FALL ON ICE, FALL INTO CREVASSE, CLIMBING ALONE

Washington, Mount Rainier

While descending Mount Rainier on July 3 via Tahoma Glacier, I slipped on some fairly steep ice. I tried unsuccessfully to self-arrest and was quickly out of control. I lost consciousness in five or ten seconds, and came to on my back on a ledge about ten meters deep in a crevasse. I estimate that I tumbled almost 100 meters on the ice before going in. Fortunately, the crevasse widened and its floor sloped up toward the down slope rim so that I had only two to three meters to climb out, which I was able to do after a couple of times using two ice screws, etriers, and ice ax. (Source: Bob Stenseth—43)

Analysis

I shouldn’t have been climbing solo. Crampons should have been sharper as should have been the concentration of the one wearing them. (Source: Bob Stenseth)