Mountain Project Logo

Accident at Smith Rock State Park

Original Post
bradyk · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 141
bendnewstoday.com/archives/…

Just seeing if anyone has any other details about the accident? Hope the injured party is stable and will have a speedy recovery.
Mike Rowley · · Traveling · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 76

We saw him being carried out on a body board, but since there were so many people walking him out didn't get to ask any questions. He seemed to responding when people talked to him. I didn't see much blood, but who knows with bones.....
Id be very interested to hear what happened, if anybody knows?

Best wishes for sure.

Jeff Fuchs · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2015 · Points: 0

As Andrew P. pointed out, I posted the wrong news article for a fall last month. Sorry about that. Unfortunately, the KTVZ article is pretty slim.

ktvz.com/news/Smith-Rock-cl…

T Howes · · Bend, OR · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 20

This is 3rd hand info, but I talked to some folks that were nearby when he fell. It sounded like he was on a mixed line around the christian brothers and pulled some gear (and possibly unclipped an alpine draw from a bolt?) before decking. They were saying he had a neck/spine injury.

BigB · · Red Rock, NV · Joined Feb 2015 · Points: 340

Says in the news article he opted for his own medical treatment...

Andrew P · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2008 · Points: 21

those are different events ... latter link being an earlier incident

Jon Rhoderick · · Redmond, OR · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 966

Third hand info:
I don't know what climb he was on, but the closest thing that matches the description (2 bolts then gear at the Christian Brothers) is Hesitation Blues. Two pieces pulled and he was too high above the second bolt for him to slow down. He was wearing a helmet but had specific symptoms of C spine injury. A climber next to him (Ring of Fire?) was a critical care nurse and provided first aid before he was helicoptered out.

Corey McCarthy · · Redmond, OR · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 95

Jons info is mostly accurate. The only inaccuracy is that the first cam remained in the crack. I was at the scene during his transfer out of the park. I spoke to several first hand witnesses. The man was climbing Hesitation Blues, he had clipped the first two bolts and managed to get two cams into the flake. He fell near the mantle move, striking a climber on the base of Double Trouble before hitting the ground. His butt hit first with his upper back and head hitting second. Witnesses reported hearing two loud noises during his fall and that after he came to rest he had one cam and one carabiner attached to his rope. His first cam was still in the crack with the alpine draw extended and missing the rope end carabiner.

After some discussion with witnesses, it is assumed that he had extended his draw during his lead but then decided to shorten it back up and somehow doing it improperly, then placing his second cam near enough the first that it took up the weight of the rope and allowed the improperly threaded alpine sling to go unnoticed until a critical moment.

I havent hear any updates on his physical condition, but I hope hes doing well. He was fortunate(for the circumstances) to be climbing next to a critical care nurse and around the corner from another RN and a SAR climber. His evacuation probably could not have been any more expedient.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Injuries and Accidents
Post a Reply to "Accident at Smith Rock State Park"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.