Boulder Canyon Accident 5/26

Arrived at Tonnere Tower this afternoon just in time to get a front row seat of someone getting airlifted out. Anybody know what happened?

John, that radio traffic could have come from any number of different emergency calls if he was tuned to Red 1. Could have been a car accident or something (antifreeze or oil in the road)...one hopes, anyway! I was on P2 of Swanson's Arete when the Flight-for-Life flew overhead...always a bit spooky. Wishing this climber the best of luck!

My parnter and I were across the river at Avalon and my belayer watched it happen. It appears as if a climber fell from the top of practice rock. I did not see it happen directly but my partner did. He said that the climber appeared to be near the top when he fell approximately 40-50 feet to the ground. He said the person landed upside down on the massive rock platform at the base of the climb. It looked like the climber was climbing the classic splitter finger crack that goes up the middle(11a??) or on the route to the right of it. It didn't look like the person was quite at the top yet doing an anchor change nor did it appear as if they were soloing(since their was a person standing at the bottom of the climb) who was probably the belayer. Not sure if all there gear pulled or what??? My partner said that it didn't look like anything slowed the fall. As soon as it happened we heard a girl frantically screaming for help. In a matter of 3 minutes, there was several climbers hiking up to their location from different crags. It looked like several people were coming over from lower bowling alley across the scree field. I would say from personal accounts that there were at least half a dozen people at the scene within 2 minutes and that the first paramedics arrived on scene in less than 10. There were crews that appeared to be dispatched both from Netherland and Boulder. Given the height of the fall, It is likely that the climber sustained life threatening injuries or was killed. I had heard that the person was airlifted out but I did not see or hear a helicopter in the area. I remained in the area for an additional 2 hours and when I left there was still crews at the scene. If the person got airlifted out, I am guessing that they were driven by ambulance to one of the open fields up past Suprising Crag or down the canyon. As I said, I dont remember hearing a helicopter at all...... My prayers go out to the person who fell, the belayer and anyone invloved in the rescue..........

We were at boulder falls when two cops came flying down and blocked up both sides of the highway with their cars. We were going up canyon and they yelled at us to move fast because the chopper was landing in the parking lot. We drove up canyon and saw the rescuers and the truck heading down the canyon.

After climbing we pulled over and checked the site out. There was a lot of water. I hope for the best.

A couple friends and I were at The upper animal world when we heard a woman screaming for help and we immediately ran over to practice rock to find a man laying on the slab underneath the 5.11 finger crack and he was knocked out.. Im not sure how high up he was on the crack but he fell and he had ripped two yellow mastercams out and still had two pieces in the wall that didn't appear to help him at all as he decked out from a long way up or so it appeared.. We did everything we could to help him once he regained consciousness by building an anchor to hold him from ripping out suspect pieces and falling off the slab but there was little we could do.. he was in serious pain and my friends and two others that were seriously amazing helped to stop people on the road to call rocky mountain rescue and an ambulance.. Rocky mountain rescue showed up super fast and did an incredible job at getting this guy out of the precarious position on the slab and to chopper and the hospital. Seriously this is the second time Ive helped in a situation like this in boulder canyon and those guys and gals are amazing at what they do! He regained consciousness but was on some serious adrenaline and in alot of pain, I hope he's doing alright...

why is it that there seems to be a compelling need for people to give their opinion on accidents? Most of which is guessing or speculation.
Don't we get enough of this sort of thing on the news channels?

Are these reports talking failed anchors (i.e. bolts), or did he have his own anchors or trad placements fail?

Does anyone have factual details about this accident? If so, do share.

Best wishes and speedy recovery to the fallen climber.

Shane Neal wrote:Are these reports talking failed anchors (i.e. bolts), or did he have his own anchors or trad placements fail? Does anyone have factual details about this accident? If so, do share.

I was the belayer at this accident. My boyfriend, Reid Pletcher, and I were climbing together. This was going to be our last climb of the day. He was leading the climb, placing his own trad. When he was about 20-30 feet up the wall he unexpectedly fell. At this point, he had 4 trad pieces in, but the top two pulled out. He landing on the rock ledge next to me. Because the ledge is downward slopping, I had to keep Reid on belay to keep him from sliding off the ledge. So I called for help. For the minute or two that I waited for help I could see Reid spitting and slowly moving his arms and legs. The four other climbers that were near by were very helpful. We tried to calm him down and stabilize his head. He had a laceration on the back of his head and was bleeding a lot from his left ear. Reid was very confused and uncooperative. He kept on trying to stand up. While it was not ideal, he was most comfortable in the fetal position with his head in my lap. I applied pressure to the laceration on the back of his head and treated him the best I could for shock. While I was not next two him for the first 1-2 minutes after the climb, he was conscious and knew his name and my name the entire time. He had no idea where he was, what had happened, or the date. Help came quickly and he was soon life flighted to St. Anthony Central in Denver. The ledge made it difficult to treat, access, and transport Reid, but the rescue team did a great job.

I would also like to thank the climbers who helped. Reid was lucky and I was grateful that they were so close and so knowledgable.

Reid has been in ICU at St Anthony Central since the accident. He has two fractures in his skull and brain contusions with a subdural hemorrhage. Initially they had thought he had broken his right wrist, but it turns out that it was just a bad contusion. He has trouble recalling words sometimes and can't remember the fall or the three days after the fall. His body is having trouble regulating his sodium, due to the brain trama, and until his body fixes that he will be in the ICU. He is "improving wonderfully," according to his speech therapist, and he has all of his motor skills. He sleeps a lot, but every day he is able to spend more time making jokes, having conversations, and just being his normal self. All of the doctors are pretty sure that he will make a full recovery back to normal.

Reid will most likely spend the next 2-4 weeks in Denver at Craig Hospital. Craig is one of the best brain and spinal cord rehabilitation centers and they will help make his recovery easier. They focus on training him to be able to return to his school, sports, and community at a normal and functioning level. His family and I will be staying in the family apartments of the Craig Hospital. Once Reid's rehab is complete, we will return to Sun Valley. He is very excited to get home.

Mali, glad to hear Reid is expected to make a full recovery. Such great news! Thinking of Reid, you, and the family as you wade through this traumatic time.

Thanks for the post. It's very unfortunate but I'm glad to hear he's doing okay. I hope his recovery is full, and that it comes easy. I appreciate you sharing a story, lessons are best learned from experience. May it be a reminder to all us other climbers to be extra safe when climbing trad and to always wear a helmet when placing our own gear. Best wishes and godspeed.

Glad to hear he is doing better. My hopes and wishes for a speedy and full-recovery.