Reported Mountaineering Accidents, Table III
TABLE III
Numbers Refer to Persons Directly Involved
1951-77
1959-77
1978
1978
USA
CAN.
USA
CAN.
Terrain1
Rock
1498
153
54
12
Snow
841
145
52
6
Ice
34
4
12
2
River
7
2
0
0
Unknown
10
2
0
0
Ascent or Descent
Ascent
1162
157
62
9
Descent
991
99
41
8
Unknown
161
12
15
0
Immediate Cause
Fall or slip on rock
877
72
34
2
Slip on snow or ice
328
50
40
4
Falling rock or object
202
56
0
2
Avalanche
166
63
6
1
Exceed abilities
166
9
2
3
Exposure and/or exhaustion
115
6
6
0
Stranded
104
12
8
2
Failure of rappel
97
3
4
2
Loss of control—voluntary glissade .
80
6
2
1
Failure of piton
58
9
4
0
Illness—including pulmonary
edema/frostbite
67
4
3
0
Fall into crevasse
56
15
4
1
Lightning
34
3
0
0
Faulty use of crampons
21
2
0
0
Failure to follow route
23
4
7
0
Skiing
13
4
4
0
Prussik/ascending device failure
3
1
0
0
Heat Prostration
3
0
0
1
Failure of nut
8
1
2
0
Other2
14
5
3
0
Unknown
21
3
7
0
Contributory Causes
Climbing unroped
514
52
27
4
Exceeding abilities
522
67
18
3
Inadequate equipment
243
26
18
0
Climbing alone
165
16
5
0
Bad weather
134
7
8
0
Failure of piton
59
5
1
1
Darkness
64
5
1
0
1951-77
1959-77
1978
1978
USA
CAN.
USA
CAN.
Party separated
52
6
2
0
Exposure and/or exhaustion
24
1
1
1
Old rope
8
1
0
0
No hard hat
17
2
6
0
Failure to test holds
9
1
0
0
Placed no protection
18
0
9
0
Failure of nut
15
1
3
0
Waist/harness failure
1
1
0
0
Other2
8
0
7
0
Age of Individuals
Under 15
85
5
1
5
15-20
794
108
33
7
21-25
621
66
54
3
26-30
306
57
17
1
31-35
162
19
11
0
36-50
219
40
11
2
Over 50
5
0
5
2
Unknown
271
62
8
3
Affiliation with Climbing Groups
Unaffiliated
781
52
49
1
Affiliated
793
144
24
6
Unknown
788
49
45
13
Estimate of Experience
None or little
1014
89
30
5
Moderate
610
73
24
5
Experienced
427
88
33
3
Unknown
355
50
35
5
Month of Year
January
86
3
4
0
February
95
15
6
2
March
129
20
7
1
April
132
5
3
1
May
219
17
16
0
June
380
35
8
5
July
444
97
21
4
August
408
83
20
6
September
232
10
15
0
October
121
12
9
1
November
77
1
8
0
December
17
3
1
0
1 All accidents this year involved only one primary terrain type.
2 These include a) jamming an arm in a crack, b) a climber who disappeared, c) ski descent of a climbing route, d) wasp stings, and e) climbers not being familiar with the retreat route (four cases).