Accident in Red Rocks Oak Creek 11/25/10

Just heard about it. Anyone have any info? All I've gotten is Oak Creek Canyon, female climber, 50-100ft fall, and airlift?

We were in Calico and saw the medvac go in. No real info. Best wishes to everyone involved.

The news seems to have dropped it, no updates yet. All I got was that it was a female, that was on Solar Slab, and that she had fallen 30-60 feet. Hope this turns out OK.

buckets wrote:My Info is that the climbers gear ripped out and the injuries were fatal. A tradgic accident.

I heard the same - that she perished. Very sad. I wonder if the complete lack of news is due to the holiday and trying to contact the next of kin.

Regardless, my condolences to the climber's family and friends.

Where did you hear that it was a fatality? That would be terrible, and yes I think the lack of media attention is at least partially because of the holiday weekend. Thoughts and hopes to the climber, partners, and family.

Best wishes to family and friends. Lets make sure this is the last accident of the holiday. Climb safe out there and have fun.

Ok so here is the LVMPD SAR brief on the incident.

"On Thursday afternoon, Mountain Rescue Volunteers were called to the Red Rock Canyon Overlook in response to initial reports of a fallen climber in Oak Creek Canyon.

Two SAR Officers were flown to the scene and were hoisted to a ledge approximately 400 feet off of the canyon floor. From there, the Officers extracted the 42 year old climber from a crack where she had landed after falling what was estimated to be 45-50 feet. The climber was hoisted out of the canyon and delivered to flight, who transported the victim to the hospital.

The female climber had been climbing with a friend and suffered from multiple skull fractures, cervical fractures, and massive brain swelling as a result of the fall. Rescue personnel took less than an hour to respond and extract the injured climber from the the area that she was located.

News Channel 13 was on scene. Their report of the incident can be found here. "

lvmpdsar.blogspot.com/

Someone was air lifted out of Calico that same day. Not sure what happened but the helicopter flew back into the Black Corridor area.

Thanks RedRockRat.

The other flight was for a male hiker (I think 55 year old) who injured his feet and needed help out. Nothing life threatening happily.

EDIT POST
Her name was Heather Gray. she was from vancuver canada she was a beautiful young woman and a very strong climber.it was a tragic accident that could have happened to any climber. this past week heather was climbing solar slab when a hold broke. Her gear did not fail or get rip out.simply a hold broke which lead to a fall that was tragiclly fatal. RIP Heather. I ask out of respect for family and friends that all post remain positive.

Don't stand by my grave and weep,for I am not there,I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow,I'm the diamonds glint on snow,I'm the sunlight on the ripened grain,I'm the gentle autumns rain,don't stan by my grave and cry, I am not there,I did not die.

Thanks to everyone who helped out on solar slab Thursday. There was a lot going on and I believe that the response was top notch considering the circumstances.

I was watching Heather Climb that pitch from Johnny Vegas and it was clear to me that she was a strong, competent climber in flow and having a great time on the desert stone. RIP

I was climbing with Buck on Johnny Vegas when I saw Heather fall. My heart goes out to her friends and family. Rest in peace.

A very sad Thanksgiving indeed. We were on pitch 3 of Solar Slab when the heli came in. Most importantly, best regards to Buck and Dave who were the first to respond.

Erik, Thank you for the quote. Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport, We all understand this and accept this risk when we take the sharp end. Still, that doesn't make this any less sad.

Rest in Peace Heather Gray.

Keep your hopes and chins up and most importantly, keep doing what you love, climbing.

Beautiful quote Eric.

Rest in Peace Heather Gray.
My deepest condolences to family and friends.

To Buck and Davcro my sincerest respects for your efforts.
It is a hard duty, I empathize with your pain.
If you want someone too talk through it with please feel free to email me.

Peace to all of you.

Thanks for the additional information. Very very sad.

Again, my condolences to her family and friends.

So tragic. My condolences to her family.

Anyone who is a lead climber knows that sometimes there are NO gear placements to be had. We have all been in run out situations at one time or another. We should not speculate on that issue, but instead offer our condolences to friends and family. RIP Heather.

I believe all climbers accept the risk they open themselves to when they get on the rock. Hard climbers, fat climbers, not so experienced, experienced, conservative, and not so conservative. It can happen to all.

Words to remember when we're out climbing: "she was a strong, competent climber in flow and having a great time"

My heart goes out to the loved ones of Heather Gray.

It's sad to hear this, I have climbed that route and there are sections that you have to run out 25-30 ft. Have to be super careful when climbing those parts, sucks that a hold broke.

What a sad loss. Having led Solar Slab, this is particularly sobering to me. Condolences to Heather's family and friends.

JL