FALL ON ROCK, FALLING ROCK, NO HARD HAT, EXCEEDING ABILITIES Washington, Index—Town Wall

On May 5, after freeclimbing two-thirds of the way up the route, we encountered water dripping down the face. We continued to climb up into the chimney. Mike freeclimbed up and then sent down a rope. He had me on belay as I climbed the chimney, back to one wet wall, feet to the other wet wall. About three to four meters up, I slipped. On belay, I hung there, but when the rope went tight over the edge, it released the rocks that struck me. The first rock hit my head, then my shoulders, then the rope on the rocks below. The second rock hit my head and along with the rest of the rocks, hit, cut and ruined the rope below. My head stung—then it felt wet—then it started to drip. By ten seconds after the rocks first fell, Mike called to find out what happened. I told him I was bleeding and to let me down. He couldn’t see me and he couldn’t hear me very well. Below us other climbers were coming up. One pretty close, one farther down, and one at the bottom. Between them they could hear both of us. Not being able to see me or know the severity, one went to town and sounded an alarm. The climber closest to me called out that he was in a position to climb up if necessary. It took Mike about one and a half to two minutes to let me down. I thought the best idea was to get to the closest climber below before blood loss became a factor. The cut was bleeding at a fair flow and I could not stem it. I rappelled about 15 meters to the climber who was already well anchored in. We were on a good ledge to rest. A helicopter appeared, spotted us, hovered for a moment, and landed. The climber put me on belay, and I rappelled down to another climber. I stayed on the first rope and finished the descent. Waiting at the bottom was the rescue team. (Source: Chuck Amon—27)

Analysis

Basic knowledge and attention to safety in rock climbing would have prevented this accident. Use ropes, use a helmet, and don’t climb wet rock. (Source: Chuck Amon)