Whew...lucky, courageous climber

[ridehikeclimbski]

http://news.bellinghamherald.com/stories/20030822/TopStories/152839.shtml

[layton]

imagine the horror when he found the "other hole."

Dear god.

[babnik]

for sure. a 3/4" metal tube went though my gut! time

[catbirdseat]

"In an unexpected situation, it did not come automatically. Todd believes he might have started off hacking at the snow with the adze instead of the pick"

 

Many people carelessly hold their axe with the adze under the heel of the hand because it is more comfortable, but you can't arrest that way. A fellow named Peter Morse was killed on Kendall Peak that way. The adze is useless for self-arrest and it may not be possible to turn the axe around in the instant that it is required.

[Necronomicon]

It's amazing what you can do when you're in shock.

[scot'teryx]

The self belay grip that is taught in many mountaineering groups is a real bad habit.

 

I am so used to the self arrest position that any other way does not feel right.

[lummox]

scot'teryx said:

The self belay grip that is taught in many mountaineering groups is a real bad habit.

 

I am so used to the self arrest position that any other way does not feel right.

we should all emulate you.

[Figger_Eight]

scot'teryx said:

The self belay grip that is taught in many mountaineering groups is a real bad habit.

 

I am so used to the self arrest position that any other way does not feel right.

 

It's fine on a mellow snowfield when you're using your axe as a walking stick. People just need to remember to flip it around when it gets steep or they go on a glacier.

 

That guy was pretty burly. I hope he comes out of this ok.

[cj001f]

scot'teryx said:

The self belay grip that is taught in many mountaineering groups is a real bad habit.

 

I am so used to the self arrest position that any other way does not feel right.

This arguments been going on for what, 30 years now? Who cares?

[dkemp]

Odd, just a few years ago a man was killed on the same mountain - you guessed it - impaled by his own axe in a fall.

 

This dude was burly. and plenty lucky.

 

[Ursa_Eagle]

so did the axe come out by itself or did he pull it out?

[Bill_Simpkins]

I'm glad he's ok. I hope they work out their money and I hope noone took his stuff.

 

I played in a band with his brother, back in the day.

 

There was someone else a few years back that died from the same thing on the same snowfield.

 

It's good to take every step as if your going to slip.

 

Everyone take care out there.

[David_Parker]

I remember a story where a guy was impailed on Mt. Washington in N.H. What saved his life was the fact he hiked down with the ice axe still in him. Had he removed it, he could have bled to death. Just something to remember.

[kitten]

WOW! Thanks for sharing the story! It is amazing the will we have to stay alive and what adrenaline will get us through.

[Figger_Eight]

I remember there being a picture of a dude with an ice axe sticking out of him floating around the internet somewhere. Anyone have the link?

[Ursa_Eagle]

David_Parker said:

I remember a story where a guy was impailed on Mt. Washington in N.H. What saved his life was the fact he hiked down with the ice axe still in him. Had he removed it, he could have bled to death. Just something to remember.

 

From what I've heard, he was glissading down Tuckerman's Ravine and forgot the cardinal rule of glissading (take your crampons off!) He caught a point, went tumbling, and when he finally stopped, his ice axe entered his abdomen from one side, and exited the other. He got up and walked down the trail, and made it all the way down to Pinkham Notch where the medics, ambulances, and a horde of people were waiting to see this guy walking down with an ice axe embedded in him. Turns out it went between his stomach and his abs, doing the least amount of damage possible.

[carolyn]

Figger_Eight said:

I remember there being a picture of a dude with an ice axe sticking out of him floating around the internet somewhere. Anyone have the link?

 

Here is the pic.

 

Warning!

[lummox]

Figger_Eight said:

I remember there being a picture of a dude with an ice axe sticking out of him floating around the internet somewhere.

 

this whole body modification thing is getting outta control. know what im saying?

[lummox]

carolyn said:

Warning!

how the fuck did he get the handle like that? what position would his body been in? 10 pts for creativity fersure.

[mattp]

catbirdseat said:

Many people carelessly hold their axe with the adze under the heel of the hand because it is more comfortable, but you can't arrest that way. A fellow named Peter Morse was killed on Kendall Peak that way. The adze is useless for self-arrest and it may not be possible to turn the axe around in the instant that it is required.

 

I believe that the Adze is quite often actually MORE effective in slushy summer snow where the pick will just rake through if there isn't anything more firm within the top 6" or so and, yes, the Adze IS more comfortable. It is really not that hard to turn your ice axe around in the event of a fall -- especially if you practice it at all.

 

I believe that plain old inexperience is probably much more of a hazard, as is wearing crampons on a slope where they are not necessary. I also believe that the modern practice of using ski poles on lesser slopes and carrying only 50mm tools is probably more dangerous than holding the ice axe "backwards" -- grab your 50 cm tool and lie down on the snow some time and look where that spike is in relation to your abdomen; then switch out for the more traditional 70 cm ice axe and check it out. I haven't conducted a statistical analysis of ANAM to see if my theory holds, but the short tols sure look like an obvious danger to me and, despite what they guy said, I would guess that the shortness of his axe may have been more of an issue in this recent accident than was using the adze instead of the pick -- it wasn't either adze or pick that went into his belly (I can't tell from the picture, but it looks as if it may be a "modern" length tool).

[mattp]

What? Nobody wants to stand up for the righteousness of ski poles and the 50cm tool for general mountaineering?

[Cpt.Caveman]

mattp said:

What? Nobody wants to stand up for the righteousness of ski poles and the 50cm tool for general mountaineering?

 

I smell a trolling of the waters

[AlpineK]

I just don't fall on snow in the first place.

[Figger_Eight]

I'd rather be poked in the stomach with my short axe than get it in the nads with a longer one.

[Ursa_Eagle]

I prefer trekking poles on lower angle stuff because they provide good balance, and I know how to do a pole arrest. If it gets steeper, I use a traditional axe (75 cm) and a pole.