On October 19, Ted Wogan (22) and Climber 2 began climbing Chouinard’s Crack (5.9) late in the afternoon. Wogan placed one piece of protection and followed it with a second piece at 25 feet. He initially placed a cam but then, wanting to save the ...
On May 4, Forrest Koran (24) and Suruthai Pokaratsiri-Goldstein (27) began climbing a four-pitch trad route called Zebra Zion (5.10a). The climbers were members of an “Advanced Rock” class hosted by a local climbing organization. Koran led the fou...
Around 4:30 or 5 p.m. on July 21, after skiing down the Whitewater Glacier high on Mt. Jefferson, Miko Smilenski lost an edge during a steep turn and fell about 100 feet near treeline. The 56-year-old experienced skier hit many exposed rocks durin...
On November 12, Ryan Burton (25) and Benjamin Newkirk (39) left the trailhead at Pole Creek and hiked six miles to Camp Lake, where they set camp and rested before departing around 6:30 p.m. Weather reports at the time and for the three days follo...
On May 24, James Adams (59) slipped on ice while descending the South Side Route. He was unable to self-arrest and slid several hundred feet into a fumarole (an opening in a glacier caused by ice melting due to volcanic fumes). Others witnessed hi...
On May 13, Robert Cormier (57) attempted to summit Mt. Hood via the popular South Side Route with two companions. One team member suffered a leg cramp, and the party separated as Cormier summited ahead of his companions. He traversed too far north...
On August 15, 2014, Will Richardson-Little and I started hiking toward the Grand Sentinel at 7:20 a.m. from the Moraine Lake parking lot. Our objective was to climb the normal route on the south face (4 pitches, 5.9). We had a standard rack, doubl...
On September 12, I had a near miss when I was climbing a sport route called Twist and Shout (5.13c) at Coney Island in Boulder Canyon. The route has four fixed quickdraws on the overhanging top half of the route, two of which are regular quickdraw...
On May 1, Gonzalo Espinosa and I drove to the upper highlands below Cotopaxi’s south face. This is a flat highland area composed of scree created by this huge volcano’s eruptions and ancient glaciers. From here we targeted our objective, Morurco (...
In April, Owen Lunz and I made a five-day journey through the Great West Canyon region of Zion National Park—what you might call ultralight backpacking with a big-wall rack. Along the way we made the first ascents of three technical summits surrou...
Along with a rope, protection is the most essential part of the climbing system. A bolt and quickdraw, a cam or nut—these are the things that keep climbers from taking dangerous ledge falls or hitting the ground. While not the most common cause ...
The following accident occurred on April 9 while climbing at an undeveloped area on Grapevine Road in the Lucerne Valley. Person 1 (37 years old, 25 years of climbing experience) had intentions of establishing a new route on one of the Joshua Tree...
On July 13, I visited Tahquitz Rock with partner Brian (31) after a few-year hiatus from climbing. I decided to get us started by heading up the Trough (4 pitches, 5.4), a climb well within my ability level. On the first pitch I placed gear every ...
On August 6 the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a hiker who reported an abandoned campsite near Third Lake. Deputies learned the camp belonged to Brenton Wright (27), who had been in the Sierra for one month, solo climbing various cl...
On March 8, Ryan Ellis (23), Kristen Elford (27), Charles Celerier (22), and Ken Langley (26) set out to climb the Snake Dike route (8 pitches, 5.7) on Half Dome, intending to take the cable descent from the summit. The climbers were new to multi-...
On May 30 a climber took a large pendulum fall while attempting the King Swing (a 100-foot pendulum from Boot Flake to Eagle Ledge) on the Nose route (VI 5.9 C2) of El Capitan. During the pendulum, the climber failed to gain holds allowing him to ...
On July 17, brothers Bruce Porter (58) and Bob Porter (61) attempted the north ridge (III 5.7) of Mt. Conness (12,600’). After a thunderstorm forced a retreat, they chose a longer, more difficult route back to the trailhead, resulting in a bivy at...
It’s 10 a.m. on August 13 on Lembert Dome. Clank, clank, clunk. A yellow object shoots down the cliff. Jeff Los and I (both 23) start to chuckle at the thought of Curtis Burrowes (24) having to buy another number 2 Camalot. But laughter soon turns...
On July 29 a male climber (58) was descending the Wintun Route when he was hit by rockfall at 11,700 feet. The climber fractured his femur and arm. There was also bruising to his hip. Nick Meyers was notified at about 4:30 p.m. A California Highwa...
On May 25 a female climber (58) was ascending Avalanche Gulch via the Heart at roughly 12,000 feet, just below the Red Banks, when she fell and lost control of her ice axe. She was then unable to arrest her fall and was stopped/tackled by an indep...