The Prescription - December 2021

The north face of Pioneer Peak, showing the route attempted in the incident below. X marks approximate site of the anchor where the climbers were impacted by avalanches. Photo by Cecil Sanders

The Prescription - December 2021

Alaska, Chugach Mountains, Pioneer Peak

Two Avalanches – Rope Cut, Anchor Unclipped

We know that many people don’t read every single report in Accidents—particularly ones that are far from home and more than three pages long. But we want to call your attention to the story highlighted here, both for the lessons it imparts and for the drama of the events—fortunately they ended without a fatality or very serious injuries. A condensed outline follows. We highly recommend reading the full report, starting on page 20 of this year’s book or at this page on our publications website.

On April 15, Fallon Connolly, 26, and Simon Frez-Albrecht, age 28 (both experienced climbers), started up the nearly 6,000-foot north face of Pioneer Peak, northeast of Anchorage, at 5:45 a.m. It had been 37°F at the car. Near the second ice band on the long snow and ice route, about 4,000 feet above the start, Fallon observed signs of what appeared to be fairly recent avalanches on the gully walls. Simon was about 50 feet ahead of Fallon and had nearly reached a position to anchor for the next pitch when he noticed a very small wet loose avalanche come tumbling over the ice above. He yelled down to warn Fallon. Simon was standing to one side of the gully, and it didn’t hit him, but it all washed directly over Fallon; she planted both tools firmly and put her head down to let the snow pass. They estimated the flow lasted 60 seconds.

After the flow stopped, Fallon continued up to where Simon was waiting and they moved together perhaps 50 feet up and to the opposite side of the gully, where there were some obvious cracks in the rock. Here they built an anchor and, given what they had observed, prepared to descend from this point. Simon bounce-tested their bail anchor and then set up their brand-new 7.8mm ropes (pink and green) and threaded them through his device for a rappel. Fallon also pre-rigged her device on the rappel ropes. A number 2 Camalot they had placed temporarily was clipped to the ropes as backup, with a non-locker on a 60cm sling. Fallon remained clipped to the cord masterpoint in the anchor with a locking carabiner as Simon began to rappel. When Simon was about halfway down, Fallon yelled to warn him about another avalanche coming over the ice pitch above.

What followed was an extraordinary “series of unfortunate events”:

Brand-new rope cut during this incident.

• Fallon was knocked off her feet by the slide and left hanging from her tether clipped to the anchor. Her gloves and glasses disappeared.

• Their pink rappel rope broke (likely cut against a sharp edge of rock), but the knot joining the ropes jammed in Fallon’s pre-rigged rappel device, keeping the other rope attached to her and thus to the anchor.

• Simon was pummeled by avalanche debris for one to three minutes. Only a tangle in the green rope kept him from being pulled to the end of the rope by the debris.

• As the slide ended, Fallon stood up at the anchor. Before she could reinforce her tether or anchor the green rope, a second avalanche rumbled over the ice above. This time, Fallon was pulled from the anchor and tumbled down the slope.

Damage to Fallon’s harness when she was hit by avalanches at the rappel stance on Pioneer Peak. The harness likely would have sustained many kilonewtons of force to be damaged this way, yet both it and the anchor held.

• Simon heard and saw the second slide coming and was able to shelter behind a rock outcrop, yet the debris plucked him from this stance and he fell another 100 feet down the snow gully. Fallon slid and tumbled a total of 300 to 400 feet.

Very fortunately, neither climber was buried, swept all the way down the mountain, or seriously injured, and they were able to self-rescue to the road.

In his analysis of the incident, Simon outlined numerous important but subtle clues they missed when they decided to climb this route on a relatively warm day. “We felt we had pieced together enough information to make an informed decision,” he wrote. “I suspected the shed cycle had already happened in the previous warm, sunny days, so there wouldn’t be a significant amount of loose/available snow left on the mountain to slide onto us. I didn’t consider that the freezing at night had been enough to keep the snow locked in place, poised above us.

“Probably the single most obvious clue we missed,” he continued, “was that it had stayed cloudy the night before our climb, preventing the radiant cooling that had dropped night time temps in the previous days. This kept the snowpack wet and near the tipping point when the weak sun struck the face for a couple of hours through the clouds.”

