The yellow line shows the route on the upper east ridge of Granite Peak. A) The large ledge below the start of the 5th-class climbing. This is where the group waited for the helicopter. B) This is the location of the belay/rappel anchor at the t...
David Baumann prior to falling off The Fat One (WI3) in Hyalite Canyon (see previous page). “I am really shocked that my lower tool came out. This picture shows my position before I fell while placing a screw.” In general, it is good to place bo...
Code Red (WI5) before and after a dramatic collapse in January 2023. The lower column was clearly leaning to the right, but appeared too big and solid to collapse. The two climbers involved in this accident were fortunately unharmed. Photo: Laur...
On February 7, James Bake (31) was ice climbing with a partner near Miners Castle Rock when he was struck by a heavy wave that swept him into Lake Superior. After Bake’s partner reported the incident at 5:15 p.m., a search and rescue effort follo...
I was getting back into outdoor climbing after a long break. I have been doing a lot of gym climbing over the last six years, including leading 5.11 in the gym. I started getting back outdoors. To optimize my time, I hired an AMGA-certified guide....
The bolt-end carabiner of this quickdraw broke in a leader fall, most likely when the gate improbably “nose-hooked” a glue-in, rod-stock-style bolt. Photo: Climber 1 On October 8, I (Climber 1) was leading Grandpa Joe (5.9) in the Red River G...
In the early evening of November 29, Robert Moresco (38) fell to the ground from a climbing wall equipped with auto-belays. Moresco wrote to ANAC: “I was new to climbing. The climbing wall was 22 feet high, and I fell about 15 feet. My foot land...
The Super Hits Wall at City of Rocks. A climber was lowering from Twist and Crawl (5.8) and fell when the end of his rope slipped through the belay device. His feet struck a large flake (marked with the yellow x) near the route’s base. That impa...
The quickdraw that failed at Catslab. The carabiner’s wire gate is not bent, but rather displaced to one side. When the carabiner was loaded, it must have momentarily opened, because the gate notch shows no damage. Photo: Climber 2 Climber 1...
On the evening of July 11, park rangers received a report of two climbers stranded and unable to complete their climb on Longs Peak. Neither party was injured. Rangers remained in contact with both climbers overnight, and National Park Service SAR...
Ypsilon Mountain, a 13,514-foot peak in northern Rocky Mountain National Park. The prominent ridge rising to the summit was the site of a free solo death in July 2023. Yellow circle marks the accident location. Photo: Christian Collins | Wikimed...
On November 11, Cory Jones and I, Max Conway (23), went to climb Mudflap Girl (10 pitches, 5.10+) on the Grizzly Creek Wall (a.k.a. Mudwall). We knew it was to be a chossy climb that entices the adventure seeker. The approach was not straightforw...
The Black Canyon Search and Rescue Team training in May 2024. The practice lowering location pictured here was the same one used eight months prior as an alternative to airlifting Becca Steinbrecher. Photo: Jess Glassberg Around 7:30 a.m. on...
The rough approach to Table Dome played a factor in the call for rescue after Steve Sagin took a long leader fall on Wily Javelina. His partner, Jerry Cagle, wrote, “The topography is generally rugged and invariably involves some degree of bushw...
The scene of the rockfall accident at the Granite Dells. Note the crushed crash pad and shattered debris. The rocks were dislodged by a climber from the area on the cliff marked by the yellow box. To give a sense of scale, the figure in the red ...
On January 8, Climber 1 (female 25) got her knee stuck in a wide crack on the Regular Route (3 pitches, 5.7) on Queen Victoria Spire in Sedona. Climber 1 was following four friends on her first outdoor climb when she attempted an “alpine knee” whi...
How does one determine whether it’s a climbing trip with some fishing, or a fishing trip with some climbing? From August 9 to 16, Mike Hathorn, Dan Wolfskill, and I enjoyed a multisport week, catching several dozen trout and three new climbs in th...
In July 2024, Matt O’Brien and I hiked 11 miles up to Royce Lakes Basin, a beautiful area with three large alpine lakes surrounded by towering peaks. We spent several days there, during which we established two new alpine rock routes. On our seco...
To access the remote northwest face of Mt. Abbot (13,715’), I hiked in from Mosquito Flat trailhead to the east, past Ruby Lake and Mills Lake, to Abbot’s northeast side. On October 9, the bulletproof ice (AI2) of the Petit Griffon Couloir (leadin...
Eric Gilbertson with the differential GPS at the new summit of Mt. Rainier on the southwest rim, with Columbia Crest in the background. Photo by Ross Wallette. Between August and October, with the help of climbing partners Saulius Bračiulis,...