FALL OR SLIP ON ICE, INADEQUATE PROTECTION

Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park, The Squid

On Sunday March 2, a female climber (32) and her partners were climbing the Squid (WI5) located above Emerald Lake and considered by many to be the most spectacular single ice pitch in Colorado. While “running it out” to the top of the route she fell, her ice screw arresting her fall (approximately 3 5 feet), but not before hitting a ledge and landing on a rock shelf, suffering serious injuries to her pelvis and lower leg. Her partners were able to lower her to the ground and contacted park dispatch by cell phone.

Park personnel responded, provided medical care, and lowered her approximately 120 meters down a steep snow slope using a belay. They then skied out approximately two miles to a waiting ambulance at the Bear Lake trailhead. She was taken to Estes Park Medical Center, and then transported by ambulance to Boulder Community Hospital. (Source: The National Park Service Morning Report, March 12)