Falling on Ice/accidents can happen

[jmckay]

This is a fairly experienced climber who posted on a little info on a a accident he had recently. You can take or leave the advice but it is worth the read if you are just starting out in the climbing game.

 

 

 

" posted this on Lost and Found (left screw), but enough people expressed interest I repeat it here (plus I'm bored due to sitting around with my leg up-- no not my third leg. . .)

 

Dec. 3: on 2 Low 4 Zero-- I took a leader fall. Fall was a result of a left-hand tool plant shearing off a substantial block of ice (very brittle ice that day- very cold) while I was placing the other tool. The left tool proceeded to hit me in the mouth with some velocity, breaking a front incisor in half and causing a puncture wound on my lower lip. More importantly, the force of this hit caused me to lose my feet (which were pretty good) and a free fall of 12-15 ft. Crampon on my right foot caught, severely spraining my ankle (thankfully, nothing broken). I fell on a section which was largely vertical to overhanging below me, so I did not hit the ice with much force (i.e. no additional injuries).

 

I was leading on 2 ropes above a 3 screw belay which I had set up maybe 40m off the ground. The force of the fall pulled my wife off her feet and against the anchors (I weigh well over 200 lbs fully laden). I was suspended head down, pulled myself up, and placed a screw to clip off. I managed to climb up a few feet to retrieve an intermediate screw, then with some difficulty (due to thin ice) set up an Abalakov with a "leaver" screw backup. Due to the sprained ankle I did not feel confident climbing back up to retrieve the screw that I fell upon, so I pulled the rope through, set up a double rope rap through the Abalakov, and rapped down. My wife rapped the same rig.

 

I did not feel the need for an evacuation-- I was not critically injured, and although it is a substantial walk in to this climb, it is largely easy trail. Additionally, we each had a ski pole, so with my wife carrying a heavier pack (bless her heart) and me using both poles, I was able to manage, albeit slowly. My feet were already somewhat cold due to the low temps, and I tightened the boot ankle on the injured foot, so it wasn't too painful. Had the body checked out and the ankle X-rayed at the Canmore hospital (excellent service- only took about 2 hours door to door!) and heard the good news that nothing was broken.

 

Lessons? Well, 1) Don't climb when it is close to minus 20. The ice can become particularly brittle. Additionally, this was a cold snap after a period of very warm temps, which probably contributed to chossy ice. Although I was on a climb that was well within my leading abilities and I wasn't having any particular difficulty, it was a bit difficult to find good plants and I was knocking off some big chunks. Under such conditions additional care is obviously warranted. Plus, it just isn't very pleasant. . .2) Although we had plenty of good clothing, if I had been more seriously injured and a rescue necessary, the clothing we had may have been insufficient to hold off hypothermia. We should have been carrying an additional insulating layer. 3) Ski poles are gold in the event of an injury. Walking out on my own accord would have been very difficult without. Remember "Touching the Void". . .4) This was my first (and hopefully last) leader fall on water ice (this is my 8th season water ice climbing). Although I have done quite a bit of soloing on easy (up to WI4) water ice, this experience has cured me of that. I would have surely died without a rope. I was quite impressed with the holding power of the screw and belay chain, even in less-than perfect ice. It also demonstrated the power of a good belayer and keeping cool heads.

Outcome-- not being able to climb for several weeks due to bad ankle, and a broken tooth that could be fixed without a root canal. Very lucky, but a wake-up call."

Edited December 25, 2005 by jmckay

[Arc]

Considering your post, right on, and I believe your comments were from the heart and without refrain from the truth, but from a friday nights standpoint I must mention that- I just just saved tons of money switching over to Geico on my car insurance.

 

 

 

[Toast]

Wow! You got lucky. I was up in Canmore two years ago when it was minus 20F. We couldn't stay our very long cuz it was so cold. The ice was similarly brittle. Even with more clothes, if you were immobile, I think you'd still end up a popsicle. Thanks for sharing.

