Accident Reports ANAM
Crevasse Falls – Skiers and Snowboarders Washinton, Cascades, Mt. Rainier

Three accidents were reported in 2017 in which riders fell into crevasses on various Rainier glaciers, and one of them was killed.On May 27, a 24-year-old woman in a party of three that had summited earlier that day fell deep into a crevasse at 12...

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| Published 2017 | Author The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Snow – Fatigue, Poor Snow Conditions Washinton, Cascades, Mt. Adams

On July 7, my climbing partner (Hayley Dukatz, 31) and I set off from high camp for a run at the Adams Glacier on the north side of Mt. Adams. We had both climbed the mountain several times via other technical and nontechnical routes. A strong, wa...

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| Published 2017 | Author Alexander Vasarab


Accident Reports ANAM
Ski Mountaineering Fall – Off-Route, Unable to Self-Arrest Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, South Teton

On February 16, at 11:10 a.m., park dispatch received a call that a skier had fallen down the Amora Vida Couloir on the south side of South Teton. Ranger Scott Guenther assumed incident command (IC) and spoke with the reporting party. She indicate...

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| Published 2017 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Report and the Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Snow – Not Wearing Crampons, Failure to Self-Arrest Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Disappointment Peak

On the morning of June 19, two climbers began ascending the Spoon Couloir of Disappointment Peak. The day was sunny and warm. Once the climbers reached the top of the couloir, they decided against continuing to the summit and instead planned to de...

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| Published 2017 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Report and the Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Stranded – Off-Route, Benighted Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Mt. Moran

On August 8, at approximately 2 a.m., ranger Chris Harder was notified that a climbing party was stuck on the CMC Route of Mt. Moran. The two climbers (male, ages 58 and 35) had begun their climb from the CMC Camp (about 2,600 feet below the summi...

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| Published 2017 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Report and the Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Stranded – Route-finding Errors, Inadequate Clothing Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Cathedral Traverse

On the afternoon of August 11, a 30-year-old male, Climber 1, and 23-year-old female, Climber 2, began an attempt on the Grand Traverse, a complex and challenging route linking ten Teton summits. Climber 1 had been climbing for about eight years, ...

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| Published 2017 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Report and the Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Rappel Error – Uneven Ropes Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Cathedral Traverse, Peak 11,840'

On August 25, at 10:15 a.m., Grand Teton SAR coordinator Drew Hardesty was contacted by Exum guide Joe Stern, who reported that he had found a deceased solo climber at the base of the rappels on the southwest side of Peak 11,840’, a summit between...

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| Published 2017 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Report and the Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Rockfall on Approach Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Garnet Canyon

On the morning of August 26, rangers received a call from a woman saying that one of her climbing partners was trapped under large boulders that had rolled over her in the Lower South Fork of Garnet Canyon. The party of three had been avoiding sno...

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| Published 2017 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Report


Accident Reports ANAM
Fatal Fall – Unroped Scrambling During Descent Wyoming, Wind River Range, Steeple Peak

On Monday, August 28, Michael Sullivan, 54, fell to his death while descending from Steeple Peak. Sullivan and his climbing partner had done other ascents earlier that week in the Cirque of the Towers area. On August 28 they had reached the summit...

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| Published 2017 | Author The Editors


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Uløytinden, East Face, NordFit; Historical Ascents on Uløytinden and Kägen Norway, Lyngen, Uløya Island and Vicinity

In March, Maciej Janczar and Tomasz Klimczak (Poland), based at the Lyngen Outdoor Center, added another winter route to the east face of Uløytinden (1,115m) in the south of Uløya Island. Their 500m line climbs relatively straightforward snow and ...

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| Published 2018 | Author Artur Paszczak


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Sajama, West Face and Northwest Ridge, Days to Remember Bolivia, Cordillera Occidental

Matthew Ward from Idaho and I made an attempt in July on a gray flow of ice toward the left end of the large, quasi-vertical rock barrier that characterizes the west face of Sajama (6,542m), Bolivia's highest mountain. We bailed on this super-impr...

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| Published 2018 | Author Robert Rauch


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Snow – Failure to Self-Arrest, Loss of Equipment Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Mt. Owen

On August 26, at 12:30 p.m., ranger Jim Springer received a cell phone call from two climbers attempting the Koven Route on Mt. Owen. (A second pair in the same party was attempting the route separately.) According to the caller, the climbers were...

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| Published 2017 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Reports


Accident Reports ANAM
Falls on Rock Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Grand Teton

On August 18, at around 4:15 p.m., rangers were notified that a climber had sustained traumatic injuries in an unroped fall while descending about 200 feet below the summit of the Grand. The climber, one of four brothers climbing together, had tum...

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| Published 2017 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Reports


Accident Reports ANAM
Leader Fall on Rock Wyoming, Devils Tower

On the afternoon of June 2, a 38-year-old man fell while leading the Sundance Route (5.7) and sustained fatal head injuries. He was wearing a helmet. Further details were not available by press time. The last climbing fatality at Devils Tower was ...

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| Published 2017 | Author The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Ground Fall – Inadequate Belay Kentucky, Red River Gorge, Roadside Crag

In early June, a climber took a 35-foot ground fall from the fifth bolt on Fadda (5.10a sport) due to belayer error. While the climber’s fall was partially arrested by his belayer, slowing his descent, he struck the ground at a high rate of speed,...

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| Published 2017 | Author Wolfe County Search and Rescue


Accident Reports ANAM
Ground Fall – Inadequate Belay, No Helmet Kentucky, Red River Gorge, Roadside Crag

Early in the afternoon on August 27, EJ and LS (both age 21) were climbing Trouble Clef (5.9), an 80-foot sport route, when EJ took a lead fall above the last protection bolt as he neared the anchors. LS, who was belaying with a tube-style device,...

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| Published 2017 | Author Wolfe County Search and Rescue


Accident Reports ANAM
Belayer Pulled Into Wall – Miscommunication Kentucky, Red River Gorge, Miller Fork Natural Preserve, Fruit Wall

On April 29, a 25-year-old male was belaying a 22-year-old male climber on JewJew Fruit (5.10c) at Fruit Wall. The climber, who was attempting to flash the route, had progressed to just below the seventh bolt. He clipped a quickdraw to the bolt an...

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| Published 2017 | Author The Editors


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Mulung Tokpo: Aari Dont, Northwest Ridge; Chilh Point, East Face India, Zanskar

I first went to Zanskar in 2013, inspired by an article by Harish Kapadia in the Himalayan Journal. Our team explored the glaciated regions of the Pensilungpa (AAJ 2014), and like many others I was instantly fascinated by the wealth of unclimbed p...

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| Published 2018 | Author Derek Buckle


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Nyambo Konka, Northeast Face to South-southeast Ridge China, Sichuan, Daxue Shan, Minya Konka Range

W.C. Fields once said: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.” Sound advice for most people, but mountaineers tend to be obsessive.I first attempted then-unclimbed Nyambo Konka (6,114m), a dom...

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| Published 2017 | Author Mark Jenkins


Climbs And Expeditions AAJ
Zor Kumtor Valley: First Ascents Kyrgyzstan, Pamir, Alai Range, Kichik-Alai

In late September and early October, our Czech-Slovak team made a trip to virgin peaks in the Alai mountains. Our plan was to climb from the Zor Kumtor Valley, which is the last valley flowing north into the long Kichik-Alai Valley before the latt...

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| Published 2018 | Author Michal Kleslo