MatthewS Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 After being struck by a large rock and falling, my wife was picked off of Mt Washington on Fri/Sat by some hardworking rescue teams. In case anyone involved in the rescue posts here, I just wanted to give a HUGE!!! thanks to everyone for working through the night to get her out of a nasty spot and down to where the helicopter could pick her up. As for her condition, she suffered a pretty bad concussion, a smashed finger, and plenty of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. But the good news is that she's fully alert and is starting to move around a bit with the help of a walker. All in all, we couldn't hope for any better news and she might be able to get out of the hospital in a few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billygoat Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 good to hear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 any relevant details on the accident? north ridge route? unroped (i assume?) mt washington = big pile of crap passing for "alpine rock" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewS Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 We were on the North Ridge - hadn't climbed it before and we got off route up at the summit pinnacle. Instead of directly climbing north ridge, we traversed around it (climbers left) onto the east face. I could see a gully on the east face that looked climbable so we headed for that. The gully looked to be 4th class with some nasty exposure, so my wife belayed from below, and off to the side. I went up about 20 feet and commented that there was no decent rock for placing pro. I finally settled on a large boulder (about the size of a person) that looked somewhat stable relative to everything else. I threw a sling around it and gave just a little tug on it and the whole thing just took off down the slope. It took a bad bounce and my wife couldn't get out of the way. She was struck on the shoulder and side of the head (helmet saved her life!). She fell off the ledge she was on and landed about 15 feet below on another ledge. If she hadn't landed on the ledge that she did (about 3 feet wide), there is no doubt we both would have been dragged right off the mountain (below us was 45 degree snow). She had setup a belay anchor but the anchor wasn't meant to take a load from that direction and didn't help at all to stop the fall. In short, our biggest mistake was simply not being able to properly evaluate the rockfall hazard. In our traverse around the pinnacle, we both noted that the rock was awfully crumbly. But we kept pushing on, hoping the rocks up the gully might be a little better. Just some notes on the rescue: The fall happened around 2:30PM. I descended the north ridge until I got cellphone service (about at the point where the climbers trail meets teh ridge) and called 911 around 3:30PM. The rescue teams were up to our position by 8:00PM - FAST! Unfortunately, visibility got too bad to get a helicoptor to pick her up at night but the SAR folks stayed with us all night and did a spectacular job getting her back up to the ridge and then down the west face (with some pretty effective human anchors). The helicoptor managed to pick her off around 7:30AM (17 hours after the fall). The fast response of the initial SAR team getting up to us and helping to keep her warm during that time helped save her life and get her off the mountain as fast as possible. Thanks again to all the folks involved in the rescue! The best news is that she's getting out of the hospital today and going home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriznitch Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Jesus...both of you are really lucky! It isn't easy to get to the east side from the base of the nose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweatinoutliquor Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I am so glad you guys are okay. Sometimes these cascade chosspiles just choose to smite... Glad you guys dodged it this time, and I'm super glad your wife is getting out of the hospital today ! Thanks to SAR for everything! Glad this one has a happy ending! Hope this is a heads up to lots of people to keep eyes peeled for chossfall. Sounds like Jefferson was throwing crap at a party the other day as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 wow - i'm glad this story had a happy ending. did you test the bastard boulder before you slung it? i don't understand the setup on the belay either - in retrospect was there a way to improve it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MatthewS Posted July 6, 2005 Author Share Posted July 6, 2005 I was leading, she was belaying from below - there was nothing special about our setup. I did give the boulder a wiggle before I slung it and it seemed OK - it wasn't until it was slung and gave it a slightly more firm pull that it gave loose. In retrospect, the best thing we could have done was turn back and try another route after noticing the poor quality of the rock on the east face. But, assuming we were determined to climb where we did - the second thing we should have done is found a better spot for her to belay from. She was off to the side from where we expected any rockfall but, obviously, not far enough. Finally, given the big exposure on the east face, we definitely should have set up a bomber anchor for the belayer. Something that would have kept her from falling after getting hit. The only anchor we had on belay was a sling around a horn which was far from bomber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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