Fall on Ice, Inadequate Equipment, Colorado, Boulder Canyon

Publication Year: 1991.

FALL ON ICE, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT

Colorado, Boulder Canyon

On February 9, Gary Wheeler (33) fell 15 meters and slid another 30 meters, landing at the base of a waterfall and against a tree.

Wheeler had climbed the waterfall, tied a rope around a tree, and walked down a dirt path to give his partner the one pair of crampons they had. The partner fell several times trying to climb the waterfall, so Wheeler went up the dirt path to adjust the rope. He slipped when he went to adjust the rope. (Source: The Denver Post, February 10, 1990)

(Editors Note: According to Dixon Hutchinson, leader of the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, this was the first ice climbing death in the area in ten years. One or two die rock climbing in boulder Canyon every year, but not all of these are climbers.)