This is the sixteenth report of the Safety Committee and the third in conjunction with the Alpine Club of Canada. This year a further addition is being made by the addition of reports on selected rescue operations. A coordinated program with the Mountain Rescue Association has made this possible. Further evidence of coordination of activity is the new accident and rescue report form that has been developed. It is anticipated that this form will make the reporting easier, more standardized, and more complete.

Because of the additional material on rescue operations, accidents that occurred in 1961 and that were not previously reported have not been included in the written material. The pertinent data have been included in the statistical tables. In order to save space only selected accidents that occurred in 1962 have been written up in detail. Selection has been determined by an estimate of their value as a lesson either of what to do or what not to do. Data from all mountaineering accidents reported to the committee have been included in the statistical tables at the end of the accident report.

Accidents during rappelling are still too common. Great care must be exercised in setting up a rappel. The rappel point must be solid, whether a piton or a rock projection is used. If a rock projection is used it must not have sharp edges that could cut the sling or the rope. If sharp edges are present, they should be padded. Multiple slings also offer more security. These should be knotted separately and not used as a continuous coil. A near accident involving failure to observe some of these principles was brought to the attention of the committee: A nearly severed rappel sling was found that had been left two weeks earlier by a three-man climbing party. It was 5/16 inch nylon with a single loop around a sharp rock horn. The last person on that rappel had come close to disaster!

An English translation of Wastl Mariner’s book Neuzeitliche Bergrettungs Technik (Modern Mountain Rescue Technique) is being prepared for publication in 1963. It will be well illustrated. It has been the book of basic rescue techniques in Europe since its original publication in 1959. For those who are interested or active in rescue operations, this book will be of great use.

In the 1955 report an attempt was made to estimate the risk of mountaineering. Estimates of the number of climbers and the days climbed per year were obtained from the various climbing clubs in the United States. From these data the number of man-mountain days was obtained and used as the denominator to calculate the accident and mortality rates.