Crazy Steve’s climbing gear contained a set of overalls that the goatman never used.  He claimed to like having the wind blowing over his lower half.  I never really pressed him for more details.  Still, the overalls that Steve never used would come in handy now.

It was a difficult task to unsling my backpack and remove the overalls all while hanging from a rope in the damp darkness.  I took great care not to drop anything and after a bit of contortion I had Steve’s clothes out of the pack.

One spike seemed as good as any other so I chose the nearest and wrapped the overall around it.  I was able to ball up the material and neutralise the danger of the spike.  It wouldn’t help me if I crashed hard into the wall.  I would certainly be stabbed, but it should provide enough protection to make climbing past possible.  I’d already been impaled once this evening and I wasn’t too happy about that.  I wasn’t looking to increase my count.

Climbing past the spikes with one of the neutralised proved to be easier than I anticipated.  Once I was past the pointy ends, the spikes themselves were excellent footholds.  So much so that I was able to untie and reset my anchor point.

Fixing my rope to the to the spikes would mean that if I fell, I would only fall part way down and hopefully wouldn’t hit the ground.  I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.   As safety precautions go, this was a long way down the list, but it was better than nothing which was my only other choice.

I fastened the other end of the rope through my backpack with the idea that if I did fall the pack would spread the impact of a sudden stop.  Providing the stop was caused by the rope, this is.  A sudden stop at ground level would be fatal.

Threading the rope through my pack also meant that I could play the rope out as I went up.  My sole consolation was that I wouldn’t fall any further than was necessary.

As it turned out, I had cause to be very grateful for the precautions I had taken.  I had made good time and was about halfway between the spikes and where I predicted the top of the wall to be.  I was probably about three quarters of the way to the top.

I had raised my left lag to take advantage of an outcrop of stone, but when I put my weight on it, I could find no purchase.  My footing gave way and despite digging my fingers into the stone my momentum dragged me sideways and I slipped from the wall.