At 4 p.m. on April 8, Connor Damato (age 21) was attempting to lead Jesus Is My License Plate (5.10d), a sport route on Long Wall. This was Damato’s first outdoor roped climbing experience and his first day of lead climbing. He and his partner had...
Just after 5 p.m. on May 12, a male climber (age 29) was attempting to lead Cottonmouth, a 5.10a sport climb at Cotton Top, a small crag on the north side of the New River Gorge. The climber moved quickly through he lower portion of the climb. Onc...
About 10 p.m. on March 26, people at Camp Muir notified rangers that two climbers had not returned from their summit bid and their gear was still in the shelter. At 9:30 a.m., Monique Richard, 41, could be heard yelling for help above Camp Muir.Af...
In the first three weeks of the summer season on Rainier, rangers performed three helicopter rescues. The first was on June 10, after two climbers spent several unplanned nights on the summit after becoming disoriented. The second rescue was June ...
About 3:30 p.m. on May 3, Ryan Kautz, 26, was rigging a rappel off Prime Rib of Goat, a multi-pitch 5.9 bolted route, with new 70-meter, 9.5mm ropes. He and his two partners had seen a storm coming in and decided to descend after climbing eight of...
On the afternoon of March 9, two climbers on the Moonlight Buttress route reported that someone had fallen from above them. Rangers investigated and located the body of a male at the base of the climb. This individual, Eric Klimt, 36, was wearing ...
On May 25, Brent Blakenburg (30), Jason Bernard (36), Sean Finnegan (27), and Daniel Coldfelter (36) were camped near the Hans Flat Ranger Station in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park. The Maze is well known for its remote location (a...
I was on Rookie Party in Pipeline Bowl, above the Snowbird ski resort, on October 23. This is a WI4 single-pitch ice climb at about 10,500 feet. Ice conditions weren’t great, but other than messing with my head, the conditions did not play a role ...
Salt Lake County Search and Rescue got called out at 2:36 p.m. on October 2 for a 35-year-old male climber who had fallen 30 or 40 feet after climbing Leggo My Eggo, a 5.10a bolted face on the Egg. He was believed to have broken or sprained his an...
A 30-year-old male had been bouldering with two other friends in an area near Lake Mary. The patient was attempting a hard and high new problem that he had previously top-roped a number of times. He fell from 20 to 30 feet, landed on his boulderin...
Late in the morning on November 20, Josh Benti (26) and Jordan Tidbal-Sciullo (26) met Drew Bailey (39) at the Suck Creek climbing area and decided to climb a 5.8 offwidth (name unknown). While racking up, Josh noticed that no one in the group had...
On November 24, after climbing Immortal Beloved (5.9), a climber fell about 35 feet to the ground upon unclipping from the anchor. The climber sustained lower leg fractures. ANALYSIS The exact error involved in this incident is unknown. Based on t...
On November 21, a 31-year-old, moderately experienced climber had finished Deep Impact (5.10c), an 80-foot sport climb. She planned to rappel from the anchor. She established the rappel and started down, but 25 feet above the ground she rappelled ...
On November 12 at around 11 a.m., two experienced climbers were attempting Doritos (5.12c). One of the climbers (male, age 28) was leading the route when he fell off and the belayer (female, approximately 30) failed to arrest his fall. A witness o...
On June 22, Cordero Chavez (29) and Tyler Coleman (age unknown) climbed the Monkey Face spire via the Pioneer Route (5.7 C0). Upon completion of the climb, the pair failed to identify the correct descent route. With their two ropes tied together, ...
A 37-year-old climber was leading Blood Clot (5.10b) on March 19 when he fell from approximately 15 feet up while attempting to clip his second piece of protection. The climber landed on the ground on his side and fractured his arm. ANALYSIS Pulli...
At around noon on June 30, Brian Robak (28) left Big Lake Youth Camp to attempt Mt. Washington (7,795 feet). Robak posted a social media photo confirming that he’d reached the summit at approximately 4:30 p.m. He was reported missing around 3 a.m....
A party of four Seattle climbers left Timberline Lodge early Saturday morning, January 2, for a summit climb via the Wy'East Face. High winds, cold temperatures, and icy conditions slowed the ascent. The party summited at 3 p.m., and with superfic...
On June 9 a party of two experienced climbers (ages 49 and 52) fell high on the South Side Route while descending the “Old Chute.” The roped pair was unable to arrest the fall. One of the climbers suffered facial lacerations and bruised ribs. He w...
On September 17, a male climber, JC (23), took a ground fall that resulted in a medical evacuation. JC was leading Veg-O-Matic (5.7+ or 5.8), a one-pitch trad climb, when he fell approximately 40 feet to the ground. A climber on an adjacent climb ...