FAULTY USE OF CRAMPONS—GLISSADING

New Hampshire, Frankenstein Cliff and Gulf of Slides

At Frankenstein a woman was doing a seated glissade from just below Standard Route. She caught a crampon and was flipped face down for the remainder of the slide to the tracks. Her ankle was injured and she had to be carried to the parking lot.

In the Gulf of Slides a man was doing a seated glissade when he caught a crampon. He flipped and impaled himself on his ice ax through his mid-section. He walked out to the AMC Pinkham Notch Camp with the ax still through his abdomen from the upper left to lower right quadrant. No organs were injured.

Analysis

There is no good reason for glissading with sharp spikes on our feet. (Source: George Hurley)