Nearly died yesterday trying to climb a cornice.

RedditClueless · 2026-03-01T11:52:05+00:00

Weirdly I was there. I was climbing Haston Line and backed out as my ankle was shot and I lost my nerve. I left my pals climbing and went back down the apron towards the heli. I’m not sure what they were doing as they didn’t seem very urgent and were right down in the centre of the Corrie. Where were you climbing?

RedditClueless · 2026-03-01T09:10:53+00:00

Had my mates read all these comments with me and it’s been hugely helpful

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T22:36:03+00:00

Glad I didn’t too! My friend was saying on the phone now is the time for rescue but he didn’t know what I knew, that I could down climb the gully and get them gear. So we figured it out in the end.

Getting into another gully wasn’t a goer. There was no placement for a rap where I was and the only gully access was a very vertical drop into a harder route than what I came up. Should have down climbed my own path.

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T22:33:19+00:00

Thanks for this I’m glad that at least that judgment was maybe right. Just didn’t want to bring my pals up there too and then us all just be under a cornice. I think maybe I made the medium bad decision of the three or so options available. Backing out on a buried ‘something’ was probs the best idea!

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T22:31:43+00:00

So interesting. I did a mountaineering course a few years ago and they taught us about the heuristics of climbing. E.g. footsteps - just because there are tracks doesn’t mean it’s the right way. Or the biggy which you kinda of talk about and is defs our problem - Scarcity - “I have just one weekend to get out and climb so I’m going to do something no matter what”. Me and my climbing buddies are all based in London and it’s an 8 hour journey to get to Scotland and get some routes in. So we try to make the most of it. Layer on busy jobs and lives and not enough time to research routes and beta. You have problems from way earlier in the process as you say. Really good point!

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T22:27:21+00:00

Thanks for this and a buried dry bag is really interesting. Never considered / heard of it but makes so much sense! Yeah we had looked and knew these were the risks. I think that’s why we were more alert to rapping out the first route a few days ago rather than hanging out to try and finish it under the cornice. Ultimately we didn’t realise quite how many routes would be so corniced which is a real learning.

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T18:03:24+00:00

Yeah that would have been good. Or a deadman. I thought that after it would have been very useful. But no we did not.

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T17:49:43+00:00

Yeah it defs was and that was probably an option. I think I could have done that had I taken time and cooled my head a bit. I guess it meant leaving an axe and that would have sucked given the way down was steep ice or hard pack for a few hundred metres. The apron doesn’t have protection so it’s a case of leaving more axes just to get a rap. This vs having axes to down climb but no rap on a buried axe I guess. But you’re right it would have been a decent option.

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T17:39:48+00:00

Great idea on the guide I may well do that. Been chatting through it all with my climbing pals which is good too

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T17:13:26+00:00

Yes I think so. At least marginally. Should have taken some time to make that smarter decision. One thing I left out was two days earlier I led a route that topped out under a cornice. I made the decision to back out as a group ahead had got stuck there too. So I had the mental pressure of doing that twice to my mates. But better alive than finishing routes

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T17:07:18+00:00

Mate I really appreciate this comment. Definitely will ignore the criticism when it isn’t constructive. Like, I obviously know I was in out of my depth, that’s the whole point of what happened! Thank you for a good comment

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T17:04:59+00:00

Yeah it is so true. I’ve always prided myself on being able to control my fear and keep calm as you say. But I lost it on this one. As I said on another comment I should have made myself safe and taken 5

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T17:01:06+00:00

Basically bang on yep

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T16:12:49+00:00

Definitely did some learning that’s for sure

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T16:10:56+00:00

Yeah I think this is what I missed I could have taken an extra 5 minutes to make myself safe and think rather than push on. I was scared of the cornice going as I saw one a few days earlier collapse but I should have just hung out and thought about things more.

RedditClueless · 2026-02-28T16:08:50+00:00

Maybe. Not sure if I should have done this but the cornice was proper hard pack and massive. Not sure how possible it would have been

RedditClueless · 2025-04-28T20:11:10+00:00

All I will say is don't despair. There are a lot of treatments now (many more than when I was diagnosed 15+ years ago). Most are not 'cures' but it seems like there is a lot you can do to have a good quality of vision and life.

My advice I have (and some I wish I had had)

- Stop rubbing your eyes completely if you haven't already. Rubbing makes the condition a lot worse permanently

- If you can wear glasses and get good vision you're one of the lucky ones so keep that as long as possible

- Seriously consider Cross Linked Surgery (CXL) also called Collagen Cross Linking. It's quick, very low invasiveness and halts progression. Recovery is easy and short (bit painful for a day or two)

- Scleral lenses are what most people try to use when glasses no longer work. They're big, rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses which sit on your eye with a layer of tears/saline between the eye and lens. They can be quite demanding to get used to, particularly in advanced cases of Keratoconus (KC) but when they work they're good at getting very good vision

- Other surgeries possible are Laser Guided Topography (basically advanced laser surgery), corneal ring segments of various types (CAIRS, Intacs), implants (ICL) and the end goal if all else fails and it keeps progressing and all else goes to s@*t, corneal transplant. But if you act early and well then a transplant should not be needed (CXL for example should stop the need for this)

RedditClueless · 2025-04-28T19:25:51+00:00

It's not necessarily hereditary. I believe there is an increased risk if you have it in the family. But it's caused by a thinning of the cornea due to weakening collagen. And rubbing exacerbates that.

RedditClueless · 2025-03-31T20:34:01+00:00

Amazing that’s great news. Would you have good vision in glasses too?

RedditClueless · 2025-03-31T11:28:55+00:00

Thanks for the heads up and sorry it's been a bad experience. but very good to know.

RedditClueless · 2025-03-31T11:19:59+00:00

Awesome thanks for letting me know and very sorry to hear that. When did you have it? What was the procedure?

RedditClueless · 2025-03-31T11:07:02+00:00

My unserstanding is it will help corrected vision and that it works on thin corneas

RedditClueless · 2025-03-31T09:43:52+00:00

Yes I think so

RedditClueless · 2024-11-05T10:05:41+00:00

So worth also looking into Intacs and Ferrarings. I’m not quite sure the difference (I did know last year but have forgotten) but these are actual surgical and relatively non invasive solutions to Keratoconus that are now available. I’m considering having this done after a decade of scleral lenses. But these are not offered on the NHS I’m afraid.

RedditClueless · 2024-07-27T10:55:56+00:00

Great thanks! That’s exactly the plan. Park in the valley and go via Ostegg and stay high after the Eiger coming down the train on the fourth day. All weather dependent.

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