Utah, Little Cottonwood Canyon. On 19 September Mark McQuarrie (18) and George Lowe planned to make the first complete ascent of the buttress above the LDS church archives in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Lowe reports: We were carrying with us around 35 pitons, 40 carabiners, aid slings, one 3/8 inch goldline 150 foot rope and one 8 1/2 mm Jannu perlon 50 meter rope. We included extra sweaters, over parkas, extra socks and a first aid kit in the pack along with our food and water for the day. We started climbing at about 7:30 a.m. The day was quite cool to begin with, but became warmer as we alternated leads on difficult free climbing (up to 5.8-5.9). At 9:30 or 9:15 a.m. Mark was leading the 4th pitch. The pitch started up a difficult ramp and then was blocked by an overhang. He had placed three pitons up to this point, the last having three carabiners to cut rope friction. The overhang forced him out of the ramp and onto a semi-overhanging, very difficult jam crack. Mark climbed about four feet up the crack and, getting fatigued, attempted to down climb. I was about 50 feet below him anchored to one piton and a large nubbin and was wearing leather gloves. Mark fell about 10 feet free with the rope crossing the edge of the ramp. I felt a slight pull and the rope ran about six inches. Mark, with the rope parted about four feet from his body, slid out of sight over the slabs and overhangs below. I, after a moment of shock and disbelief, pulled the rope down to me and discovered it had broken. It took me 3 1/2 rappels and 15 minutes to reach the spot where Mark had fallen. While rappelling I had been yelling for help and someone in the canyon below had heard and had sent for an ambulance.

Mark was still breathing after I had run to the road below and used a telephone. He was not bleeding heavily externally. About 35 minutes after the fall he stopped breathing and I gave mouth to mouth artificial resuscitation along with heart massage, when his pulse stopped. The ambulance arrived 10 minutes later. Mark was pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital. Autopsy showed severe internal damage in the chest area causing massive hemorrhage; no head injury, one compounded femur.

We located the impact area in the rock and sand at the base of the cliff and its shape also indicated that his body had hit first.

A week later the Alpenbock Climbing Club of which Mark was a member reclimbed the route in order to determine cause of the rope breaking. We found blue nylon from the outer sheath on the rough crystals of the two inch diameter edge of the ramp. The rope had apparently been pulled directly down the edge with very little sliding and the sharp crystals had acted like a saw. Although there was very little rope friction, the belayer felt a pull of no more than two or three pounds.

The rope used was an 8 1/2 mm, 3,800 pound test strength Jannu perlon rope which I had bought in Sangard Sports in Chamorix, France, at the beginning of the summer. It had been used only two or three times and had never been fallen on.

Source: George Lowe.