Accident Reports ANAM
Top-Rope Solo System Failure Wyoming, Vedauwoo, to the Moon Alice area

On August 20, I (male, 26) drove up to the Voo for some after-work top-rope soloing. I set up a fixed line on To the Moon (5.10b/V0), a 35-foot crack with a bolted anchor that is often bouldered. I had not climbed the route before. For soloing, I...

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| Published 2019 | Author Anonymous and the Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
High Altitude Pulmonary Edema Wyoming, Wind River Range, Gannett Peak

On August 9, Darwin Day (64) was attempting to summit Gannett Peak to complete his goal of climbing the highest mountain in each of the Western states when he began to feel ill. It’s not known how high Day and his climbing partner reached on the 1...

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| Published 2019 | Author Mountain Project, media reports and The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Fatal Fall in Attempt to Assist Partner Wyoming, Wind River Range, Cirque of the Towers, Pingora Peak

On August 10, Zijah Kurtovic (63) fell to his death during an attempt on 11,889-foot Pingora Peak. While leading the final pitch (5.6) of a route on the east side of Pingora, his climbing partner (male, 67 ) fell 40 to 50 feet and suffered fractur...

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| Published 2019 | Author James Harper, Climber on the scene, Tip Top Search and Rescue and media reports


Accident Reports ANAM
Rockfall Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Gilkey Tower

At approximately 11:15 a.m. on August 31, a climber called 911 to report that he was with a 38-year-old man from another climbing party who had been injured by rockfall on Gilkey Tower and was unable to move under his own power. The caller was a s...

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| Published 2019 | Author National Park Service Search and Rescue Reports


Accident Reports ANAM
Hit By Boulder While Scrambling Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Death Canyon

Just after 5 p.m. on July 18, a climber made a 911 call reporting that his partner had been hit by a very large boulder;  he then fell and sustained injuries to his back, foot, and hand. The two climbers had been planning to do Raven’s Crack, near...

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| Published 2019 | Author National Park Service SAR and notes from the climber


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Snow, Stranded – Off Route on Descent Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Middle Teton

At approximately 7:45 p.m. on September , Teton Interagency Dispatch transferred a call to ranger R. Schuster from a distressed 28-year-old female climber. She explained that she’d taken a 30-foot fall on snow while descending the Middle Teton and...

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| Published 2019 | Author Grand Teton National Park Search and Rescue and The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall, Stranded – Off-Route on Descent Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Middle Teton

On August 23, at about 3:30 p.m., rangers received a call from a 24-year-old-man who had summited the Middle Teton via the Southwest Couloir but on the descent quickly became lost. As he attempted to descend a gully above the Northwest Ice Couloir...

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| Published 2019 | Author Grand Teton National Park Search and Rescue


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Snow – Inadequate Equipment, Inexperience Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Middle Teton

At about 5:45 p.m. on July 17 , the Jenny Lake rangers were notified of an injured 17-year-old female below the south side of Middle Teton. Rangers were immediately summoned to the Lupine Meadows Rescue Cache, as was the park’s contract helicopter...

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| Published 2019 | Author Grand Teton National Park Search and Rescue


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall Into Moat – Hypothermia Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Teewinot

On July 25, a very experienced 71-year-old climber called for help from Teewinot, where he was climbing the standard east face route. At around 10:30 a.m., while attempting to transition onto rock at 10,500 feet from the top of a large snow field,...

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| Published 2019 | Author Grand Teton National Park Search and Rescue


Accident Reports ANAM
Rappel Error – Uneven Ropes, Haste, No Stopper Knots Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs, Hoodoos Area

My significant other/climbing partner and I (male, age 20) had spent most of August 6 sightseeing around Yellowstone. After seven hours of driving, I got antsy and checked Mountain Project to see if there were any climbs nearby. I found a 5.5 and ...

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| Published 2019 | Author Anonymous and The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Rock – Ledge Fall, Inexperience West Virginia, New River Gorge, Bubba City, Beer Wall

In the morning of September 22, my partner (male, 34) and I (female, 38) were climbing at the Beer Wall. We had hoped to warm up on a 5.4, but the route was taken, so we chose Daisy Cutter, a nearby 5.7 sport route. My partner led. The route begin...