[jmckay]

I wish I was as honest as RC. LEE . He posted on "live the vision" which is a pretty good site for those who are thinking of heading up to Canada.

JJ McKay

[whidbey]

Thanx for the report....will make me think i hope.. it has already..shit... it's working

 

Edited December 13, 2005 by whidbey

[sweatinoutliquor]

Did your helmet have a face shield? Would that have saved your tooth? Thanks for the writeup and here's to a speedy recovery for ya!

[catbirdseat]

Come on people. It seems clear enough to me that he's reposting someone else's report.

[jmckay]

Let me guess this was a cringer. Your right that was a little over the top even for me. I guess the combination of a couple bad days, 2 gin and tonics and a latent case of fetal alcohol syndrome (which seems to be getting worse as I get older) has me over reacting. All of which does not give me the right to be calling people names even if they should be nominated for a Darwin Award. So for that I apologize. Which if you know me does not happen very often. I will have to talk to my fact checker as I was under the impression that the climber was on ice not a sport route and decking continuously. (which still does not allow me to be overly rude)

Out of the several times that I have been a first responder to climbing accidents all but a couple have been preventable. There are other times say the Nagy incident where a rock sits in one spot for lets say 2 million years then a butterfly on the Tibetan plains flaps its wings sending molecules and atoms crashing together with just enough force to push a boulder off of its perch while someone is walking below it. The odds make the lottery look good.

I have myself been the victim of poor judgment. The time I broke my ankle on Mardi Gra my ego getting in the way of common sense. I had a belayer who had never belayed before which I was aware of. And an audience of new climbers as there was a Yam Scam class going on. So rather then take my buddy up a few easy classics, as was the original plan I decided to show everybody how bad I was. Well I managed to do that but not in the way I intended. Decking on the little bulge and busting up my ankle somewhat.

The time I broke my ribs falls somewhere in between the act of God (not that I believe in any supreme being because if there is one he/she is one cruel motherfucker). It was the top of the 4th rambled pitch on professors. Tom Hamilton from Vancouver had come out to climb ice for a week. He asked me to take a picture on rappel. I rapped first then took out the camera. The fresh snow made it impossible to distinguished between rock slab and ice. Armed with a camera and my eye in the viewfinder I backed up to frame the shot. Stepped on a steep angled rock slab went down hard onto my rack. You could literally hear the ribs crack. I cursed the pain away, which was a common therapy in those days and rolled onto my back (big mistake). I then proceeded to slide towards the lip of the fourth pitch backstroking like the bastard that I am. I can only think it was dumb luck or some reptilian survival instinct but I rolled over my rack and freshly broken ribs onto my stomach. My newly sharpened foot fang front points grabbing the lip of the fourth pitch a cm (Sorry Dave, less than a inch) from the edge. Dumb thing to do / Yeh, but I didn’t know any better at the time. Think it was my second season of ice climbing / mountaineering. I can understand an honest mistake but I certainly didn’t get up and do it two more times. In fact I can safely credit that incident with saving my life more times then all of you have had hot breakfasts (combined).

Then we get into a whole different league of professional athletes and so called explorers. I’m going to fly my helicopter around the world of course when I crash land in the arctic wasteland I do expect some Otter pilot to come and haul me out of there.

I’m going to self propel my ass across the arctic. That sort of thing was possible when the boats here made of wood and the men were made of steel but that era is long over. Of course when the flow is moving the wrong direction I will just pull my locater beacon somebody will come and get me and they always do. Wonder what would happen if nobody came to your party? What if your claim to fame was to be 37th person to die trying to cross the North Pole, period.

What about dude who was stuck in a snow cave at 6000 or so meters on some heinous ridge last spring in Pakistan? What was he doing with a sat phone checking his email?

It’s a good thing that the western world puts so much value on its citizens and it is no longer “you pay’s your money, you take your chances”. The Canadian government will always come looking for you so the least that you can do before heading down that big unstable slope is wear a beacon so that they don’t have to spend days looking for your ass. Going soloing? Leave a route plan or carry something that will communicate with the outside world. Unless your dodging the mafia, old lady and tax man all at the same time then I guess you can’t really drop a card saying your having fun on your ranch in the Bahamas. Remember that as singular as your activity may seem you are effecting a whole lot of people and resources. Some positively perhaps but my guess is that your mother will miss you. I would carry this thought process to its conclusion but have things to do.

