FALL ON ICE, CLIMBING UNROPED

California, Kearsarge Pinnacles

In mid-July 1982, Walt Stephey (23) broke his hip in a 300-meter fall from the top of Kearsarge Pinnacles. He had been ice climbing at the 3650-meter level above Onion Valley and had reached the top of Kearsarge Pinnacles. He was admiring the view from the peak when he began to slip on the hard-pack snow and ice, despite the fact that he was wearing crampons. Stephey said he tried to dig in with his ice ax but the strap broke. He then began a series of what he called “barrel rolls” as he bounced down the ice and crashed from boulder to boulder. Besides the broken hip, Stephey gashed his head while hitting the rocks.

A hiking companion, George Humphry, helped rescue Stephey and get him to the group’s campsite; he then jogged from Kearsarge Lake down to Onion Valley to seek help. He was later picked up by the Sequoia National Park Service helicopter. (Source: Inyo Register, July 15, 1982)