FALL ON SNOW, FALL INTO CREVASSE, FAULTY USE OF CRAMPONS

Washington, Olympic National Park

At 10 a.m. on July 13, John Ury (34) and Roger Drake (30) were climbing West Peak from the Eel Glacier when Ury lost his balance and fell, pulling Drake with him, over 300 feet down snow and rock ledges where they landed in a bergschrund. At the time of the fall, they were near a rocky ridge and so decided not to take off their crampons. “But we should have,” Ury said. Soft snow balled up in his crampons, which is why he lost his balance.

Ury broke his ankle and leg but was able to hobble around enought to build a snow cave. Drake was disoriented and was eventually found to have suffered a fractured neck vertebra. Ury contemplated trying to hike out and get help but said, “You never leave someone with a head injury alone.”

After a cold night, they spotted a hiker a mile away and got his attention. He notified park rangers who called out a Chinook helicopter from Whidbey Air Station. The climbers were hoisted from the bergschrund and flown to Port Angeles where they were taken to the hospital.

Ury told reporters, “You always think of what you would do in case of an accident, but when it happens, you’re never prepared.” (Source: Jack Hughes, Olympic National Park, and The Daily News, Port Angeles, Washington, July 14, 1980)