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| San Diego Climbing |
| Brian Gonzales leading an aid rout on Lowenbrau Pinnacle as Riley Swift belays. Photo by Brian Gonzlaes. |
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| Big Rock at Lake Perris. (Lake Perris is just north of SD county) |
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| Brian Gonzales tops off on Uncertianty Principal (5.11d) Photo by Mike M. |
| Mc Cain Valley |
| Mt Woodson in Poway |
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| Joshua Tree |
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| Climbing Home |
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| Brian Gonzales on "The People's Wall." La Jolla, CA. Photo by Shonna Gonzales. |
| "The People's Wall." |
| (Photo by Shonna Gonzales) |
| Valley of the Moon |
| Mary Harward climbing in the "Valley of the Moon." Photo by Josh Bellows. |
| The people's Wall in La Jolla, CA faces the beautiful Pacific Ocean. While you climb the beach is at your back. The wall is traditionally climbed as a traverse although people will often top-off in the middle sections of the wall (20 feet). In August 2001 I was climbing a zigzag at the wall. That is; I was traversing to the right, but instead of going straight across the wall I topped-off every 2 feet or so then climbed back down to the ground and continued moving to the right. I was climbing fast and felt solid. As I reached the middle section I loosened up and started to climb without thinking about it. I was hitting everything so soon I didn't see any need to focus on the potential dangers, after all I had been climbing on that wall for so many years. |
| Just after one of my top-offs I stepped right and lowered my feet onto the wall without really looking at the route below. My hands were on the top of the wall and my feet were about 5 feet down. I reached both hands down to where my feet were and I was going to swing my feet down to a hold below (I didn't see a hold for my feet yet but I was sure one was there) as I had hundreds of times before. At the very moment that I let go of the top I realized that there was NO foothold! As I flew toward the compact dirt below I swiped my hand for the top in vein. I thought about rolling out of the fall but I was not practiced in rolling and I was not wearing a helmet. So I decided to go feet first with my knees slightly bent, as I hit I was going to bend my knees the rest of the way. I knew that if I locked my knees I could snap both knees forward when I landed. I fell 20 feet to the ground and hit feet first. I did stick the landing as no part of my body ever hit the ground except both feet and one hand that I used for balance. I rose to my feet and stumbled to my nearby truck and drove myself home and finally to the hospital. After several x-rays and CT scans (cat-scans) I found out that I fractured several bones in my right foot and totally shattered my left foot. The doctor said my left food looked like "a bowl of Cornflakes," that is a direct quote. It took one year to recover. I am climbing again and my feet both feel as strong as ever. The photos above were taken after my injury. |
| "The People's Wall." |