New York—Tongue Mountain Cliff, Lake George

Publication Year: 1953.

New York—Tongue Mountain Cliff, Lake George: On October 12, 1952 two members of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club Michael Marx and Peter Robinson, invited two Holyoke girls, Mary Frymoyer and Edith Swanson, to do some climbing on Tongue Mountain. All were attending an IOCA meeting. Marx and Robinson were experienced climbers and the girls had had previous climbing experience on Katahdin. On their way to the cliff they met Dave Bunker (Rensselaer Outing Club) who joined the party. The ascent was accomplished in two ropes and the girls showed themselves to be confident climbers.

The route of the descent was down a wooded, talus filled gully. Below the talus lay a V-shaped rock pitch of 35-40 feet with a five foot platform at its base. On the platform there was a sturdy maple tree which is used as a rappel point to rappel down a 25 foot overhanging chimney to the talus at the base of the cliff. At the end of the climb Marx, Bunker and Miss Frymoyer unroped so that Bunker might rappel down the final pitch. Robinson and Miss Swanson remained roped, and Robinson warned the others to rerope as soon as possible as he had been down the gully the previous afternoon. Bunker completed his rappel and hurried down the gully to set up a rappel for the V-shaped pitch. In helping Miss Frymoyer past a tree Marx allowed her to get ahead of him and she started a short traverse out on the left wall toward the top of the rappel, which Bunker was just starting down. She stepped on a large projecting foothold which immediately broke away and she began slipping down a steep slab facing inwards. She clutched vainly at the rappel rope and Bunker grabbed her but was unable to hold her. She bounded off the five foot platform barely missing the maple tree, executed several somersaults in mid-air, and finally rolled down 60 feet of dirt and talus before coming to rest. A cry from her told the party that she had not been killed. Marx and Bunker rushed to

her and found her conscious but bruised. Assistance was obtained promptly and she was evacuated by stretcher. She suffered cuts and bruises of her face and arms. An x-ray taken later showed a chipped vertebra from which she recovered after three weeks in bed.

Source: Michael Marx and Peter Robinson.

Analysis: In their report Marx and Robinson raise the pertinent points:

“Perhaps the danger of this particular gully has been greatly underrated both in regard to falling rock and difficulty in climbing.”

“It seems possible that climbers in general lay too little emphasis on climbing unroped and in unison over rocks, which are very easy, but exposed to fall.”

“The dangers in carrying out rappeling have not always been fully recognized. They point out that not only is there danger in the rappel per se but also in the fact that the establishment of the rappel is frequently done unroped.”