Rescue on the Diamond

Has anybody heard anything about a rescue on-going on the The Diamond on Long's Peak?

I have a friend up there today. What have you heard about a rescue?

Just received a release that climbing rangers spotted a climber fall from Broadway ledge. The climber fell down the North Chimney to the Mills Glacier. Rangers reached his body around 10 a.m. No word on identity as of yet.

My wife talked to a ranger at the TH earlier today. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it sounds like a soloist fell around 8 this morning. I am crossing my fingers that it is a mistake.

unfortunately, it looks like that was accurate.

dailycamera.com/news/ci_159…

unfortunately he didn't make it. condolences to his family and friends =[

coloradoan.com/article/2010…
dailycamera.com/news/ci_159…

Half of everyone I know who climbs on the Diamond solos the North Chimney. I rarely ever rope up myself except for that last little step. Terribly sad news.

Wow. Bummer. Very sorry to hear this. Rest in peace, comrade.

A climber falling from Broadway does not equate to this individual being a soloist. It is not appropriate, based on the information presented so forth, to reference this individual as such.

Regardless - a sad day. Condolences to family and friends.

Wally

There are too little details being released at this point to make the assumption that the climber was a soloist. I never consider Broadway to be rope-up terrain and it sounds like that is where he fell from reading the release.

Yeah, now that I have heard more I don't think I would categorize the climber as a soloist. I was just relaying what the ranger said.

Such sad news.

Very sad, my Condolences to his loved ones.

Sad news. Condolences to friends and family.

So by above you mean a pitch or 2 above? We were curious if he was soloing the first couple pitches on the Dunn-Westbay. I read he fell 800 feet and I thought broadway was only like 600'.

I don't know how many times I have been told to just solo the North Chimney. I strongly disagree with that. It is loaded with lose, wet, rock and also the risk of people kicking stuff down from above.

I highly recommend doing it roped. It only takes a little longer.

My sincere condolences to friends and family of the victim. Notwithstanding my recommendation above it is the kind of accident that could have happened to any of us.

I was also on the Diamond, belaying my partner up the second pitch of D7 when the climber fell. I happened to be about 15' away from Kevin, a climbing ranger, belaying his partner on the Yellow Wall. First, I heard the ominous crack like in a bowling alley and then saw significant rock fall from midway up the right-side of the Diamond (between Broadway and the top of Longs). This seemed out of place since you don't usually see small avalanches of rock fall there when everything is dry. Then I saw a lot of tumbling, and something large land 2/3 of the way down the Mills Glacier at the bottom. The ranger immediately said, that's a person--and I recognized it as such, along with what appeared to be a ~3/4-ton block that had landed next to him.

So I guess that this climber pulled the 3/4-ton block off the Diamond, loosening up all of this other rock that I first saw--and that he tumbled all the way down with the block, bouncing off Broadway along the way.

By the way, Kevin & the other ranger rappelled down immediately after radioing in their observations and stating that this was a body recovery, not a rescue. Their rope got stuck on Crossover Ledge, and I freed it as I finished the third pitch of D7. Kevin, the pieces of your anchor (a cordalette, a few 'biners, and a green and yellow Camelot) have been turned into the RMNP Backcountry permit office near the main HQ. Please pick them up there.

My deep condolences to the climber's family & friends. May the soul of the climber come back as another trad climber!