Reported Mountaineering Accidents, Table III
TABLE III
Numbers Refer to Persons Directly Involved
1951-78 1959-78 1979 1979
USA
CAN.
USA
CAN.
Terrain
Rock
1552
165
61
18
Snow
893
151
57
7
Ice
46
6
7
5
River
7
2
0
0
Unknown
10
2
0
1
Ascent or Descent
Ascent
1224
166
65
14
Descent
1032
107
27
9
Unknown
176
12
9
6
Immediate Cause
Fall or slip on rock
911
74
37
12
Slip on snow or ice
368
54
16
6
Falling rock or object
202
58
5
4
Avalanche
172
64
5
3
Exceed abilities
168
12
7
2
Exposure and/or exhaustion
121
6
5
0
Stranded
112
14
7
0
Failure of rappel
101
5
7
2
Loss of control—voluntary glissade
82
7
4
0
Illness—including pulmonary edema/frostbite .
70
4
7
0
Failure of piton
62
9
0
1
Fall into crevasse
60
16
8
0
Lightning
34
3
1
0
Faulty use of crampons
21
2
1
0
Failure to follow route
70
4
5
0
Skiing
17
4
0
0
Failure of nut
10
1
1
0
Prussik/ascending device failure
3
1
0
0
Heat prostration
3
1
1
0
Other1
17
5
3
0
Unknown
28
3
0
0
Contributory Causes
Climbing unroped
541
56
5
3
Exceeding abilities
540
70
12
0
Inadequate equipment
261
26
7
2
Climbing alone
170
16
5
1
Bad weather
142
7
13
1
Failure of piton
60
6
1
0
Darkness
65
5
3
0
STATISTICAL TABLES / 61 1951-78 1959-78 1979 1979
USA
CAN.
USA
CAN.
Party separated
54
6
0
0
Exposure and/or exhaustion
25
2
3
0
Old rope
8
1
0
0
No hard hat
23
2
3
1
Failure to test holds
9
1
1
0
Placed no protection
27
0
5
3
Failure of nut
18
1
2
0
Waist/harness failure
1
1
1
0
Other1
15
0
7
0
Age of Individuals
Under 15
86
10
1
0
15-20 .
827
115
23
2
21-25
675
69
32
13
26-30
323
58
28
4
31-35
173
19
5
1
36-50
230
42
9
1
Over 50
10
2
6
1
Unknown
279
65
11
6
Affiliation with Climbing Groups
Unaffiliated
830
53
30
0
Affiliated
817
150
22
6
Unknown
833
62
48
7
Estimate of Experience
None or little
1044
94
12
0
Moderate
634
78
19
6
Experienced
460
91
47
15
Unknown
390
55
37
7
Month of Year
January
90
3
4
0
February
101
17
1
3
March
136
21
7
0
April
135
6
8
1
May
235
17
8
1
June
388
40
14
3
July
465
101
25
9
August
428
89
11
8
September
247
10
12
5
October
130
13
8
0
November
85
1
1
0
December
18
3
1
0
1These include (a) cornice/snow bridge collapse (several cases), (b) inability to communicate with climbers because of language difference, (c) climber cut his own rope, (d) ran out of water, (e) rope cut on sharp edge (two cases), (f) three bouldering accidents, (g) fall while setting up top rope, and (h) knot improperly tied/failure.