On March 29, Climber 1 (46, male) was finishing a long day of climbing. He wanted to onsight Spring Chicken (5.12a) as the last climb of the day. Climber 1 encountered a chossy section halfway up. Though he took precautions by tapping on blocks to...
On May 28, at the popular Rumney area, a climber fell and struck the ground following a misconfiguration of his lowering system. Photo: Anonymous On May 28, a climber (male, one year of experience) led the sport route Three Easy Pieces (5.11a...
On July 2, a climber (red circle) was free soloing the classic Northeast Ridge of Pinnacle Buttress (900’, 5.7) in Huntington Ravine. Toward the end of the technical climbing, he fell. Fortunately, his fall was witnessed and rescue was available...
Colin Haley finishing the first pitch above the Headwall on Cerro Torre’s Ragni Route, with Cerro Chaltén in back. Photographer Ty Lekki captured images of Haley’s solo ascent with a drone operated from near the base of the peak. Photo by Ty Lek...
The Black Dike is one of New England’s classic winter routes. The deep gully funnels snow from above, making the approach and base among the more consequential avalanche terrain in the Northeast. Photo: Kris Gorny On the morning of February 1...
The Reepschnur technique allows the climber to rappel using a single-rope-device like the Grigri. It provides a retrievable full-length rappel on a single rope when combined with a light tag line. This technique was involved in a fatal accident ...
On November 9, my partner and I (Declan West, 22) started hiking from the Middle Oak Creek trailhead at 5 a.m., and reached the base of Solar Slab Gully (500’, 5.3) at 6:15 a.m. We racked up and started climbing the gully at 6:20 a.m. to access So...
The morning after an adventurous day of climbing, a team at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area discovered that their brand-new rope had been skinned in an 80- to 100-foot nighttime leader fall. Photo: Opal On December 28, my partner M...
Harrison Ogle above the crux of Fibrulator Direct (5.11d); he has just clipped his last placement before he took a ground fall. Photo: Lazlo Reed I had spent two sessions on Fibrulator Direct (5.11d) at the Indian Creek Crag with my climbing ...
Moderate ground, like this class 3 section on the approach to the Bihedral’s Upper Tier in Boulder Canyon, can cause serious accidents. In October 2025, a climber stumbed, fell, and broke his back. Photo: Anonymous On October 11, our party of...
On August 8, Person 1 (35) and Person 2 (34) met for a quick morning of climbing in Eldorado Canyon. Short on time, they settled on a link-up of the first pitch of March of Dimes (5.9), the second pitch of Werk Supp (5.9), and then the third pitch...
On November 2, Greg Cameron (69) and Dean Brubaker were climbing on the West Ridge formation in Eldorado Canyon . They warmed up on Xanadu (5.10a), and then started up the classic Chockstone (3 pitches, 5.10a). Brubaker led the first pitch, and th...
The Redgarden Wall in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. Greenspur climbs the face of the prominent spur in the upper left of this photo, left of the pointed summit. Photo Carol Highsmith On May 13, my partner Shawn Wall (31) and I (Daniel Kay, 32) a...
On March 23 just past 3 p.m., my friend Marc and I (Sarah Zubrin) were heading down the trail from the Riviera area in Boulder Canyon after a day of climbing with a larger group comprised of four total adults—including Marc and me—and two younger ...
In February 2025, an ice dam broke near the top of Sherman Climb and triggered an avalanche. The yellow X indicates the site of the breakage and subsequent avalanche. Photo: Matt Toensing On February 13, my belayer Cameron Reade and I (Ryan L...
This photo shows the close proximity of an adjacent rock to the overhanging arête of The Hipster (5.12a). On May 2, a climber fell while clipping the fourth bolt (middle of red circle). He hit the slab behind him (red X). Photo: Geoff Salter ...
In this photo taken by Nick Ridley, we see a demonstration of the self-lower system used by guide Rick Karden when he fell to his death on July 29. Note here that Ridley has used a stopper knot (visibly jammed against his Grigri). Karden chose n...
On April 6, first responders from the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado River Fire Rescue, Garfield County Search and Rescue, and CareFlight were dispatched to Main Elk Canyon on County Road 243 near New Castle for a report of a fallen cl...
Seen here, an incomplete follow-through figure-8 knot led to a lowering fatality in East Elk Canyon on the Western Slope of Colorado. Photo: Garfield County Sheriff's Office and Coroner On May 31, first responders from CareFlight, the Garfiel...
On April 10, Marcel Such had a close call while rappelling off Psycho Tower in the Dolores River Canyon. The yellow X marks where he grabbed the tail of his rappel rope in order to stop his fall. Photo: Marcel Such In all honesty, this should...