Wacky Jackie turns ten today so I am going to pull her out of school and go skiing or ice climbing not sure which yet. Ten was the age that I was ripped away from my coyote family to come live with you so called civilized folks. If only we could turn back the hands of time I would have hidden better and we would all have been better off.

[jmckay]

Guinness Gully Field BC

December 20th 2005

Temp: –11

Wind: light/west

Sky: over cast 800’ ceiling

 

10:30 am

Arrived in field parking for Guinness. One car parked and older white Subaru. Hike up to Guinness suspecting that people will be there from the tracks. It is just a day to get some exercise and I don’ feel in any shape mentally or physically to climb anything harder. Sure enough there is a party of four that work together on the first pitch. As the last two get set to leave I scampered up to the base of the route.

11:30 am: The ice was cold from the sub 20C temps the previous week. Not much for snow in the area. Steep wind effected gully features would be suspect? My climbing partner for this day was a park warden. Just before setting off I was trying to figure out how to get by without the second pack. We could do it if we left the radio behind I was thinking. I also knew that there wasn’t a snow flakes chance in hell of her leaving that brick behind. What ever happened to just being out there? I gave her half hearted “why don’t you leave the fuck’in thing here look” but pulled my punch cause that wasn’t going to happen and I would just make trouble for myself. Take away the safety net and fly solo. Anyhow we ended with the pack, brick, first aid kit, something else but I am not sure what.

 

The route has been climbed tons and if you’re making pick placements your climbing it wrong. You can get screws when you need them without too much problem. The ice brittle but solid with natural foot placements kicked in at every stance.

12:15pm:

Things move along and I catch up to the group ahead. The have broken into two teams the girls on one rope wearing near matching jackets. The guys on the other rope. 60 meters takes me just to the base of the second pitch. I placed a screw in solid ice threw on a plakette and proceeded to bring up my coffee loving, doughnut laden partner. You can see this not recommended technique demonstrated in the first picture. I didn’t want to chain myself to one spot so I walked down a little further in case the parties above knocked down ice. They did but barely enough to fill a scotch glass. I also didn’t want to give the impression that I was in any hurry to get anywhere. I had already started a beer and burger chant. I knew that if we got stalled out and I continued the chant I could get out of this deep freeze.

The warden that I was with joined me quick enough and we proceed to wait or queue. Making small talk I found out that they were old friend getting together for a little climbing before Christmas. 2 from out of province a Canmoron and Edmontonian. The group showed a pretty solid skill level placing the belayers out of the way. Sinking screws without too much problem. In fact it was perfect text book the only thing that didn’t belong in the picture was I.

 

 

I was the wild card. Here I am this force who like anything has the ability to change events simply by existing. Do people feel pressured when this big ugly fat ape of a man comes steamrolling up your ass? Is there a subconscious force that makes you do things different then you might have done otherwise? Is the key to space travel the mastering of time travel? What is the US going to do about Bolivia and the legal Coca trade? What do the Tim Horton’s security people do with all their warden footage? These are just a few of the things going through my head.

Lisa I can see is reliving the events that had happened pretty much in the exact same spot 2 weeks earlier. She had been attending a wild beast feast in Lake Louise when a call came out that there was an injured climber on Guinness Gully in Field. To late to fly and to make a long story short she worked the night with her warden buddies and they managed to get the climber out lowering him in a sled. Part of the reason for coming was to have a look at the climb after the accident but 99% of it is that it is easy enough for me to climb comfortably.