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| Published 2019 | Author Matt Smith and The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Off Route – Protection Pulled Out West Virginia, Seneca Rocks, South Peak, West Face

On July 6, a climber was attempting to lead the rst pitch of a popular 5.8 trad route called the Burn. According to witnesses, the leader climbed toward the roof but veered significantly right and off route, intersecting the first pitch of Ecstasy...

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| Published 2019 | Author Nick Ingalls and The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Rappel Errors – Simul-rappel, Inexperience West Virginia, Seneca Rocks, South Peak, West Face

At approximately 2 p.m. on July 6, two climbers (males, age 13 and unknown) were attempting to descend from the South Peak via the Pleasant Overhang rappel station on the west face. They had chosen to simul-rappel but did not know they needed two ...

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| Published 2019 | Author Ni The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Ground Fall – Slip on Wet Rock, No Protection West Virginia, Seneca Rocks, South Peak, West Face

On June 11, Doug (52) and his partner were planning to lead Ecstasy Junior, a popular two-pitch 5.4 on the lower west face of the south peak of Seneca. They opted to begin the climb from above the traditional ramp, eliminating a half pitch of vege...

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| Published 2019 | Author Nick Ingalls


Accident Reports ANAM
Loose Rock, Ledge Fall – Failure to Test Holds West Virginia, Seneca Rocks, South Peak, East Face, Lower Skyline Area

Two climbers arrived at the bolted anchors atop the rst pitch of Sky Line Traverse on June 2, planning to climb Rear Entry (5.8) to the Lower Broadway ledge. The leader, Mike (50), traversed up and right to a large block that marks the beginning o...

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| Published 2019 | Author Nick Ingalls and The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Stranded – Weather, Exhaustion Washington, Mt. Rainier, Liberty Ridge

On May 31, a team of four climbers set out from White River Campground to climb Liberty Ridge. Three days later, Yevgeniy Krasnitskiy (39), Ruslan Khasbulatov (33), Vasily Aushev (35), and Constantine Toporov (37 ) called 911 to report they were s...

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| Published 2019 | Author Mt. Rainier National Park and News Reports


Accident Reports ANAM
Deadly Rockfall At Thumb Rock Washington, Mt. Rainier, Liberty Ridge

At about 8:30 p.m. on May 29, a climber called 911 to report a large rockfall around 10,800 feet at Thumb Rock, high camp for the Liberty Ridge route. The climber relayed to dispatchers that Arleigh William “Bill” Dean (46) had been killed and two...

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| Published 2019 | Author Mt. Rainier National Park Incident Report


Accident Reports ANAM
Lowering Error – No Stopper Knot Washington, Index, Lookout Point, Rattletale Wall

Cherry Mayangitan (38) and I (39) were climbing Chasin’ the Lizard (5.10a trad) at the Rattletale Wall. I had just finished leading the route and was being lowered by my partner, who was planning to follow and clean. Approximately 20 feet from the...

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| Published 2019 | Author Patrick Beeson and The Editors


Accident Reports ANAM
Rappel Anchor Failure – Loose Rock, Overconfidence, Washington, North Cascades, Eldorado Peak, West Ridge

Sam (30), Matt (26), and I (24) were planning to climb the West Ridge of Eldorado Peak (alpine terrain plus 10 pitches up to 5.8) and the Southwest Buttress on Dorado Needle (13 pitches, 5.7 ) over five days in August to help Matt prepare for his ...

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| Published 2019 | Author Spencer Dillon


Accident Reports ANAM
Fall on Ice – Crevasse Fall – Roped with no Protection Washington, Mt. Baker, Squak Glacier

About 6:30 a.m. on August 31, a male climber (54) was injured while trying to ascend Mt. Baker via the Squak Glacier. His party of three roped climbers was moving up the dry, bare-ice glacier using a 60-meter rope, with approximately 10 meters bet...

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| Published 2019 | Author Kaf Adventures and The Editors