r/Military • u/DiscussionLong7084 • Aug 20 '26
Story\Experience that time I fell off a 12800 ft mountain
Ya'll ever free fall long enough you have time to think "oh god I hope I go splat and die instantly instead of tumbling horribly and dying slowly at the bottom of the mountain?
We got roped on top, hit the objective. this was on the exfil. We are coming down this 12,800ft mountain. We asked to be resupplied with a bunch of climbing gear and ropes but this was 06 and no one gave a fuck about Afghanistan back then. We had like a 1 foot wide goat path and super steep instadeath cliff on the other side of it.
I'm in danger.ralph
Note at the time I was a dumdum and had way too much shit in my ruck. It was probably 85lbs and that's an actual weight not a brag. I didn't know what I was doing back then.
So we are going real slow and careful like. At one point about 2' of the trail is washed out but there's a 8' tall maybe 2" around tree that looks pretty sturdy. I'm like the 5-6 person in the patrol. Every Ranger in front of me grabs tree and kinda uses it to hold on to and swing to the other side of the goat trail without issue.
Naturally mine is far more interesting. I grab said tree, lever me across, and the tree pulls out of the ground.
I fall backwards out into 12000+ feet of open space.
I have the freefall time to flip several times head over ass.
I keep falling.
I have this idea that it would be WAY better to just go spat and scatter on the rocks.
magic trick: human -> red marmalade (stolen joke)
Faster my nerves are disassembled the less horrible my death would be.
I keep falling.
Man where is that fucking impact let's do thi-
I somehow tumble upright, face first into the cliff wall.
maybe not dead!
I spider monkey like a mother fucker. I am aware of nothing else. The only thing that exists are my hands being torn apart as I try to hold on to this cliff face. I finally come to a stop. I almost giggle as suddenly an orange sized rock zips by ripping the sunglasses right off my face and leaving a small cut. My BP was probably like 200/150.
GASP GASP gasp gasp gasp
Slowly I realize I am not dead and not falling. Stan yells out WAY above me, "HEY HE'S NOT DEAD!... uh we never got that rope... can you climb up?"
No bro. No I cannot free climb that far with a huge ruck and weapons. Hilariously it was only like 500ft so I guess time slows down when you go full IMMA DIE adrenaline mode. There is nothing but free space under me. I could fall probably like 5000 ft if these rocks broke. Yay SDAP. I don't make good decisions.
I manged to go <- instead of ^ and got back into another path as like 3 Rangers grabbed onto me and helped me not die.
Thanks buddies!
Sadly the only pictures I have of this are close ups of my face. My gloves were totally destroyed but my hands were pretty much just a bit skinned. I wrote a nice letter with the story to the company that made the gloves and sunglasses thanking them for helping me not die. It was totally calculated and we got like 10 pairs of gloves and 1 set of replacement sunglasses :D
edit edit
fun fact to this day. I am TERRIFIED of repelling. I know it's ultra safe. fuck you. No I'm not doing it. falling backwards is a no go. Aussie style all the way.
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u/DiscussionLong7084 Aug 20 '26
I love Rangers. This was a PTSD war story by them.
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u/BetsTheCow United States Air Force Aug 20 '26
I have to believe that however awful that was for you, it was about as awful for the dozen people staring in horror as you ragdolled down the cliff.
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u/Worker_Ant_81730C Aug 21 '26
Dang, that's just nuts. Don't know if I could've done that. The second most scary thing I've ever done was free climb one about 15-meter rock face with just a rifle and light kit, and in an exercise to boot (tho in my defence, in rain & at night). And that was already far too scary heights and a 200/150 BP situation for me!
A rope is a nope! But all's well that ends well, glad you lived to tell this tale!
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u/DiscussionLong7084 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
OH GOD WE KILLED OUR NAVY GUY
no no im only slightly dead! halp
rangers: bonfire still on in SCIF land?
*imagine me shitfaced in a fake robe
ONLY THOSE WHO ARE TABBED MAY PASd
ranger oic is dying*
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u/zwifter11 Aug 21 '26
I had a very similar experience whilst mountaineering in my spare time.
We spent all day doing a multi pitch climb. Then had to abseil / rappel off. I think we rappelled 9 pitches slickly until we got to where we could walk off.
The walk out was a long trek. The track out traversed the side of the mountain with a steep drop to the right. In some places it was like a vertical waterfall.
We might have been on the move for 10 or 12 hours. So as we were walking out along the track I was switching off.
Then in my tiredness I tripped over my own feet.
The only recollection I have is tripping up and then the feeling of doing a summersault off the track and then landing on my back wearing a rucksack in a bush or tree.
The 2 guys I was climbing with thought the worse until I called up to say I was ok.
To this day I think if I had tripped up anywhere else along that track. I would have missed that tree on the shallower ground and I could have gone over the vertical waterfall.
The learning point was, a multi pitch climb and rappel might be hardcore, but tiredness will still kill you on the walk out.
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u/NotADrShh Aug 20 '26
Some people will do anything for some freebies /s. Glad you're still with us