Mountain Rescue Aspen was called on a rescue mission on the afternoon of Saturday, August 15, 2010. A climber on the Maroon Bells near Aspen reportedly had fallen and tumbled down the Bell Cord Couloir, separating North and South Maroon Bells. This couloir has been the site of numerous fatalities.

A team of three of us cramponed up the icy couloir and succeeded in reaching the climber. He had tumbled down the couloir about 600 vertical feet and finally was caught in a moat between the ice and one side wall. Though wearing a helmet, he was dead. We wrapped him in a makeshift body bag, using a tent, and one member of the team slid him down the couloir as we rappelled from snow stakes and ice screws. Night fell as we were partway down.

We eventually reached an area where we could stow the body for a helicopter pickup the next day, and then we resumed our descent, now on a loose, 30-degree talus slope. We were all very tired.

Around 2 a.m., I stumbled on the loose talus and flew forward. The first thing to strike the rocks was my forehead. I then did a full somersault and came to rest on my back. I was dazed and banged up. My helmet had a golf ball–size dent in the forehead that, in its absence, would have been in my cranium. I still keep it around to remind me of the incident.

I happened to be with two rescuers who had a lot of medical training. One was a firefighter (EMT) and the other was an RN. They saw me tumble and were there to help me within seconds. We rested a few minutes, decided I could continue, and resumed our descent. As dawn was breaking, we arrived at the trailhead. The next morning I felt a little woozy and stiff-necked, so I went to the ER, where a concussion was diagnosed. Within a few days I felt fine.

ANALYSIS

The prudent thing have been to bivouac at the site where we'd stowed the body and resume our descent the next morning with some rest and daylight. I suppose that after the difficult body recovery, we were overeager to get home. I'll note in passing that rescuers take calculated risks all the time. No one knows better the potential consequences of undertaking risks, but risk is unavoidable sometimes. This accident, however, was probably avoidable.

It is interesting that the accident did not occur while we undertook the difficult task of sliding the body down the couloir, but afterward while doing the (relatively) pedestrian talus descent. The lesson is that just because the biggest danger is over doesn't mean that all of it is. (Source: Glenn Beaton.)