The Rudiments of Alpine

PanShiBo

Denali 2022

Late Saturday night (Jun-11 2022), a skier on a three-person team reportedly fell just below the summit at ~20,000 feet and sustained injuries.  His two partners stayed with him on scene until he was able to descend further. Still impaired from his earlier fall and from the prolonged period at high elevation, the same injured individual fell once again from the traverse between Denali Pass and high camp on Sunday.  With assistance from an Air National Guard C-130 crew who provided weather observations in mixed conditions, TEMSCO helicopter pilot Erik Ridington was able to fly to high camp in the NPS helicopter and evacuate the injured mountaineer on Sunday evening.  NPS volunteer paramedic Rick Black flew on board as a medical attendant.  The patient was transferred to a LifeMed air ambulance in Talkeetna.

https://www.nps.gov/dena/blogs/field-report-june-14-2022.htm

PanShiBo

Top ten skills of responsible alpine climbers

1. They know all fundamental alpine knots (12).
2. They can set up SRENE anchors on rock, snow, or ice.
3. They can descend and ascend fixed ropes, up to 90° steep.
4. They can set up and deploy hauling systems 1:1 - 7:1.
5. They know what the fall factor is and how to apply it.
6. The know how to use and escape alpine belay systems (redirect, off-anchor, ABC).
7. They can pass rappel knots.
8. They can navigate using GPS.
9. They protect early and protect often.
10. They only climb with responsible alpine climbers (see above)


The more skills are missing, the more likely a minor and 100% recoverable accident will turn into an epic, rescue, injury, major injury or worse. Learn and practice. Make every alpine trip safe, enjoyable and successful, in that order.

PanShiBo

Learning from mistakes

AUGUST 23, 2022

A rock climber in Squamish took a 15-metre fall off of Exasperator at the base of the Grand Wall. A helicopter was involved in the rescue...One of their friends said gear was left at the scene..

According to initial reports, the climber broke their pelvis and had other minor injuries.

https://gripped.com/news/climber-heli-rescued-in-squamish-after-big-fall/

Protection
Excellent the entire way. ...

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105806955/exasperator

Random Thouhts

• The cause of this accident is not clear.
• One must protect their route often enough so that in case of a fall they won't hit the deck, rope strech considred.
• You must screen your belayer. Climbing without checking their skills is a poor idea.
• If your fall was well protected and your belayer arrested your fall, you should not have your bones broken.
  

PanShiBo

On difiicult terrain be afraid of falling, on easy terrain be afraid that something may fall on you.

PanShiBo

Avoid too much training for Alpine rock in Squamish crags

If your goal is to climb wild rock in the real mountains, too much rock climbing the Squamish crags (or in climbing gym for that matter) can make you used to 100% solid holds, so the transition techniques acquired there might be plain dangerous. Each of us learned this the hard way, in the Canadian Rockies once on Wapta and once on Carnarvon when a microwave-oven-size block fell on Vera upon slight touch.

PanShiBo

22y.o. climber dies in Colorado rappell accident
An experienced climber died while on Black Wall on Mount Spalding

Reports say that Humeau fell around 30 metres while climbing on the Black Wall on Mount Spalding. ..Alpine Rescue official Dawn Wilson said that Humeau was on a ledge and was not secured to an anchor before her fall.

https://gripped.com/news/climber-dies-at-22-in-colorado-rappel-accident/

PanShiBo

Man dies on Longs Peak, Colorado
Recovery operations completed sunday near the Keyhole

On Sunday, September 18, recovery operations took place for Russell Jacobs, 25, from Westminster, Colorado near the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak. Rocky Mountain National Park’s Search and Rescue Team contracted with Trans Aero helicopter to assist with prepositioning park rangers and aerial recovery operations. Jacobs’ body was recovered at approximately 5 p.m.

Late Friday afternoon, September 16, Jacobs contacted a friend via cellular phone that he was lost and that the weather was deteriorating rapidly. Jacobs was unprepared for winter conditions or to spend an unplanned night at elevations above 13,000 feet. This information was relayed to park rangers. Park rangers were briefly able to contact Jacobs via text message to ascertain his location and learned he was going to try to move toward the Agnes Vaille Shelter. Communication with him was then lost.

https://www.eptrail.com/2022/09/20/man-dies-on-longs-peak/


Hiking alone, in bad  condtions, without extra clothes enough to spend a night in the open, not knowing how to use smart phone for navigation, not having inReach, not having a power bank to charge phone is OK unless something happens. Then minor mishap like getting slighly off the trail may lead to an epic rescue and worse.

PanShiBo

Unlicensed Guide Convicted Over Hiker’s Death


A Missouri man who led a 31-person hike where one participant died in a fall will face criminal penalties for acting as an unpermitted guide, a federal judge ruled this week.

Unlicensed Guide Convicted Over Hiker’s Death on Buffalo National River

PanShiBo

Around 70% to 80% of accidents happen during descent. It only takes 4.5 seconds to fall 100 meters—essentially the time you just spent reading that sentence. You feel proud and happy upon reaching the summit, seeing safe ground below, and in 4.5 seconds, you no longer exist. On the other hand, it takes years of slow decline from dementia or Parkinson's. Once, an older patient in a long-term care facility summarized her life by saying, "My life was flat."

Any day can be your last. Say "I love you" to those you care about before it's too late. Make the world around you better with you than without. After all, the only thing that matters in the end is how much you loved.

Photo below from the summit of Mist Mountain in Kananaskis, AB. The life of this man was certainly not flat.