Ten days after the accident, in colder conditions, Simon climbed back to their anchor to try to determine what had happened. He found a sharp edge where the pink rope, oscillating under load during the slide, likely had cut. However, most of the anchor was intact. Fallon’s tether and locking carabiner, which had fallen with her during the second avalanche, also were undamaged. “Why had she come unclipped from the anchor?” Simon wondered. “The only conclusion we can draw is that the screw-gate locker with which Fallon clipped her tether to the master point must have jiggled to the unlocked position during the first avalanche. Then, when she unweighted the tether, the locker must have shifted into a position where it could unclip itself when the second avalanche pushed her back onto her tether.”

A mock setup of pre-rigged rappel devices, where two climbers have set up both of their rappel devices before the first starts down. (Anchor tethers and backups are omitted for clarity.) Click the photo to find a good article exploring the pros and cons of pre-rigging rappels. Photo courtesy of AlpineSavvy.com

Simon might have slid all the way down the mountain during the first avalanche, when the pink rope broke, except for one extra step the two took while preparing to rappel. “Over the last year or two, I have been making a conscious effort to increase my safety margin while climbing,” Simon wrote. “This includes tying knots in the ends of ropes during rappels, using a rappel backup, and using autolocking carabiners and assisted braking belay devices more often. I had recently been toying with pre-rigging rappel devices as well, but was not doing this consistently. For whatever reason, this was one of those times we pre-rigged Fallon’s belay device on the rope, and by snagging the knot joining the ropes after our pink rope cut, it happened to keep me alive.”

Again, we encourage you to read the full report in ANAC 2021 or find it here. We’re grateful to climbers like Simon and Fallon who choose to share such stories, which can be painful or even embarrassing to recount. They teach us that the little things sometimes can make all the difference.

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VIA FERRATA LANYARDS RECALLED

In mid-November, Petzl announced a recall of Scorpio Eashook via ferrata lanyards, sold either individually or as part of a via ferrata kit (lanyard, harness, helmet), because of possible malfunctions in the lanyard’s carabiners. The recall affects lanyards with certain serial numbers and manufactured since January 1, 2021; customers who purchased these lanyards are urged to stop using them immediately. See Petzl’s website for details and compensation information.

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ROCKFALL AND RESCUE IN ZION NATIONAL PARK

Aaron, 42, and Ian, 16 are a father-son team of adventurous climbers from Tucson, Arizona. In June 2021, with lots of exploratory climbing experience under their belts, they headed to Zion National Park to attempt a relatively obscure route on a cliff informally known as Mt. Greer. On the 12th pitch, gunning for the top of the formation, Aaron was leading a gully and chimney system when the rock under his feet crumbled, sending sandstone blocks tumbling down the gully toward his son. Listen to the new Sharp End podcast to hear all about how they got into this predicament—and how they got out.

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The monthly Prescription newsletter is supported by adidas Outdoor and the members of the American Alpine Club. Questions? Suggestions? Write to us at accidents@americanalpineclub.org.

The Prescription - August 2021

Belayer is carried to a helicopter landing zone by Hellgate Cliffs in Utah, using a rope bag as an improvised litter. She had borrowed the leader’s helmet for belaying the pitch, which likely saved her from a much more serious injury. Photo courtesy of Salt Lake County Search and Rescue

The Prescription - August 2021

HEADS UP!

Below are two reports from the upcoming edition of Accidents in North American Climbing that share many similarities. Both involved climber-caused rockfall that hit belayers standing on the ground. Both were at sport climbing areas, where many belayers decide not to wear helmets—though, very fortunately, one of these belayers had borrowed the leader’s helmet because of concern about loose rock. In both cases, the belayer was using an assisted-braking belay device (ABD), and, in one case, this very likely saved the leader from a ground fall and significant injuries. Though rare, these incidents should make climbers think about the value of ABDs—and helmets—for belaying single-pitch climbs.

