Reported Mountaineering Accidents, Table III
1951–98
1959–98
1999
1999
USA
CAN.
USA
CAN.
Terrain
Rock
3674
445
84
10
Snow
2109
313
29
11
Ice
198
104
9
8
River
13
3
0
0
Unknown
22
8
0
0
Ascent or Descent
Ascent
3258
469
87
14
Descent
1987
323
35
14
Unknown
247
4
0
1
Immediate Cause
Fall or slip on rock
2548
239
62
7
Slip on snow or ice
828
166
16
5
Falling rock, ice, or object
506
114
17
4
Exceeding abilities
440
27
13
1
Avalanche
260
109
2
2
Exposure
241
13
0
0
Illness1
287
21
13
1
Stranded
275
11
5
0
Rappel Failure/Error
221
40
6
0
Loss of control/glissade
169
16
2
0
Fall into crevasse/moat
136
41
5
3
Failure to follow route
131
27
3
1
Nut/chock pulled out
110
3
14
1
Piton/ice screw pulled out
86
12
1
0
Faulty use of crampons
70
5
4
0
Lightning
39
7
1
0
Skiing
48
9
2
0
Ascending too fast
45
0
1
0
Equipment failure
11
2
0
0
Other2
229
28
40
4
Unknown
60
8
0
0
Contributory Causes
Climbing unroped
912
151
7
2
Exceeding abilities
838
184
9
10
Inadequate equipment/clothing
559
72
8
3
Placed no/inadequate protection
530
79
22
0
Weather
388
57
12
1
Climbing alone
329
57
9
3
No hard hat
260
25
9
3
Nut/chock pulled out
185
16
4
1
Darkness
122
19
1
0
Party separated
103
17
2
0
Poor position
121
15
5
0
Inadequate belay
135
22
9
0
Piton/ice screw pulled out
84
10
0
0
1951-98
1959-98
1999
1999
USA
CAN.
USA
CAN.
Contributory Causes (cont.)
Failure to test holds
75
18
5
1
Exposure
55
13
1
0
Failed to follow directions
62
8
6
3
Illness1
32
4
1
0
Equipment failure
10
6
0
1
Other2
238
79
1
6
Afire of Individuals
Under 15
117
12
0
0
15-20
1166
197
9
2
21-25
1180
225
19
11
26-30
1075
189
20
4
31-35
718
96
21
6
36-50
904
108
33
16
Over 50
148
20
6
2
Unknown
954
596
45
26
Experience Level
None/Little
1543
280
11
11
Moderate (1 to 3 years)
1369
340
17
6
Experienced
1449
359
61
12
Unknown
1574
403
55
40
Month of Year
January
193
15
0
1
February
182
40
2
1
March
252
52
4
3
April
344
29
5
0
May
739
49
23
1
June
881
59
31
0
July
952
225
10
5
August
887
143
18
12
September
1077
54
8
4
October
353
30
11
0
November
160
10
6
0
December
71
17
4
2
Unknown
12
1
0
0
Type of Injury/Illness (Data since 1984)
Fracture
825
155
50
10
Laceration
447
58
29
1
Abrasion
233
40
7
2
Bruise
274
63
29
1
Sprain/strain
204
21
11
2
Concussion
150
14
13
6
Hypothermia
121
12
6
1
1951-98
1959-98
1999
1999
USA
CAN.
USA
CAN.
Type of Injury/Illness (cont.)
Frostbite
88
8
5
1
Dislocation
75
9
7
1
Puncture
30
5
0
3
Acute Mountain Sickness
21
0
2
0
HAPE
51
0
1
0
HACE
17
0
2
0
Other3
200
33
10
2
None
134
73
7
3
1These illnesses/injuries, which led directly to the incident, included: fatigue (6), dehydration (8), snow-blindness, exhaustion (2), HACE (2), HAPE, collapsed lung, pneumothorax, appendicitis, and concussion.
2These included, among others: unable to self-arrest (8), hand hold or foothold broke off (9), dislodged rock severed climbing rope, “snagged” crampons (4), inadequate food/water (3), failed to turn back, rope “unclipped” from carabiner, did not check to see that fixed rope reached the destination, forgot to finish tie-in knot, dropped pack with needed protection in it, disappeared (Muir Snowfield), new rock climbing shoes - slipped on wet rock (2), cornice failure, whiteout (4), poor rope handling (4), white-out (6).
3These included: pneumothorax, snow blindness, collapsed lungs (3), dehydration (8), punctured lung, fatigue (6), exhaustion (2), rope burn (2), and appendicitis.
(Editor’s Note: Under the category “other, ” many of the particular items will have been recorded under a general category. For example, the climber who dislodges a rock that falls on another climber would be coded as Falling Rock/Object, or the climber who has a hand hold come loose and falls would also be coded as Fall On Rock.
In the category “Other” for the U.S. last year, Table III reported 86. This should have read 26. Totals have been corrected.)