 

Approx 12:45 pm

A body comes flying off the top of pitch 2. It is the girl on the twin ropes. She falls roughly 20 meters before the ropes come tight on her last piece of pro-located right at the top of the second pitch. (Above that point the pitch kicks back on to grade 2 ices but bullet proof as hell from the cold temps.) Mid height on the waterfall her leg touches the waterfall I am guessing this is when her leg broke. The brunt of her impact was on the right scapula area. Severe bruising and perhaps a slightly fractured hand. Her head impacted with the ice and she lost consciousness. Her partner held the belay which prevented her from sliding farther. Had she been soloing with no ropes her momentum would have carried her over the first pitch.

12:45:03: I ended up being first responder. I first supported her torso and head. Her breathing was irregular and she was snoring. Speckled white foam was coming from her closed lips. . Her eyes were closed and she had a severe laceration above the right eye. (Later identified as coming from the tool) Spinal was definitely a consideration and the primary reason for keeping her where she was. Which was a 30-degree compact snow slope 10 cm thick (sorry Dave, about as thick as your fist in a ski glove) on water ice.

12:46:30 Lisa has ordered a helicopter sling rescue

 

12:46:35 Lisa the warden does this sort of thing a lot so I figure I will just let her call the shots. After all she is trained for this. (I am trained at nothing so when it comes to doing nothing don’t be giving me no advice.) We gather a couple down jackets. Her belayer tyes her off and comes down to support the head. By this time she has regained consciousness is not aware of what happened, where she is, or events leading up to fall. She is starting to shiver.

1:00 pm the lead climber on the second rope has walked on the west side of the pitch, around and joined us. He had made it to a safe spot before the accident happened so could untie safely at that point. Shortly after this the ambulance arrives in the valley next to the barn. This is the staging area for the forth-coming heli-sling rescue.

 

1:35 PM Mark Ledwidge NP public safety slings in with splint and some gear. The patient has become more oriented and let s out a stream of profanities that would make a sailor blush. She can feel her legs and tells us we can rule out spinal. Not being the best source of information we decide to ignore her advice. At this point we had slipped packs under her to insulate her from the ice. She was still suspended from ice anchor although transferred to a new one. Safety lines had been set to hook up equipment and tether visiting rescuers if required.

 

1:40 Brad White NP public safety slings in with additional equipment.

 

 

1:40 – 2:00 patient splinted and packaged and airlifted to ambulance.

 

 

 

 

 

2:20 Mark Ledwidge flies out with one of the climbers and the extra gear but not before dissin my climbing Helmut.

 

2:30 there are just the two guys my climbing partner and myself in the gully. A tougher man might have carried on and finished the climb. I however had all the excuses I needed to retreat back to my couch. With that we stripped the gear that was left and headed home. We stopped in at the Mineral Springs hoping that they were yuppie billionaires and were going to leave us a small fortune. Turns out they were people just like me but younger, better looking probably smarter. So we settled for their gratitude and hope it wasn’t us that caused the whole thing in the first place.

Edited December 21, 2005 by jmckay

[jmckay]

posted a bit more detail on a recent accident. Climbing can be dangerous. I personally have made so many mistakes over the years that I am lucky to be alive. The worst of them were made in the first year or two when I was young and dumb and full of ***. I know of a half dozen fused ankles on some really hot climbers. I have a few dead friends. Getting proper instruction before getting to crazy is important I think. Be progressive about your adventures. Personally I seldom test my metal anymore but still enjoy the experience tha climbing can bring. Photos and such are on the frontpage of mountainguide.com

 

Larger pics and detailed report of Guiness accident Dec 20/05

[jmckay]

 

This was posted by a very dedicated skier whom I guided a few years ago. He is a smart and catious man who somehow found himself in an unlikely situation. We learn from others so if your starting out take ten and give it a read.

 

 

 

Good read

Edited January 16, 2006 by jmckay

[catbirdseat]

This was posted by a very dedicated skier whom I guided a few years ago. He is a smart and catious man who somehow found himself in an unlikely situation. We learn from others so if your starting out take ten and give it a read.

 

 

 

Good read

One can tell just by looking at the snow above the break that there was a lot of wind deposition prior to the avalanche. It appears the slope was on the lee side of a ridge.