On September 17, Derek Kelley (34) fell more than 600 feet to his death while climbing North Maroon Peak (14,014 feet). According to reports, Kelley was about 300 feet from the summit when he fell after a boulder came loose. Rescue personnel be...
On April 23, Al Shaver is leading and I (Steve Nechodom) am following on Lost Horizons (5.8). Both of us are in our 50s, with half a life of climbing experience apiece. We have been trad partners for six years. About 3 p.m., I am going to the r...
On May 18 a Dartmouth Outing Club excursion to Rumney included nine climbers. When they arrived, they split into teams and went to their selected climbs, having agreed to meet back at the van in early evening. Lynn (20s) had been climbing with...
Alexander Lee, left Boulder around 6 a.m., planning to climb the mostly fourth class Direct East Ridge (II 5.4) of Mt. Bancroft (13,250 feet) in the James Peak Wilderness Area. According to Hermans, “The day was overcast and we had a few big gu...
Early in the morning on Saturday, June 30, Michael Ybarra (45) set out by himself to traverse the Sawtooth Ridge, according to his sister and Alex Few, a friend. He was scheduled to return from his climb by Sunday evening at the latest. After h...
On June 13, a five-member Japanese expedition, “Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation–MWAF-2012 Denali,” was involved in an avalanche while descending the West Buttress of Denali. At an unknown time during the early morning, the expedition triggered ...
On June 9, Eric Johnson (23) of Reno fell approximately 40 feet off one of the area’s popular climbing routes, breaking both heels and a vertebra. He fell after his climbing partner failed to secure an adequate belay. (Source: Sierra Sun, June ...
On May 25, T.J. Brumme (25) was photographing friends climbing in the Cat Slab area of Clear Creek Canyon. He soloed up the far right section of Cat Slab and clipped into the second bolt on a route to take photos. Once finished, he unclipped an...
On January 10, Gregory Frux (53) and Matt Burd (52), who had climbed Mt. Tripyramid North Peak the previous day, were joined by Nick Jaques (52) for a mountaineering adventure. They ascended the Lowes Path for 3,000 vertical feet to the Grey K...
On December 20, I (Zach, 28) spent the day rope-soloing at Cookie Cliff. As the sun was getting low, I decided to use the rope on Outer Limits to solo Crack- A-Go-Go, a 5.11c crack to the left. I got up the route and clipped my daisies to the a...
On September 2, Treff Owen Carpenter (28) fell 70 feet to his death while setting up a top-rope climb on the Boulderado crag, located in Boulder Canyon. He was a member of a climbing group of eight, and the most experienced climber in the grou...
On August 4, Richard (18) and Chris (19) attempted to rappel the established Nose rappel route (20+ rappels) from the summit of El Capitan. They felt they weren’t ready to climb El Cap, but after seeking advice on Supertopo.com they had decided...
On January 5 a party of two was climbing Central Gully when the leader was hit with a naturally triggered sluff avalanche. During the resulting fall, one of the climbers fractured his ankle. Much of the information below was gathered from a na...
On July 28, Ginnie (32) and Carl (23) were practicing aid climbing on the 165- foot first pitch of the Salathé Wall. They had recently climbed some of the Valley’s long 5.11 classics, including Free Blast, the Rostrum, the Regular Northwest Fac...
On June 12, a four-person rope team triggered an avalanche and was swept a short distance while traveling just below the fixed-lines area on Denali’s West Buttress, at the 15,400-foot level. Three of the victims (ages 23, 30, and 32) were memb...
On July 11 a climber had just untied from the rope after completing a climb. The climber stepped backward at the belay area and fell over a small cliff. (Source: Daniel Lack, RMRG.) Analysis Over the years, we have seen a number of the...
On July 18 a male leader (20) had climbed Uncle Fanny (one pitch, 5.7) on a 60-meter rope and was being lowered by his partner on the ground, so the rest of the group could top-rope the pitch. The belayer (male, 22) was looking up, helping the ...
During the early afternoon on March 24, Ira Lewis (33) climbed Malign (5.7), a one-pitch trad route on the Happy Hour Crag. After Lewis completed the climb, his partner on the ground began to lower him on their 60-meter rope. The belayer was no...
Lowering a climbing partner is among the most common situations leading to injuries and rescues reported in Accidents in North American Mountaineering, whether it’s lowering a climber after she tops out on a sport route or a partner in diff...
On April 25 a woman (25) fell 20 feet, landing on a ledge about 200 feet up from the base of the tower. She suffered rib, spine, and head injuries, and was flown by Life Flight Helicopter to Intermountain Healthcare in Murray, Utah. According t...