Crevasse rescue on Coleman Glacier

[LeeLau]

From http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87088

 

emailed first person account

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Name Omitted

Subject: Crevasse fall Mt. Baker

 

Hey there,

 

Had an "exciting" time yesterday...

 

I fell into a crevasse on Mt. Baker yesterday about 4:30am. I was

leading our group and as I tried to jump over the crevasse, my feet

punched through the platform I was standing on and I fell about 45 feet

down upside down into the crevasse, hitting my head on the wall of the

crevasse on the way down. My chest harness brought me upright and I

thankfully was caught by my all women rope team. The next person on the

rope got dragged about 15 ft.

from the edge of the crevasse. Luckily the team that just jumped the

crevasse in front of me was a training group for Bellingham Mountain

Rescue.

They helped pull me up with a rope on each side of the crevasse, which

was helpful because the fall had deeply entrenched the climbing rope

into the snow. It took about 45 minutes to get me out. I was very calm

the entire time and even had a radio to communicate with the team up

above. Exciting, but I don't feel I need to do that again....

 

The attachment is the photo I took from down in the crevasse. You can

see the entrenched rope and the two rectangles to the left where my feet

punched through. I don't think the photo does justice to how far down I

was or to the overhanging snow at the lip, however. I tried to take a

photo looking down, but my camera wouldn't focus on "infinity and

beyond" I guess.....

[MountaingirlBC]

my climbing partners are coming over today to practice crevasse rescue (as best we can on a rainy day in my living room). Wasn't too enthusiastic about it but after reading that I'm certainly more motivated!

[blueserac]

my climbing partners are coming over today to practice crevasse rescue (as best we can on a rainy day in my living room). Wasn't too enthusiastic about it but after reading that I'm certainly more motivated!

MountaingirlBC, if you are in Van there are some spots in the North Shore that should still have some pockets of snow and drops to practice. It is possible to get a reasonable simulation off the top of the first pk on Seymour.