Climber dies after a fall on North Sister

[gapertimmy]

www.bend.com

[Greg_W]

Lotta dyin' going on lately.

[Keith]

Our group of 4 was up on the North Sister mid-day Saturday when a woman asked us if we had seen her partner. We had just completed the traverse on the west side and were headed south toward the Middle Sister. We called 911 to initiate the SAR and escorted her off the mountain. It appears that he fell in the area of the snow traverse and slid off the west side down onto some rocks and scree.

[rbw1966]

Damn. Sorry to hear that.

[Dr_Flash_Amazing]

[kitten]

Greg_W said:

Lotta dyin' going on lately.

nO DOUBT ! kEEP IT SAFE GUYS!

Sorry to hear about it - hope the family is doing OK!

[skyclimb]

North sister(faith) is evil

[mattp]

That snow field that you traverse to get to the final gully at the summit pinnacle is way steep and very exposed. I've seen more than one:

[iain]

That area has a history of getting people in big trouble, injured, or dead. It will be a very dangerous evac.

[gapertimmy]

some more info on the accident click

 

be safe everyone

[Alpine_Tom]

Very sad news. It sounds like a great loss to society as well as the climbing community. (We were travelling through Oregon when I saw the story in the Prineville newspaper on Monday.)

 

It's scary because that's exactly the sort of risky-but-non-technical terrain that people like me figure we can negotiate safely.

 

We can't blame him for being inexperienced, or a mountie, or poorly equipped... it should be a warning to all that it can happen to anyone, if you're not careful.

 

So, it sounds like he slipped on a steep scree slope. He was separated from his partner, but that shouldn't have contributed to the accident: if she had been right next to him, she couldn't have stopped the fall unless they were roped and had protection in. And no one ropes and protects a scree slope. (CAN you protect a scree slope?)

 

I'm not familiar with the mountain, but am curious what he could have done differently. Was he off the preferred descent route? Was he tired/dehydrated/in a hurry to descend before dark?

[iain]

sometimes shit happens. same happened to a friend of a friend on fisher chimneys. slipped on some 4th class stuff trying to get off the mtn in a hurry after climbing the n. face of shuksan, took a slide, 1 tiny ledge from a certain fatality. broke his arm, had to be airlifted off the mountain, never climbed again.

[iain]

The north sister is legendary for rockfall and chossy conds in general. This is an early spring mountain in my opinion. I can't see the benefit of climbing it at this time, but I bet the majority of people do. Snow seems to scare people away. Personally I'd rather be axe-belayed on steep snow/ice than climbing stacked graham crackers with no pro and an atrocious fatal runout.

[gapertimmy]

i think you could say that about almost all of the oregon volcanos, but like you said most folks will wait till later to do them.

[Phil K]

My wife and I were up there that very same time. We had climber the NW Ridge to Glisan Pinnacle, thinking that

there maight have been a "safer" route from that direction. We looked at the 45degree scree/choss we would have to traverse, and decided not to try. It's very trecherous ground, insecure and unprotectable. We watched the two other parties on the snow field and were glad not to have witnessed an accident. Later on that day, when the Blackhawk arrived and spent 30 minutes in close proximity to the summit, I knew someone was in big trouble. My advice; stay away unless it's snow covered, and then, stay away anyhow.

[mattp]

It is a big choss heap, and the "rock" on the N. Sister is pretty much to be avoided wherever possible, but its not as bad as all that Philonius. It's a worthy peak that just requires some care to avoid getting beaned or taking the big sled ride.

[iain]

some of the snow/ice routes on n. sister are very enjoyable. the thayer headwall and early morning couloir are both excellent early-mid spring routes.