Belayer Hit by Rockfall

Utah, Wasatch Range, Little Cottonwood Canyon

On August 7, Avery Guest (female, 20) was climbing with her partner for the day, Jake Bowles (21), at Hellgate Cliffs, a limestone area high in Little Cottonwood. It was Avery’s second time climbing/belaying outdoors. Jake is an experienced climber.

They chose Monkey Paw (5.9), a single-pitch sport climb, for their first route of the day. Jake was leading, and he got about four bolts up the route (approximately 50 feet off the ground) when he reached for what looked like a good hold. When he weighted the hold, a torso-size rock detached from the wall. It split into three pieces, and one of them landed on Avery, knocking her unconscious. Jake fell approximately 10 feet, pulling Avery about a foot off the ground. She was using a Grigri, which caught Jake’s fall.

Avery regained consciousness quickly and noticed she had an open fracture on her right arm. She managed to lower her partner with her left hand, and he untied her from the belay system. She had post-traumatic amnesia, repeating questions multiple times. They called 911 at about 10:20 a.m. United Fire Authority paramedics and Salt Lake County Search and Rescue responded to the scene within 30 minutes. They gave her pain medication and improvised a litter with Jake’s rope bag in order to carry her about 100 feet down and away from the base of the rock, where Lifeflight could hoist Avery and transport her to the hospital for treatment.

She had two broken bones in her right arm that needed surgery, plus lacerations on her forehead and leg. She also had bleeding in her brain, but managed to avoid brain surgery. Jake suffered only minor scrapes and bruises during the fall.

ANALYSIS

Avery did not have a helmet, so Jake let her use his, knowing there might be rockfall in the area. If Avery had not been wearing Jake’s helmet, her head injuries could have been much worse and possibly fatal. The belay stance for this route was small and surrounded by steep, rocky slopes. Otherwise, she may have been able to move out of the way of the falling rock. (Source: Avery Guest.)

Rockfall Onto Belayer

Colorado, Rifle Mountain Park, Ruckman Cave

At approximately 4 p.m. on September 26, a climber started up The Promise, a 5.12c sport route on the left side of the Ruckman Cave. Just before a ledge at the start of the steep climbing on the route, the climber pulled onto a chalked-up jug that ripped out of the wall. The broken jug, along with more rocks and debris, rained down on the belayer. The climber’s fall was held at the first bolt of the route, and he slammed into the wall sideways, from which he sustained soreness and bruising. The belayer narrowly avoided being hit in the head or upper body by the debris and took all of the damage to his right leg. Fortunately, a visit to the emergency department confirmed no broken bones. (Source: Climber’s report at MountainProject.com.)

ANALYSIS

This incident highlights a paradox often seen at sport climbing areas: The climbers who choose to wear helmets while sport climbing more often are the ones leading or top-roping the climb, not necessarily the belayers and bystanders below the route. Yet, arguably, the belayer is much more likely to be hit by rockfall, which is fairly common in Rifle Mountain Park. More common than helmets at Rifle’s crags are assisted-braking belay devices, which can be a lifesaver in accidents like this one, when the belayer may be severely distracted or even incapacitated by rockfall. (Source: The Editors.)

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Granite Peak from the south, showing A) Location of climber after fall from the Snowbridge, the saddle directly above; B) site of rappel anchor failure; and C) Position of fallen climber. Photo by Gallatin County Search and Rescue

MONTANA’S DANGEROUS HIGH POINT

In the two most recent editions of ANAC, we’ve published reports about numerous incidents on Granite Peak in Montana. One of the more difficult state high points, Granite Peak has semi-technical and technical climbs on several of its faces and ridges. Summer is peak season for the mountain, and it’s worth reading our reports before heading up there.

Rockfall, Anchor Failure (2021 ANAC): Natural rockfall during an attempt on the Notch Couloir and north ridge destroyed a belay anchor, with nearly disastrous results. 

Fall on Snow and Anchor Failure (2021 ANAC): Two falls occurred on September 5 on the east ridge, the standard route up Granite Peak, one of them resulting in a fatality.  

Unroped Falls in Class III/IV Terrain (2020 ANAC): Two falls occurred within the same week in August on the Southwest Ramp route of Granite Peak.

