Climber injured/decks in Eldorado Canyon this morning

dailycamera.com/news/2008/j…

I hope he is doing as well as he can. My thoughts are with him and his family/friends.

What's with all the Eldo accidents this year? Are there more than usual this summer, or is it just that accidents getting more publicity?

Nope, there just seem to be a lot more accidents.

Hopefully the guy's OK.

Hello again, my name is Heath Urie, and I'm a reporter at the Daily Camera in Boulder. There was another accident at the canyon today where Preston fell. Initial word is that the man is in critical condition and at a Denver hospital.

We heard there may have been friends of family of Preston's out there today. Is anyone willing to talk to us about it this afternoon?

If so, please call me at 303-473-1328 or 303-472-9890. I'm hoping to get some people to chat today.

Thanks again, you've all been great to us in this difficult time.

Over the thirty or so years I've climbed in the canyon there have been bad years and good for the accident rates. I can remember seasons with scary numbers of fatalities,(rarely soloists). Maybe the increased attention to our sport as a whole encourages people to try the glamorous variations such as third classing, even without the required skills. (Panic containment is the most important when soloing.) It's always a drag when someone gets hurt or killed, and yet that possibility remains a part of the sports' essential charm.

I hope the unknown climber pulls through. This has been a bad year for accidents.

Did something change on the route to make it significantly harder recently? If the climber was indeed soloing werks up you would think it was well below his abilities. Is a key hold now gone?

rob rebel wrote:Did something change on the route to make it significantly harder recently? If the climber was indeed soloing werks up you would think it was well below his abilities. Is a key hold now gone?

Sure seems like that is the case. Anybody been up on it recently? For two climbers to take bad falls at the same place on the same route in less than two weeks (particularly a soloist who likely was familair with the route [or at least was probably well within his abilities]) seems very odd. Here's hoping the guy pulls through.

Best wishes to the injured - pull through!

__

Unrelated:

Heath Urie, why this angle in approaching your piece?:

"Despite the proximity of the accidents, which happened just 10 days apart, there are no plans to close the popular climbing route, said Deb Frazier, spokeswoman for Colorado State Parks."

Is it your position that the route should be 'closed'?

There do seem to be a high number of accidents this summer. It's gettin' hot - so maybe it's a good time to take a little hiatus from the bad mojo floating around.

Maybe I'll pick up golf.

Ray

Mike Larson wrote: Anybody been up on it recently?

I climbed it about 3 weeks ago and didn't notice anything different from prior ascents.

On a different note that could have gone on the other thread, but I didn't want to burden the family...

Coming down from the West Ridge Saturday morning, I noticed a climber with a jug of water and scrub brush removing traces from the rocks at the bottom of Werk Supp. My partner and I thanked him for his service and reflected a few moments. A bit later I went back and saw a couple guys studying the base, looking up, conferring, and looking some more. They turned out to be mountain rescue volunteers composing the final report and conclusions.

It struck me not just what a community of climbers we are, but the humanity of our collective efforts. One man was cleansing evidence of a tragedy. Others were trying to answer questions for loved ones and provide information to protect others. Everyone who knew what was going on was affected. It was more than a little touching.

Be safe out there.

Shawn Mitchell wrote:It struck me not just what a community of climbers we are, but the humanity of our collective efforts. One man was cleansing evidence of a tragedy. Others were trying to answer questions for loved ones and provide information to protect others. Everyone who knew what was going on was affected. It was more than a little touching. Be safe out there.

I'm gonna quote that so people can read it again. This is what I want to think of the climbing community....nothing else.

I went up on the route the other day and as far as I can tell the route is the same as it ever was.

I'm not ready to put out an opinion of why I think so many people are hitting the deck this season. Mountain Project people are wayyyy too critical of anyone who has a strong opinion of anything or even if they just put their opinion out there (notice Shawn's comment in reference to what Ken wrote......).

There are more climbers out there every year, more of them are inexperienced, the rock is hot and slick, and people make mistakes all the time.

The rock hasn't changed.

I always thought the first pitch was the crux until I read the guidebook description after climbing it a half dozen times. Now I know.

Best wishes to everyone involved.

The Camera story says "fell from nearly the same location", but is this info coming from a climber or a reporter? If it's not a climber it could just mean anywhere on the Bastille, do we know he fell on Werksup?

Edit - just reread, I guess witnesses and sheriff said almost the same spot, so it appears to be Werks. Not enough info until we hear from someone who was there. I'm sure hoping he pulls through.

Jimn Seiler wrote:My very best wishes go out to this man. I work at the hospital that he was brought to and saw him come in off the helicopter and being a climber, when I saw his climbing shoes my heart sank, a little too close to home for me. I left the hospital at 3:30pm and he was already out of surgery and heading to intensive care which was a very positive indication to me. He's got to be a fighter and I'm sure he's got a long road ahead of him but like I said before I am pulling for this man with all my heart. I am all about climbing, climbers, and our climbing community and I love to see positive and not negative.

Jim,

Thanks for the news. I'm glad to hear that he came through surgery. That's always a positive sign.

Positive thoughts to the guy who fell today, best of luck pulling through.

There is defintiely a subtle funk to the start to Werk Supp. A while back a friend of mine fell from that same general area while climbing alone. He was lucky enough to escape with one broken bone but was/is (seemingly) too talented a climber to pop off a 5.8.

I was climbing in Eldo all day today, and started up the Bastille Crack at about 12:45, apparently just after the rescue vehicles left. The temp was about 98 degrees, needless to say bad soloing conditions. I believe the route was in the shade at the time, but still hot from a sunny day. Best wishes to the victim and his family. Everybody be careful out there.

I saw this man fall and was the first one to respond to him. Everyone there did the best they could to help him. I don't know waht to say except that I hope he pulls through and I can get a chance to hang out with him. Thank you to the park rangers and the professional/nonprofessional rescuers involved. This man was in rough shape and I think everyone could do him some service by laying off the speculation and criticism. If anyone reads this and is close to the injured climber my thoughts are with you and feel free to contact me via mt. project. I hope he makes it ok.

Wow another sad story. Best wishes to the climber and his family.

Robert

Thanks for the update. I have been thinking of the man all day. I hope that we get nothing but good news about him from with every passing day.

WAAAAAYYYYYY positive energy and a few prayers as well bro. C'mon man, rub some dirt in it and get back in the game!