Reported Mountaineering Accidents, Table III
1951–97
1959–97
1998
1998
USA
CAN
USA
CAN
Terrain
Rock
3572
427
102
18
Snow
2081
312
28
1
Ice
190
100
8
4
River
13
3
0
0
Unknown
22
7
0
1
Ascent or Descent
Ascent
3169
458
89
11
Descent
1938
310
49
13
Unknown3
247
4
0
0
Immediate Cause
Fall or slip on rock
2471
231
77
8
Slip on snow or ice
808
165
20
1
Falling rock, ice or object
496
110
10
4
Exceeding abilities
418
27
22
0
Avalanche
256
107
4
2
Exposure
237
13
4
0
Illness1
280
21
7
0
Stranded
267
8
8
3
Rappel Failure/Error2
208
38
13
2
Loss of control/glissade
168
16
1
0
Fall into crevasse/moat
132
41
4
0
Failure to follow route
126
27
5
0
Nut/chock pulled out
101
3
9
0
Piton pulled out
84
12
2
0
Faulty use of crampons
69
5
1
0
Lightning
39
7
0
0
Skiing
48
9
0
0
Ascending too fast
43
0
2
0
Equipment failure
7
2
4
0
Other3
203
24
86
4
Unknown
59
8
1
0
Contributory Causes
Climbing unroped
902
150
10
1
Exceeding abilities
834
175
4
9
Inadequate equipment/clothing
552
71
7
1
Placed no/inadequate protection
492
75
38
4
Weather
378
57
10
0
Climbing alone
325
57
4
0
No hard hat
247
24
13
1
Nut/chock pulled out
181
16
4
0
Darkness
118
19
4
0
Party separated
100
17
3
0
Piton pulled out
84
10
0
0
Contributory Causes (cont.)
Inadequate belay
124
20
11
2
Poor position
118
15
3
0
Failure to test holds
73
18
2
0
Exposure
55
13
0
0
Failed to follow directions
61
5
1
3
Illness1
32
4
0
0
Equipment failure
10
6
0
0
Other3
235
79
3
0
Age of Individuals
Under 15
113
12
4
0
15–20
1158
197
8
0
21–25
1152
225
28
0
26–30
1046
189
29
0
31–35
697
96
21
0
36–50
881
108
23
0
Over 50
140
20
8
0
Unknown
925
577
29
19
Experience Level
None/Little
1513
280
30
0
Moderate (1 to 3 years)
1354
340
15
0
Experienced
1396
359
53
0
Unknown
1512
384
62
19
Month of Year
January
187
15
6
0
February
179
40
3
0
March
246
48
6
4
April
338
29
6
0
May
722
48
17
1
June
856
57
25
2
July
942
220
10
5
August
868
137
19
6
September
1059
49
18
5
October
344
30
9
0
November
156
10
4
0
December
62
17
11
0
Unknown
8
0
4
1
Type of Injury/Illness (Data since 1984)
Fracture
763
146
62
9
Laceration
411
57
36
1
Abrasion
221
39
12
1
Bruise
257
59
17
4
Sprain/strain
189
21
15
0
Concussion
135
14
15
0
Frostbite
86
8
2
0
Hypothermia
105
12
16
0
Type of Injury/Illness (cont.)
Dislocation
71
8
4
1
Puncture
27
5
3
0
Acute Mountain Sickness
21
0
0
0
HAPE
49
0
2
0
HACE
16
0
1
0
Other4
193
31
7
0
None
125
68
9
5
1These illnesses/injuries, which led directly to the incident, included: fatigue (4); HAPE (2); and angina.
2Because there were so many rappel errors—a category which now includes climbers being lowered to the ground, usually from a sling-shot belay—this year, some of the causes are described here: rappelled off the end of the rope (9!); webbing on anchor “failed” (2 - one knot came undone and one weathered webbing parted); came to end of rappel rope and did not know how to ascend; belayer lowering—rope too short so it passed through the belay device (no knot in end of rope) and climber falls to ground (3); lowered too fast, so climber hit ground (2); figure-of-eight knot to harness came undone when being lowered, so climber hit the ground; rappel rope got stuck so undid harness, then fell 20 feet to ground; and finally, a face-first (Australian or “butterfly”) rappeller picked up too much speed and did a face plant (see North Carolina for narrative).
3These included: unable to self-arrest (7); handhold or foothold broke off (6); party above dislodged rock; snow bridge collapsed and failed to warn party below; dislodged rock severed climbing rope; “snagged” crampons (2); distraction (2); failed to turn back (3); started late in day, so benighted (4); blown over by wind; and failure to disclose medical condition to guide (see angina in Illness footnote above).
4These included: pneumothorax (2); punctured lung, punctured leg (ice ax); internal injuries (when climber fell on belayer); rope burn; paralyzed from waste down.
(Editor’s Notes: Data for some categories in this table were published inaccurately, and have been corrected in this cumulative data.
Under the category “other.; ” many of the particular items will have been recorded under a general category. For example, the climber who dislodges a rock that falls on another climber would be coded as Falling Rock/Object, or the climber who has a hand hold come loose and falls would also be coded as Fall On Rock.)