Fall on Ice | Inadequate Gear, Failure to Self-Arrest (2020 ANAC): Two climbers became disoriented after summiting by the east ridge, bivouacked below the summit, and then rappelled the north face to the Granite Glacier, for which they were ill-equipped.

DON’T BLAME THE ROCK

In the June Prescription, we posted a short list of tips for optimizing cam placements, originally published in ANAC 2019. Several climbers from Devil’s Lake in Wisconsin took exception to our generalization about cam placements in the Lake’s “clean but slippery” cracks. AAC member Matthew Clausen elaborated in the following letter to the editor, making some great points about the dangers of blaming the rock for cams that don’t hold.

Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin. Photo by Matthew Clausen

Like many climbers, I pay attention to the AAC’s Accidents in North American Climbing. I value the continued learning required to climb safely. While reading June’s “Prescription,” I felt concerned about this warning: "Numerous reports document that well-placed cams can pull out of wet or dirty rock or even perfectly clean but slippery stone like Yosemite granite or Devil’s Lake quartzite."

In more than a decade of climbing at Devil's Lake, I have never seen a cam slip out of a good placement. All reports of this happening, that I am aware of, were better explained by bad placement upon review. Most often, the failed cams were in an outward flaring crack or without the lobes properly engaged.

I agree with the AAC recommendations that climbers continue to learn more about what makes for a good placement, seek qualified instruction and mentoring, and remember to back up crucial placements. The learning process and experience help us tell fact from myth.

Myths about climbing skills are potentially dangerous. If climbers wrongly believe cams are unsafe in the Baraboo Range’s hard, smooth quartzite, they may feel compelled to:

1) Use less efficient gear for protection, or 
2) Commit to unnecessary runouts, or 
3) Become lax about the subjective hazard of poorly placed cams because they don’t believe a good placement is even possible.

Rather than blaming the geology, we need to combat the complacency of cam placements: These are not magical devices that will hold a fall in any crack. We will bear responsibility for the quality of our decisions.

Sincerely,

Matthew Clausen, Madison, Wisconsin

THE SHARP END VISITS COLORADO

Listen to Episode 67 of the Sharp End Podcast for the story of a helicopter rescue on the long Ellingwood Ridge of La Plata Peak, a Colorado 14er.

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WANTED: CLIMBERS WITH INJURED KNEES

Researchers at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School are seeking climbers to participate in a research survey looking at climbing-related knee injuries. You are eligible to participate in this study if you are 18 to 89 years old, climb at least four times per year, and have sustained a knee injury in a climbing-related incident. The anonymous online survey asks injured people about how much they climb and where they climb, how the knee injury happened, and how they recovered. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete.

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The monthly Accidents Bulletin is supported by adidas Outdoor and the members of the American Alpine Club.

The Prescription - May 2021

A huge avalanche in July stripped the north face of Mt. Belanger in Jasper National Park, Canada, down to bare glacial ice. Photo by Grant Statham

The Prescription - May 2021

KNOW THE ROPES: SUMMER AVALANCHES

Spring and Summer Hazards for Mountaineers

It’s springtime and that means snow slopes have stabilized and avalanche danger is a thing of the past, right? Not so fast. For mountaineers and skiers, avalanche season continues well into summer. And in the warmer months, mountaineers account for the large majority of fatal avalanche incidents.

For the 2020 edition of Accidents in North American Climbing, Seattle-based ski mountaineering guide and avalanche forecaster Matt Schonwald wrote an in-depth “Know the Ropes” article about mountaineering avalanches. At the top of his article, Matt described the problems with these avalanches and the reasons many climbers are less than fully prepared:

Spring avalanche on the Ptarmigan Glacier in Rocky Mountain National Park. Note the track on the left. A party of climbers/skiers climbed this slope about one hour before the slide. Photo by Dougald MacDonald

“Although a large majority of avalanche fatalities occur in the winter months, avalanches are not uncommon in the long days of late spring and early summer. According to the national database compiled by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), since 1951 in the United States, 39 out of 44 avalanche fatalities in June and 31 out of 43 in May have involved climbers.

