FALLING ROCK

Washington, Chair Peak

In conjunction with the above accident, two Mountain Rescue Council volunteers were injured in attempting to recover the body. Following is the account from a letter by Paul Williams:

“We departed the road at 11 p.m. and climbed 3000 feet to a nearby lake where we bivouacked from 1 to 6 a.m., the delay being caused by a lack of knowledge concerning the location of the body. Our information concerning the body was sketchy, advising us to go to a large clump of trees, ascend to another clump of trees, then to a cliff buttress and then up a gully immediately to the left.

“On arriving at the gully we noted a rope hanging down from a clump of trees and what appeared to be a T-shirt. The terrain appeared to be considerably more technical than we had anticipated.

“Paul Wagner began a rope and belayed ascent on the north side of the gully. He had almost reached the hanging rope when he touched a block of rock which proceeded to fall into the gully. Bill Davis (35) was in the gully below and immediately dropped into a prone position. A large block of rock approximately 18 by 12 inches struck Davis on the helmet, shattering the same and glanced off his shoulder. The rock and accompanying smaller ones immediately cleaned out two rescue rucksacks and the bottom half of our stainless steel Traga. These items fell approximately 35 feet to the scree slope below. The boulder broke up on impact. One of the members of our team who was crossing the scree slope was struck on the elbow by richocheting pieces.

“Davis, after being checked, was able to evacuate himself down to the scree slope, complaining of back and neck pain. Amazingly, he had only a small bruise on his head at the point of impact on the helmet, but because of the large possibility of concussion and possible compression fractures of the cervical spine, I called for a helicopter to evacuate.

“We subsequently discovered the body two gullies to the north in considerably less technical terrain.” (Source: Paul Williams)

Analysis

Body recoveries are frequently more technically hazardous than recovering a live victim. (Source: Paul Williams)

(Ed. Note: For the uninitiated reader, it should be noted that Paul Williams has been active in mountain rescue for twenty years. His book Rescue Leadership is highly recommended.)