Washington—Casades—Crested Buttes: Eugene Hull (20), Wallace Carey (21) and John Crawford (23) went on a mountain trip on Crested Butte on 4 October 1953. They were not roped and the terrain over which they travelled was not considered difficult by the rescue party. Carey and Crawford were travelling together and above Hull. They maintained contact by shouts. When Hull failed to keep a rendezvous the others thought he

was lost and a search party was organized. His body was found the next day. Apparently he had fallen about 100 ft. and then rolled 200 ft. into a small ravine. The exact cause of the accident is not known. The experience of the group is not known.

Source: Newspaper reports.

Analysis: This group violated one of the elementary rules: Do not climb alone. It should also be pointed out that one of the rescue party members had a fall and was bruised. Thus, climbing alone jeopardized not only the group but also the rescue party.