“Most backcountry skiers and winter mountaineers in avalanche-prone areas have some knowledge of the hazards and carry basic avalanche safety equipment, such as transceivers, probes, and shovels…. But preparation for avalanche hazards in the spring and summer mountaineering season is not as widespread or systematic. Most avalanche training is skewed toward winter travelers, and many avalanches that affect mountaineers occur in terrain not covered by avalanche forecasts or after avalanche centers have shut down for the season.

“At the same time, the consequences of an avalanche are at least as great for mountaineers in spring and summer as they are during the winter months. As the winter snowpack melts back, additional hazards are exposed. Cliffs, narrow couloirs, exposed crevasses or boulder fields, and other terrain traps make an encounter with even a small avalanche potentially fatal.

“Mountains big and small possess the potential to bury or injure you with the right combination of unstable snow, terrain, and a trigger—often someone in your party. It’s not only important to recognize these hazards but also to have the discipline to respect the problem and choose another route or wait till the risk decreases. In preparing to enter avalanche terrain, the mountaineer must be focused more on avoiding avalanches than on surviving one, and that is the focus of this article.”

Matt’s story goes on to describe how to recognize avalanche hazards in mountaineering settings and how to plan climbs to minimize the hazards. If you’re contemplating a climbing or skiing trip in snowy mountains this season, this article is essential reading. If you prefer a PDF copy, log in to your profile at the AAC website and look under Publications in the member benefits area—you can download the complete 2020 ANAC there.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: A Real-World Example From Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood’s south side, about 24 hours after the avalanche on May 31, 1998. (A) The 300-foot crown fracture extended across the whole slope above Crater Rock, varying from one to five feet high. (B) The Hogsback bergschrund, below the Pearly Gates. Screen shot from KGW-Television cam at Timberline Lodge

In the 1999 edition of ANAC, we described a tragic incident on Mt. Hood on May 31, 1998. An avalanche struck a team attempting the West Crater Rim route at 10:05 a.m. and swept down about 1,250 feet. One climber was killed in the slide and two others seriously injured; the leader of the group, on a separate rope team, also was injured. The party had headed up the mountain despite one to two feet of new snow in the past week, a “high avalanche hazard” warning posted by the U.S. Forest Service, and signs of recent avalanche activity along their route.

According to the Mt. Hood climbing ranger, most of the people on the mountain that day in late May did not carry avalanche transceivers. “Some of these climbers later remarked that they hadn’t considered avalanches to be a problem, as it was late in the season and it was such a beautiful day,” the report says. “But in fact, a secondary maximum in monthly Northwest avalanche fatalities occurs in May, similar to the mid-winter Northwest maximums.”

Read the full ANAC report here.  

Rockfall took out this anchor at the Narrows, near Redstone, Colorado, last summer. Photo by Chris Kalous (@enormocast)

IT’S SPRINGTIME! HEADS UP!

Avalanches aren’t the only hazards that trend upward in springtime: Rockfall and loose holds become more frequent at many cliffs in the spring, as the freeze-thaw cycle and heavy precipitation prepares missiles for launching.

Last May, a climber experienced this the hard way during the fifth-class approach to Break on Through at Moore’s Wall, North Carolina. Two weeks of heavy rain had loosened some big holds, and this climber found one of them. His report will be published in ANAC 2021, but you can read it now at the AAC’s publications website.

If you choose not to wear a helmet for shorter climbs, such as sport routes, consider changing this habit for spring and early summer climbs. In addition to the hazards mentioned above, thunderstorms frequently send volleys of rock over cliffs, threatening climbers and belayers alike. Rockfall also may impact fixed gear and anchors: Check before you trust.

THE SHARP END PODCAST

Last summer, Jes Scott and Erica Ellefsen set out on an 80-kilometer high-mountain traverse from Mt. Washington to Flower Ridge in Strathcona Provincial Park, British Columbia. Listen to the latest Sharp End podcast to hear what went wrong during their planned eight-day traverse and how they decided to call for a rescue. The Sharp End podcast is sponsored by the American Alpine Club.

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The monthly Accidents Bulletin is supported by adidas Outdoor and the members of the American Alpine Club.