CORNICE COLLAPSE

British Columbia, Interior Ranges, Raft Mountain

On June 24, 1987, Jill Hockey (30), an Australian exchange teacher, and three companions, made the one-and-a-half-hour hike to the top of Raft Mountain, a 2400-mcter peak near Wells Gray Provincial Park. She was taking photographs from the top when the cornice on which she was standing broke away, and she fell 600 meters to her death. (Source: The Vancouver Sun, June 26, 1987)

Editor’s Note: This is a hiking accident, but the danger at the top is one that is important to mountaineers.