Reported Mountaineering Accidents, Table III
TABLE III
Numbers Refer to Persons Directly Involved
1951-74 USA
1959-74 CAN.
1975 USA
1975 CAN.
Terrain
Rock
1285
105
59
Snow
668
101
47
Ice1
1
River
5
0
0
Unknown
10
2
0
Ascent or Descent
Ascent
977
120
74
Descent
847
79
28
Unknown
130
8
5
Immediate Cause
Fall or slip on rock
731
55
42
Slip on snow or ice
250
28
8
Falling rock or object
174
27
10
Avalanche
129
41
10
Exceed abilities
129
5
6
Exposure and/or exhaustion
98
2
2
Stranded
96
11
1
Failure of rappel
86
3
2
Loss of control—voluntary glissade
72
6
0
Failure of piton or nut
57
4
l2
Illness—including pulmonary edema/frostbite
44
3
1
Fall into crevasse
35
11
1
Lightning
31
3
0
Faulty use of crampons
12
2
1
Failure to follow route
9
0
5
Skiing
6
4
2
Prussik/ascending device failure3
3
0
0
Heat Prostration
3
0
0
Failure of nut4
1
Other5
1
Unknown
19
2
0
Contributory Causes
Climbing unroped
480
44
10
Exceeding abilities
467
62
8
Inadequate equipment
205
17
5
Climbing alone
141
15
5
Bad weather
96
7
10
Failure of piton or nut
56
5
3
Darkness
55
3
4
Party separated
38
6
2
Exposure and/or exhaustion
16
1
1
1951-74
1959-74
1975 1975
USA
CAN.
USA CAN.
Old rope
8
1
0
No hard hat
6
1
4
Failure to test holds
3
0
Placed no protection
1
0
3
Failure of nut6
6
Waist/harness failure6
1
1
Age of Individuals
Under 15
71
4
2
15-20
693
44
29
21-25
470
42
54
26-30
240
47
8
31-35
125
16
1
36-50
191
27
3
Over 50
Unknown
205
27
19
Affiliation with Climbing Groups
Unaffiliated
665
40
20
Affiliated
663
112
43
Unknown
626
19
50
Estimate of Experience
None or little
886
74
48
Moderate
518
49
22
Experienced
339
67
9
Unknown
229
19
40
Month of Year
January
79
3
2
February
75
14
1
March
103
3
6
April
104
3
5
May
169
11
6
June
325
32
10
July
361
68
10
August
345
58
19
September
203
8
7
October
104
3
6
November
66
1
2
December
8
2
0
'New category—reflects increase of ice climbing
2Use of old piton
3Now includes Jumar, Gibbs, etc., failures
4New category—reflects use of nuts exclusively
5Fall resulting from stepping on a branch on a rock route
6New category—reflects use of new techniques