On April 28, a party of two decided to try a new eight-pitch sport route on Tunnel Mountain called The Doe (5.10a). On the fifth or sixth pitch, the leader pulled off a hold and fell. The hold hit the belayer in the head and they momentarily lost consciousness. The belayer was using a Grigri, whose assisted-braking function retained rope control and caught the fall. Eventually, the belayer was able to lower the climber back to the belay. The belayer was bleeding from the head and somewhat confused. The pair did not feel they could descend safely and called for a rescue.

Parks Canada got the call at 3:30 p.m. and responded by helicopter, slightly delayed because the rescue helicopter was busy attending to another rockfall incident elsewhere. Once on scene, the team was able to heli-sling a rescuer to the site and evacuate both climbers.

ANALYSIS

The climbers chose to climb a relatively new route early in the season. Lightly trafficked new routes often have many loose holds, and all routes will have more rubble on ledges and loose rock in the spring due to the freeze-thaw cycle.

The climbers didn’t feel comfortable descending after the accident. This was partly due to inexperience and partly because of the injury. Although there are scenarios where a rescue is the safest option, climbers should have the training, experience, and equipment to retreat. Finally, the team did well to employ an assisted-braking belay device. This likely prevented the belayer from losing control of the rope, avoiding a much longer fall for the leader. (Source: Parks Canada.)