Reported Mountaineering Accidents, Table III
TABLE III
Numbers Refer to Persons Directly Involved
1951-79
1951-79
1980
1980
USA
CAN.
USA
CAN.
Terrain
Rock
1613
188
88
5
Snow
950
159
50
11
Ice
53
12
10
1
River
7
2
2
0
Unknown
10
4
0
0
Ascent or Descent
Ascent
1289
182
80
11
Descent
1059
121
44
4
Unknown
185
19
17
2
Immediate Cause
Fall or slip on rock
948
88
65
2
Slip on snow or ice
384
62
28
7
Falling rock or object
207
63
13
3
Avalanche
179
67
7
2
Exceed abilities
175
14
14
2
Exposure and/or exhaustion
126
6
8
1
Stranded
119
14
3
0
Failure of rappel
108
9
5
0
Loss of control—voluntary glissade
86
7
3
0
Failure of piton
62
10
0
0
Illness—including pulmonary edema/frostbite
77
4
11
3
Fall into crevasse
68
16
5
0
Lightning
35
3
0
0
Faulty use of crampons
22
2
4
0
Failure to follow route
35
4
7
0
Skiing
17
4
0
0
Prussik/ascending device failure
3
1
0
0
Heat prostration
4
1
0
0
Failure of nut
11
1
2
0
Other
20
5
3
0
Unknown
28
4
1
0
Contributory Causes
Climbing unroped
549
61
31
3
Exceeding abilities
552
70
17
4
Inadequate equipment
268
29
17
1
Climbing alone
175
18
3
1
Bad weather
155
8
11
1
Failure of piton
61
6
1
0
Darkness
68
5
2
0
Party separated
54
6
2
0
Exposure and/or exhaustion
28
2
2
0
Old rope
8
1
0
0
No hard hat
26
3
12
0
Failure to test holds
10
1
3
0
Placed no protection
32
5
13
0
Failure of nut
20
1
10
0
Waist/harness failure
2
1
0
0
Other
22
0
6
0
Age of Individuals
Under 15
87
10
1
0
15-20
850
119
20
2
21-25
707
83
51
5
26-30
351
62
34
9
31-35
178
21
15
4
36-50
239
44
17
0
Over 50
16
3
3
0
Unknown
291
75
19
10
Affiliation with Climbing Groups
Unaffiliated
860
55
31
2
Affiliated
839
160
28
6
Unknown
881
72
89
13
Estimate of Experience
None or little
1056
96
21
7
Moderate
653
85
48
3
Experienced
507
109
16
2
Unknown
427
65
63
9
Month of Year
January
94
3
7
0
February
102
20
3
2
March
143
21
8
0
April
143
7
8
0
May
243
18
20
2
June
402
14
15
3
July
490
115
27
4
August
438
99
22
5
September
259
15
14
0
October
138
13
12
0
November
86
1
3
1
December
19
3
2
0