FALL ON ROCK, CLIMBING UNROPED, INEXPERIENCE

Washington, Mount Wow

On June 7, 1985, James Slayton (19) and three friends drove from Ft. Lewis to Mount Rainier National Park to practice rappelling off a roadside cliff. One of the members of the party was familiar with that area of the park. The group found a cliff to their liking and were able to climb around the cliff itself, through woods, to the top, immediately adjacent to the road and about 15 meters high. It was sheer for only the lowest six meters at its base. Midway on the cliff was a moss-covered, wet, and slippery 45 degree slope that separated the steeper sections at the top and base parts of the cliff.

They tied a nylon Kermantel climbing rope to the tree at the top of the cliff and three of the men rappelled to the base successfully. Finally, they decided to leave the area after all but one of the men was at the base of the cliff. Joel Crow (23) untied the rope from the tree and attempted to throw it to the base, but the rope got hung up on a rock or bush. Slayton, who is a licensed rappeller in the Army, then climbed the cliff without protection toward the entangled rope. At a point approximately ten vertical meters above the road, he lost his footing on the slippery rock and moss and then slid on the steep slope for about three meters and then free-fell for about six meters more, landing in the drainage ditch at the road shoulder.

Rangers were contacted by one of his companions and responded to the scene, where they found Slayton in a private vehicle headed down the road. The vehicle was intercepted, and treatment was provided for his broken wrists, strained lower back and multiple contusions and cuts. An ambulance was requested, and he was transported to Madigan Army Medical Center.

Later it was learned that Slayton also broke a rib—which punctured his left lung. When contacted, he said he was going to go back for his new rope and would rappel back down to get it, “unless someone else gets thre first.” (Source: John Wilcox, Ranger, Mount Rainier National Park)

(Editor’s Note: Well, we don’t know what is required to become a “licensed” rappeller, but whatever it is, it does not a climber make! Nor has this been counted as a climbing statistic, as the activity of rappelling is engaged in by many non-climbers such as the victim.)