On June 6, Rick Barus (26) was leading pitch 16 of the West Face, just above Thanksgiving Ledge, when he took the left of two possible cracks. It turned out to be the wrong crack and it petered out. His partner was out of sight below, and they ...
On May 27, Alpine Ascents International (ALP) lead guide Sarah Carpenter of expedition Alp-3-Carpenter arranged to have a 68-year-old client looked after at the 14,200-foot camp by Alaska Mountaineering School lead guide Dan Corn, while the ALP...
On April 7 around 3 p.m., my partner and I had just finished Physical Graffiti and were at the base of the route and packing up to leave. I was watching two guys struggle on Big Bad Wolf (5.9). The climber was just about to clip what I be...
On June 4, Joe Ripperger (50) and Claire Epperson (25) climbed the East Buttress (11 pitches, 5.10c). The forecast for the day called for temperatures in the low 80s with a 15 to 30 percent chance of rain, so they started climbing at 6 a.m. The...
On November 28, Jeff Kish (30) soloed the South Side Route but was overcome by a storm during his descent. Unable to navigate in whiteout conditions at 10,600 feet, he called 911 on his cell phone and requested assistance. Despite the low visib...
On March 31 a male climber had led the fourth pitch of Rewritten (5.7) and was belaying his male partner up the pitch. The second was only about 10 feet from the top of the pitch when he slipped and fell. The lead climber lost control of his be...
Gary Morgan (52) had flown in from Michigan and was attempting a summit climb on June 21 by a South Side variation, the West Crater Rim. After losing his footing, he was unable to self-arrest with his hiking stick. The 300-foot slide resulted i...
On May 30, Mike Drake (22) was leading when his top aid piece failed on the upper half of the “Pancake Flake” (pitch 23, 5.10a C1), above the Great Roof. He fell about 25 feet, striking a couple of ledges; he attributes the long fall to having ...
On April 5, a young woman (early 20s, I think) fell about 20 feet (though no one knows for sure because there were no witnesses) while being lowered by her husband off the first pitch of Cat in the Hat (6 pitches, 5.6). She sustained a head...
During the early afternoon on May 3, calls for help were reported near Realization Point on Flagstaff Mountain. Rocky Mountain Rescue Group (RMRG), AMR Ambulance, City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, Boulder City Fire Department, and ...
Ilkka Uusitalo (36) and the three other members of expedition “L10 at Denali 2012” left the 14,200-foot camp on the West Buttress route to ascend and then ski down the couloir by the upper West Rib on May 22. Due to deteriorating weather, the grou...
On May 23 an experienced climber (male, 23) fell while rappelling. He self- rescued and reported the accident when he came to the medical clinic. This is what he wrote on our form: “Rapped off ends of rope on RA descent attempting to clip last ...
On June 12, Mark Cartier (56), a highly experienced climber, succumbed after falling approximately 1,000 feet while soloing a South Side route variation. Climbing conditions were considered excellent. Cartier suffered massive head trauma an...
On March 24 a man (27) and a woman (26) were rappelling to the base of Super Slide (5.9) at the Royal Arches area. Apparently they wound up between two of the regular rappel anchors. The man built a temporary anchor for the woman to clip into w...
On July 10 an inexperienced climber seconding the First Flatiron injured his ankle while being belayed and could not move. The leader did not have sufficient equipment to effect self-rescue. Rescuers climbed to both the injured climber and bela...
Mt. Shasta had what most would say was a pretty “normal” season. The spring climbing season was very good, in the way of amazing corn skiing and firm, smooth climbing conditions that lasted into June. Climber numbers were average, with a total ...
This fatal accident on February 6 was not witnessed, so many details remain unknown. Jared Townsley (31) was reported overdue from a solo climb on the South Side Route. He was last seen by other climbers descending near Crater Rock. A search t...
Steffen Machulka (49) was a member of the three-person German climbing team “Die Bahner.” On May 18 the team was on the eighth day of the expedition and was moving from the 14,200-foot camp to the 17,200-foot camp on the West Buttress. The tea...
On September 18, Jacob van Almelo (25) was climbing the route Tigger (5.10a/b) when he fell at the crux move. His 30-foot fall resulted in several injuries. His belayer did not catch the fall, but protection pulling out may also h...
On August 29 I received a call from Siskiyou County SAR, Celeste Fowler, stating that a SPOT device had been set off on the northeast side of the mountain, near the 10,000-foot level on the Hotlum-Wintun route. The signal came from a commercial...