FALL ON ICE—British Columbia, Kokanee Glacier Park. Ron Homenuke (24) and two companions were traversing Kokanee Glacier from the true right to true left above a sheet of glare ice at 1030 hours on October 1, 1976. They had neither ropes, crampons, nor ice axes. Homenuke was leading when he slipped and fell down 500 feet of steep ice and hard snow, and stopped 30 feet above some rocks. His companions descended to him and found him unconscious. He had a fractured cranium and abrasions and lacerations about his head and extremities. One man stayed with him while the other went for help. Homenuke was kept warm and was restrained as a treatment for shock. He was evacuated by helicopter from his resting place at about 1130 hours. (Source: Dennis Herman.)

Analysis. The party was too inexperienced and not equipped for the route. They should have inquired about the condition of the glacier before starting out and should have taken another route more suited to their abilities and equipment. (Source: Dennis Herman.)