1/2 the real value and the dificulty has grown by at least a grade
All that being said and keeping in mind that i do not drink. My upside down screamer out of the great dihedral a few years ago must have been real close to 30ft. apretty sure that the bolt is about 12 to 15 ft from the LA and there is some slack and rope streatch to factor in.
Took a long gear ripper off of Mt Horrid one december adventure climbing. Iced up crack, over dressed and socks in my rock shoes. Can't fee climb for crap when i have too many cloths on and feel like I should be ice climbing
that one was close to 30 as well.. a few other close calls on shorter falls with bad things to hit.
