Reported Mountaineering Accidents, Table III
Numbers Refer to Persons Directly Involved
U.S.A.
CAN.
U.S.A.
CAN.
Terrain
Rock
1701
201
59
19
Snow
1000
172
34
15
Ice
63
14
7
9
River
9
2
1
0
Unknown
10
4
0
0
Ascent or Descent
Ascent
1369
201
65
23
Descent
1103
128
27
13
Unknown
202
21
5
7
Immediate Cause
Fall or slip on rock
1013
93
43
9
Slip on snow or ice
412
71
13
10
Falling rock or object
220
66
10
5
Avalanche
186
69
3
6
Exceed abilities
189
16
7
3
Exposure and/or exhaustion
134
7
7
1
Stranded
122
17
7
7
Failure of rappel
113
9
7
0
Loss of control-voluntary glissade
89
7
7
1
Failure of piton or nut1
62
11
2
0
Illness-including pulmonary edema/frostbite?
88
8
14
1
Fall into crevasse
73
16
1
3
Lightning
33
3
0
0
Faulty use of crampons
26
2
5
0
Failure to follow route
42
4
0
1
Skiing
17
4
0
0
Prussik/ascending device failure
3
1
0
0
Heat Prostration
4
1
0
0
Failure of nut
13
1
1
0
Other3
23
5
1
0
Unknown
29
4
3
0
Contributory Causes
Climbing unroped4
580
65
19
8
Exceeding abilities
569
74
21
8
Inadequate equipment
285
30
10
6
Climbing alone
178
20
7
2
Bad weather
166
9
8
1
Failure of piton or nut
62
6
2
0
Darkness
70
5
1
0
Party separated
56
6
1
1
Exposure and/or exhaustion
30
2
1
1
Old rope
8
1
0
0
No hard hat
13
3
10
2
Failure to test holds
13
3
2
1
Placed no protection
45
6
4
1
Failure of nut
30
1
4
1
Waist/harness failure
2
1
0
0
Other5
28
4
9
4
Age of Individuals
Under 15
88
10
0
0
15-20
870
124
13
21
21-25
758
92
40
38
26-30
385
66
28
29
31-35
193
27
11
9
36-50
256
46
15
7
Over 50
19
3
1
2
Unknown
490
92
9
11
Affiliation with Climbing Groups
Unaffiliated
891
69
47
15
Affiliated
867
166
19
20
Unknown
970
97
31
84
Estimate of Experience
None or little
1077
104
20
30
Moderate
701
90
20
43
Experienced
523
112
14
35
Unknown
490
92
43
11
Month of Year
January
101
4
7
0
February
105
22
3
2
March
151
21
4
4
April
151
7
5
2
May
263
21
13
3
June
417
19
20
4
July
517
121
17
7
August
460
106
9
13
September
273
15
10
5
October
150
16
4
1
November
89
2
4
0
December
21
3
1
2
1One of these was an ice screw failure.
2Among these were a heart attack and diabetic shock.
3The climber had no equipment.
4One of these includes John Waterman’s disappearance.
5These include: a) ascending too quickly, b) taking the wrong medication, c) not testing an old piton and not clipping into existing protection, d) losing balance while trying to remove a nut, e) tying no knot in the end of the rappel rope and having no prusik back up.