On October 31 at approximately 7 a.m., my climbing partner and I set out to climb Solar Slab in Oak Creek Canyon. At about 8:30 a.m. we arrived at the base of a large gully in the Lower Solar Slab area. [Editor’s Note: Solar Slab, a classic multi-pitch 5.6, is generally accessed by climbing the Solar Slab Gully, which has about 500 feet of low 5th-class terrain. The gully leads to a large ledge, which serves as the start for numerous climbs, including the actual route Solar Slab.]

By 10 a.m. I had led three rope lengths and my partner had led half a rope length, totaling approximately 650 feet. At this point, we realized the climb we had done was not aligning with the route description for the Solar Slab Gully. We decided we must have gone off route at some point and chose to retreat back down the gully we had climbed.

We had executed two rappels when we encountered 25 to 30 feet of 4th-class terrain. To save time, we opted to downclimb this section. At about 11 a.m., while at the top of the downclimb, I slipped and fell the entire length of the 4th-class section, landing on a large flat area below. According to my climbing partner, I hit a bush and then landed on my face/head. I was wearing a helmet, which exploded upon impact. I was briefly unconscious, and when I came to, I was barely able to communicate. My condition worsened with time.

My climbing partner immediately contacted search and rescue, and they arrived about three hours after the fall. I got to the hospital at 3:20 p.m. I had sustained a major brain hemorrhage, multiple skull fractures, a fractured distal radius in my right wrist, and a dislocated pinkie. Six months later, I had fully recovered, outside of some loss of right wrist mobility.

ANALYSIS

Several factors contributed to the accident. First and foremost, we had gotten off route from the start. We arrived in Las Vegas late the prior evening and hadn’t closely studied the approach to Solar Slab Gully, the relative location of the gully to Solar Slab itself, nor the features on each of the pitches on Solar Slab Gully. Had we done this preparation, we would have either gotten on the correct climb or quickly determined we were on the wrong climb and retreated sooner.

On the descent, we should have continued rappelling down the gully instead of opting to downclimb the 4th-class section. Part of what pushed us to downclimb was that we wanted to descend the gully quickly, so we would have time to find our way to the Solar Slab climb.

Another factor that contributed to the accident was confirmation bias. I was used to downclimbing a 30-foot section of 4th-class terrain at my home crag at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. This gave me false confidence in high-consequence terrain. (Source: Anonymous report from the climber.)