Boulder Canyon accident 9/17/09

Anybody have any more info?

I got a third-hand report that the person probably didn't make it. Wishing otherwise!

Updated link: coloradodaily.com/latest-st…

The article says the person was climbing Empor or Cobb Rock when he fell.

From the Daily Camera this morning: The climber has died.

RIP and my condolences to his family and friends. :(

A climber who fell 15 feet from a rock formation near Boulder Falls on Thursday morning died en route to a Denver-area hospital, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said.

A Colorado Department of Transportation worker found the fallen climber around 11:30 a.m. at the 34-mile marker of Boulder Canyon at the Cob Rock formation, authorities said.

The Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, Sugarloaf Volunteer Fire Department and the Sheriff's Office responded to the call. The 40-year-old man fell while being belayed on the Empor Route of the north face.

The man was unconscious when he was found. Rescuers performed a technical rescue and airlifted the man to the hospital, but he died on the way, said Sgt. Vinnie Montez, of the Sheriff's Office.

The climbers were using ropes and gear but were not wearing helmets.

Colo. 119 was closed as emergency crews worked the scene, and it reopened around 4 p.m.

Authorities have not released the man's identity pending notification of family members.

How is one FOUND by a COTRAN worker when being BELAYED on Empor? Did his belay partners split? This is confusing.

i wondered the same thing, but i suspect its just typically bad reporting by the media. I'd be interested in learning what happened though. It's a terrible tragedy.

I've never tried using a cell phone from up there - perhaps there was no coverage and thus no way to call in an emergency? Perhaps only one other person was there with him and the only means of getting help was to drive down the hill. I don't know.

Agreed that it is a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to family and friends.

"The man, identified today by the Boulder coroner as Jeffery John Brown, 41, of Denver"

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_13366234

There's no cell phone coverage in Boulder Canyon. A partner would have to go all the way back to Boulder to call for help...unless there are call boxes in the canyon I'm not aware of.

you can get cell service in BoCan if you are up high on the mountain sides...not down low where most of the crags are. However, I think I've gotten it up on Security Risk and at Plotonius.

my thoughts are with the friends and family. been there and it is brutal.

Yep, in BASE jumping, you're usually in the middle of nowhere and have zilch cell coverage. So when a disaster strikes and there's only 2 or 3 of you. You have to decide. Do I stay here with the injured and do nothing and nobody knows, or do I bolt for cell coverage and leave my companion and try to get qualified help? GOD what a hellish decision to make!

My condolences to Jeff and his family.
My best wishes to Jeffs partner.

Fellow climbers,
How was it that a Department of Transportation worker was up off the road? Or had the injured climber been brought down closer to the road? There is plenty of traffic in the canyon so the injured parties climbing partner would have only needed to get down to the pavement for help. Where was the second climber? Was the injured climber the leader? how long was the injured party without first aid. Where's the info?
My sincerest sympathies to Mr. Browns family.

My guess is that the injured climber's partner went down to the Cob Rock parking area to get help, saw or flagged down a CDOT truck, and they radioed for help. Faster than driving down the canyon to the Dome/Elephant Buttresses to get cell phone reception.

It's unfortunate that it takes bad news to point out how poorly the news papers and tv do their jobs; the articles in the Post and Camera were virtually incoherent- the sad part of that aspect being that they don't seem to realize the extent of their own ignorance; maybe they don't care. After seeing this pathetic lack of understanding in the reporting of past accidents, you might hope that they would get better...

I am a member of the local media and I am also a climber. I cannot vouch for what the Boulder Daily Camera nor what the Denver Post reported, nor have I more than glanced briefly at their articles.

I can say that I talked with a spokeswoman with the Boulder Sheriff's Office on Thursday afternoon after hearing word of a rescue happening in Boulder Canyon for a climber. I can say as a climber, I ask more questions relating to details probably than most journalists do in such cases because of my knowledge of the subject.

Many times a journalist is limited to what information is passed on to them, and then deciphering that information into layman terms.

In this case, I am willing to wager that all information they collected was coming from the Boulder Sheriff's Office; that is what our source was since we did not have anybody at the scene.

These are people who are trained as law enforcement officers, not as climbers. So much of the jargon that is familiar to you and me is completely foreign to them.

For many of them, they are seeing it as an traumatic injury accident. The incidentals such as, "What pitch was he on?", "Did a piece pull?", etc. are often lost on them, and at no fault of their own.

The thing to remember is that a person perished doing what he enjoyed doing. Also that emergency personnel did what they could to save that person's life when they were alerted to the situation.

Ryan

This was my friend Jeff. He was a really great guy.. always making people laugh, motivating the kids on the climbing team to have an adventure and try hard routes. He was such a fun and loving soul.

The details of his accident are sad but I'm more focused on the loss of a friend.

The bigger picture here isn't the media but the loss of a someone in our community.

Amen SJG. My condolences to you and his family. Sorry to hear of another loss.

I'm afraid a lot of people are interested in learning how to avoid this in their future and lose sight of the tragedy unfolding.

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic; the loss of a good person is terrible for so many people. My criticism of the news media is born out of frustration, and not because of what would seem to be technical or climber specific questions. The logical leap from climbing with a partner to being "found" by a CDOT worker is far enough to be apparent to a layperson. The article in the Camera today seems to address the shortcomings of the first piece.

Fellow climbers,

Here is a link to the Cameras article with better information:
dailycamera.com/boulder-cou…

In response to Manuel Rangel,

I am certain that everyone is aware of the tragedy unfolding. Try to understand that learning something from this accident is the right thing to do. We need to avoid injury and death. I bet Jeff, and his family who is suffering terribly right now, would want us to learn from this incident and prevent further suffering. I think we all know that Mr. Brown's family would ask us to please wear our helmets while we're climbing. So, I will.

My sympathies to Jeff's family and friends.