Protection Pulled Out, Fall on Rock, New Hampshire, Cathedral Ledges

Publication Year: 1991.

PROTECTION PULLED OUT, FALL ON ROCK

New Hampshire, Cathedral Ledges

On July 31 a leader was having trouble getting into the lower of the two V slots on Double Vee (9+) on the upper left wall of Cathedral. He placed a small TCU (three cam unit) and hung from it. As he pulled up on the TCU, it pulled out. In the nine meters of crack below there were two nuts. The highest also pulled out. The other nut was a #1 wire which took some of his weight as the climber hit the ledge and probably kept his injuries from being worse. He broke his left wrist and compressed his thoracic vertebrae. (Source: George Hurley, Mountain Guides Alliance)

Analysis

Protection at the top of this route is difficult to place and the climbing is awkward. More and better protection just below the V slots would have helped. (Source: George Hurley, Mountain Guides Alliance)

(Editors Note: A New Hampshire winter hike turned into a mountaineering event. While on a winter traverse of the Presidential Range in December, a woman suffered a broken leg when she fell against a rock. The accident happened just below Thunder Storm Junction, 1.9 km from Gray Knob, in a rain storm with winds around 110 km per hour. She and the rest of the party, under the able guidance of Bill Aughton, were wearing crampons for the snow, ice, and frozen ground. It took 13 hours to complete the rescue.)