Climbing Accident in Eldorado
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Does anyone have any information on the climber who died in Eldo on Thursday night? It sounded like a rappelling accident from the brief info I heard on the news. It is always a tragedy when this type of thing happens and I think it is important to keep the climbing community in the loop. Any information would be appreciated. |
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There was an article in the Jan 28 Rocky Mtn News (pg 15A) that alluded to a "rope-handling error". Dave Booton, Boulder County Sheriff's Emergency Services Coordinator, said that as the leader was being lowered to the ground, the rope slipped through the belay device. This doesn't seem to add up since the first pitch is so short. Maybe the leader was being lowered from the top of the second pitch, in this case a 60m rope would barely make the small tree above the bolts atop the 5.8 crack. There wasn't a knot tied in the end of the rope according to Mr. Booton. Anyway it is a sad thing and we will be reminded every time we walk by this area. |
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Hello all. My name is Steve Mills and I was the belayer and good friend of of the late James Harr. Here is what happened: we reached the third belay and decided, after much deliberation and attempted route-finding, to forego the last pitch on account of the weather and rap down. We lowered down to the second belay, and then down to the anchors atop Thunderbolt, a short 11d to the right of Rincon. These anchors are about forty feet off the ground. We both reached these anchors and were very excited to be almost back to earth. It was very cold and windy and we were not adequately clothed. James tied a bight in the rope and hooked it to his harness so that both ends of the rope would not fall to the ground when he pulled it from the previous rappel. I took one end of the rope, fed it through the o-rings and tied in. he put me on belay and lowered me down. What happened at this point is still not entirely clear to me, but it certainly involved James tying into the bight on his harness, or to some middle point on the rope, instead of tying in to the OTHER END. Consequently, when I pulled through the slack and had him tight, we were only working with a very small portion of the rope. I saw a pile of rope to the left of me, and felt the tension in the line. I asked James two times if everything looked right to him and he said to go ahead and lower. I began lowering, and about halfway down to the ground the rope zipped through my hand and through the Grigri, leaving James twenty feet to fall. He landed on his back and head. If he had been tied into the other end of the rope there is no way that I could have had him taut AND have the rope run through the Grigri. James and I had a brief but wonderful climbing partnership. His last words were "Wow, we have amazing chemistry," which was entirely true. We are both experienced climbers - I trusted him and he trusted me and were were always very safe. But somewhere amidst the excitement of reaching the ground after an hour and a half descent and the discomfort of the cold and wind, we lost some of our circumspection; he made an error and I in turn made an error by not noticing it. And he lost his life because of it. May you rest in peace James: you will never be forgotten; you shall continue to inspire me and all others that knew you, as of course you always have. |
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Stephen, thanks for sharing your tragic experience with the mp.com community. Deepest sympathy and condolences to the Mills family and yourself. Time will heal. |
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Steve, thank you for posting this. I can only imagine how difficult it was -- not to mention how difficult the past week has been. I myself took a groundfall only three weeks ago -- from much higher than James fell, and I'm lucky to be alive. I'm now in a wheelchair, but it easily could have been much worse. Steve wrote:I began lowering, and about halfway down to the ground the rope zipped through my hand and through the Grigri, leaving James twenty feet to fallI was wondering if you could explain what you mean by this? Thanks, and I'm truly sorry that this happened to you, James, and his friends & family. |
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Josh, your question has been answered. He (as included in his description) unfortunately ran out of rope when lowering. As to why they chose to lower eachother as opposed to rappelling I think that is a decision that they would go back on in a heartbeat. I think it is very thoughtful of James' belayer to offer this description of the accident but to hound for further detail is not necessary. We all make decisions, for one reason or another, and sometimes, unfortunately, we wish we didn't. |
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For whatever reason a young man lost his life. I am so sorry for James, his family and his friends. |
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I sincerely hope my post didn't come across as insensitive or hounding -- if it did, I apologize. I'd just like to reiterate that I'm very sorry for what happened. |
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All of our hearts go out to the Harr and Mills families. |
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Josh, I hadn't heard that you had an accident. |
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Stephen, thanks for posting. I never would have imagined the scenario you described. |
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Good day all, |
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Steve should be commended for his courage in surfacing to post his explanation. I can't imagine how this must feel. My condolences to him and to Jeff's family. |
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I applaud the belayer, Steve, for coming forth with his recollection of this very unfortunate incident. Also, condolences to everyone who was touched by this tragedy. |
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My sincere and heartfelt condolences to all family members and friends involved in this and other tragic climbing accidents that have occurred recently. James has been described as a genuine, safe, and loving person by his co-workers. Any tragedy, especially one so close to home, makes the climbing community seem very small. We have all been there in one way or another. In the cold wind, on that last rap, so close back to earth, thinking about that hot cup of tea or crack of a 90 Shilling with our partner. |
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I imagine that the decision to lower and not to rap had a lot to do with the choice of belay devices (Grigri), but I am only speculating. |
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My sympathy goes to the friends and family members touched by this accident. |
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Steve, thank you for the courage to post your tragic experience. My condolences go out to you and your late partner's relatives and friends. While many people want to try and understand how this accident occured, I think a better topic might be to address why. Speaking from personal experience I would say that the "cause" of this accident would most likely the initial stages of hypothermia. Often people make decisions when they are freezing that they would not otherwise make, such as lowering each other on a multi-pitch climb. Most people do not realize that hypothermia is setting in until too late, and critical thinking is usually the first thing to go. Colorado is brutal in regards to this, as often we climb in the sun in a tee shirt in the middle of winter, because the sun is so intense. |
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To add to and reinforce the Kevin Stricker post above, I've been climbing for over 15 years and a member of Mountain Rescue for over 8 years, and I can't stress enough that bringing a few tiny lightweight items such as the ones Kevin mentioned can make the difference between an epic that you laugh about later over a few beers and a tragedy. In addition to a nano-weight jacket and hat, I ALWAYS bring a tiny headlamp, even when I have every intention of being down well before dark. Please, do us all in Mountain Rescue a favor and: a) bring these few items; b) wear a helmet; c) use good judgment and double check everything; and d) remember that c) is more important than anything else. |
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Josh, I noticed your post, and I thought I'd say hi! I'm one of the three Bozeman folks (the one that now lives in Ft. Collins) that were at the base of Tagger when you fell. Hope your recovery is going well! My sympathy to the friends and family of James. |
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Thanks for everything Erin. I'm sorry for ruining your day. I don't want to take away from this thread, but for anyone who might be interested I just wrote an account of what happened here |