FALLING ROCK—Quebec, Mont Pinnacle, Lac Lyster. On July 2, a climber displaced, by a few inches, a block near the top of La Voie Normale on Mont

Pinnacle. On July 6 and 7, ropes passed the block to check it and found it stable. On the 8th, a group of eight moniteurs and initiateurs brevetes of the Federation Quebecoise de la Montagne, working for the climbing school La Haute Perchee, were giving a course to nineteen persons. At 1445 hours the last member of Micheline Cabana’s rope stepped off the block and saw it fall from the cliff. Micheline yelled, “Rock, rock!” loud enough to be heard across the lake. The group led by Denis Auclair, which was preparing to start, heard the yell and quickly pressed themselves against the cliff in the safest place, under a natural roof. When the rock hit the cliff and the roof, pieces of it broke away and hit the entire group. Jacqueline Roy’s (20) back was broken, and she is permanently paralyzed, and has some damage to her kidneys. Denis Auclair (22) broke his neck and some ribs; Genevieve Berard (16) broke her collar bone and shoulder-blade and had severe bruises and burns; Solange Daigle (21) crushed her toes and had kidney problems; and Louis Poitras (24) had severe burns and crushed muscles. All except J. Roy have recovered. During the rescue, a student (15) who helped the group, tripped and dislocated his collar bone.

The subsequent rescue was carried out with speed and skill by the rest of the instructors and the local residents. (Source: Louis Robert.)