Boulder Canyon accident

We were climbing in Crack land upper Avalon. When we got back to the road there were a bunch of emergency vehicles up canyon by a mile or so. The camera says it may have been a climbing fatality. Anyone have any details? Hoping for the best.

Prod.

Yikes, that would be terrible. Also hoping for the best. Everyone is somebody's loved one- friend, family, partner, child, parent... : (

Just read news link above my post. Were they climbing in a party of three? Guess we'll hear more details later on. Strange.

Sounds like they were not together, but definitely all very close to each other

FreeRangeHuman wrote:Sounds like they were not together, but definitely all very close to each other

Even stranger.

damn that sucks... gotta be safe out there, don't make mistakes!!!

Three separate incidents in Boulder Canyon/Dream Canyon, was this all the same day? The odds of that have to be pretty out there... although also a lot of noobs go pushing it outside before ready. I'm sure these were all experienced climbers who just had bad luck at the same time. Maybe the guy by Boulder Falls hurt himself by illegally trying to get to Plotinus, I know I've slipped on that approach. I hope everybody recovers quickly and the families that grieve have all the support they can get. There are always reminders that the mountains are bigger than you. Condolences to all, keep climbing on.

Very sad. Condolences to the friends and families.

dailycamera.com/boulder-cou…

Setting up a top rope on the Boulderado. Very sad accident.

Very sad. My condolences to family and friends.

They are making it sound like he was coming down a "steep ravine".

kdvr.com/2012/09/02/climber…

It looks like they have ID'd the climber who died in BoCan on Sunday:

Article

This is so sad. So unnecessary. Be careful out there.

Mal

Per the article basically sounds like he fell from the tippy top. 150ft to the road is pretty much the total length of the crag.

I get funny looks sometimes where I ask for cliff top belays or set up anchors on a backed up rappel, but it's tragic events like this which remind me of why I do it.

You never know when you might trip, slip, get stung by a bee or who knows what. Stay safe on the edge of those cliffs.

I was actually supposed to be with the group with the guy who died. I had to be somewhere that evening with my wife and with Obama in town, could not do both. Anyways, is is a strange series of events that led to this. The most experienced in the group was leading the 9+ on the arete on the right side of the Boulderado when he started getting off route to left (due to the easier climbing). He worked himself into a position where he could not go up and was hesitant to downclimb due to the pendulum he was facing (he ended up being back on route when the victim fell). The victim decided to scramble up to the top of the route to secure a top rope. The plan was not very well thought out, but had little to do with the accident. I did not know personally the victim and have heard differing accounts of his abilities. He had climbed 3rd and 4th class routes on 14ers, and had done technical climbing, but I haven't heard how much,or if he had ever been in a position to make the objective decisions involved with even the simplest anchor system. He was the most experienced on the ground (there was a group of about 8 total) and took it upon himself to set the anchor. At the time of the fall, no one on the ground was watching him (or really able to due to the position of the fall), rather watching the climber downclimbing. So, from piecing together before and after, it seems as if he was looking for a quicker way to downclimb as the ropebag was left on top of the arete and he fell (as seen from my friend who was walking away from he vehicle as he arrived at the base of the cliff) from the far right of the ledge above the .11. He fell free fairly far from the face, leading to think he may have slipped while on the ledge. The victim came to rest on the road where my friend secured the scene and administered basic first response until a nurse and EMT cert arrived from the area. Nederland EMTs were on scene within 10 min, but were not able to keep him alive.

The other accidents were from different groups.

Scott McMahon wrote:Per the article basically sounds like he fell from the tippy top. 150ft to the road is pretty much the total length of the crag. I get funny looks sometimes where I ask for cliff top belays or set up anchors on a backed up rappel, but it's tragic events like this which remind me of why I do it. You never know when you might trip, slip, get stung by a bee or who knows what. Stay safe on the edge of those cliffs.

I did some development back in alabama (where i have lived all of my life until moving here in June) and I had my harness and gear to secure myself with me at all times. It is not worth the risk, and sometimes you never know when you will be put in a position that you need a belay.

i'm sorry for the loss and my heart goes out to all who will be affected. "Be very careful if you are at the top of this cliff and are not anchored in".(rossiter) I was climbing at bell buttress when the accident occurred.A few moments prior I watched some newbies doing some things accross the road i've never seen in 20years of climbing......anyway, they were stretching a rope down the dirty shoulder of the road for 200 feet and coiling it like an old extention cord around and around....the point is, i see beginners doing all sorts of weird stuff and they don't know there's a safer,better and different way.....its up to all the climbers with knowledge and experience to yell if need be but hopefully just offer a few life saving suggestions when its obvious. i wish i could help.....i'm going to start using more locking caribiners at anchors and suggest more redundancy whenever possible.

mike c wrote:the point is, i see beginners doing all sorts of weird stuff and they don't know there's a safer, better and different way.....

Mike C, I appreciate your statement & I see "experienced climbers" doing wierd stuff as well. just because someone has been climbing for a "long time" doesn't mean they know what they are doing or that the techniqes they employ are best practices or even remotely safe.

I remember downclimbing from the top to get to that 9+ on the right side of the Boulderado to set up a toprope, and how sketch it was.

We (experienced climbers) frequently talk about beginners not having the basic skills necessary to climb in a safe manner. I've been climbing for over 20+ years, and in my experience I was lucky to hook up early with othes who had climbed for a long time. I make it a point to give advice to people at crags who are obviously inexperienced, especially when I bring my kids to the crags since the last thing I want them to witness is a tragic accident like this. Sometimes, I get a bad reaction from people in places like BoCan, but it's events like this that make me sure on balance it's the right thing to do.

A few weeks ago, I was up on the cable route of Longs with another guy, and a father and two teenage boys were scrambling up without a rope. He and his kids clearly did not have the skills to climb the route without a rope (easy 5th class, but about 200 feet of exposed, steep, and wet climbing). I regretted not telling this guy that he was in way over his head, and he and his kids got stock halfway up the route.

So, I guess the point is to this rambling reply is that we should find a way to teach people who are climbing around us if it could help prevent things like this from happening.

Weekend Warrior wrote:We (experienced climbers) frequently talk about beginners not having the basic skills necessary to climb in a safe manner. I've been climbing for over 20+ years, and in my experience I was lucky to hook up early with othes who had climbed for a long time. I make it a point to give advice to people at crags who are obviously inexperienced, especially when I bring my kids to the crags since the last thing I want them to witness is a tragic accident like this. Sometimes, I get a bad reaction from people in places like BoCan, but it's events like this that make me sure on balance it's the right thing to do. A few weeks ago, I was up on the cable route of Longs with another guy, and a father and two teenage boys were scrambling up without a rope. He and his kids clearly did not have the skills to climb the route without a rope (easy 5th class, but about 200 feet of exposed, steep, and wet climbing). I regretted not telling this guy that he was in way over his head, and he and his kids got stock halfway up the route. So, I guess the point is to this rambling reply is that we should find a way to teach people who are climbing around us if it could help prevent things like this from happening.

This is pretty much the argument that pops up every few months.

One half will argue not to say anything and let natural selection take it's course, the other half will say something. Of course with a small smattering of the in betweens.

It's tough to say what to do, besides taking personal responsiblity not to kill yourself.

U can try giving your advice but no one will listen...better yet they will get pissed at u. They are adults and only help with advice when asked or see obvious struggle. It is what it is people are gonna get in trouble and get out of trouble....lessons learned.

When it comes to threads like this, I look at it as if it were my friend. I wouldn't post a lot of speculative BS, just condolences. It could be your buddy or loved one and I hope those close to the deceased are finding solace.