Pete Absolon- sad news of a trundle

[Billy]

Pete Absolon was recently killed by a trundled block in the Winds. He was a fantastic guy, and he will be missed.

 

http://www.americanalpineclub.org/pages/news.php#216

[Fromage]

Shit, I knew Pete from my happy years teaching at NOLS. This is horrible. The fact that the trundled rock was dislodged by hikers above sucks too. The Winds are such an amazing place, it is a shame that the range claimed one of its greatest devotees.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Very sad. Condolences. Not that there is any reasonable way to alert hikers in a remote range like the winds, but keep this in mind for venues closer to home like index UTW.

[111]

I will have to think twice before trundling from now on... Sorry to hear it.

[Keith_Henson]

 

from this morning's TNT

 

‘I’d do anything to change it,’ hiker says of deadly rock toss

 

The Associated Press

Published: August 30th, 2007 07:01 AM

 

 

CASPER, Wyo. – Tears in his eyes, an Iraq war veteran recounted for the first time publicly the desperate remorse he felt after tossing a large rock off a cliff that killed a climber below.

 

“I’d do anything to change it,” 23-year-old Luke Rodolph told the Casper Star-Tribune in a story published Tuesday.

 

On Aug. 11, Rodolph was sitting on the rim of a canyon with three others when he picked up a 20-pound rock the size of a bowling ball and looked over the edge. He said he didn’t see anyone below.

 

“I picked up a rock and threw it off,” he said. “Looked over just a little further to watch it fall, see where it was going to hit, you know, kinda leaned out further than what I was comfortable with normally, and watched it hit Pete Absolon.”

 

There was no time for a warning, Rodolph said. He said he didn’t see Absolon, 47, until the rock hit him in the head.

 

The group called 911 on a cell phone, then rushed down to Leg Lake Basin. Steve Herlihy, a National Outdoor Leadership School instructor, had been climbing with Absolon, the school’s Rocky Mountain director, and asked Rodolph and his group what had happened.

 

“Luke looked him dead in the eye and said, ‘I threw it,’” said Luke’s brother Aaron Rodolph, who was with him. “I’ll never forget, as long as I live, that Steve looked Luke dead back in the eyes and said, ‘I forgive you for that.’”

 

“It’s unbearable for them to have to go through this. It’s my fault,” Luke Rodolph said. He stayed with Herlihy and Absolon’s body in the basin overnight while the group went back to their campsite.

 

“Steve and I just talked for a while, sat around the campfire,” Rodolph said. “I told him I’d go into town with him and talk with the sheriff and give him a statement, and whatever happens, happens.”

 

The morning after Absolon’s death, Rodolph spoke with Fremont County Attorney Ed Newell and an investigator before returning to his home in Casper.

 

Eleven days later, Newell announced that Rodolph would not be charged. He cited several factors in his decision, including the fact that Rodolph took responsibility for his actions, was extremely remorseful, didn’t intend to cause harm, had no criminal history and served in Iraq.

 

Absolon is survived by a wife and a daughter. Absolon’s widow, Molly, said in an e-mail that she didn’t have a comment on Newell’s decision not to charge Rodolph.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press.

[Bug]

My condolences to his wife and family.

 

[Bigtree]

Picking up a 20 lb rock and lobbing it over the edge of a cliff isn't "trundling". Its many other things, but it isn't trundling which conotes a rather innocent series of events, as in "my boot inadvertently loosened a rock which rolled down the cliff and whacked someone on the head".

 

I think a more apt description in this case is "involuntary manslaughter".

 

Just my two cents.

 

[XXX]

Picking up a 20 lb rock and lobbing it over the edge of a cliff isn't "trundling". Its many other things, but it isn't trundling which conotes a rather innocent series of events, as in "my boot inadvertently loosened a rock which rolled down the cliff and whacked someone on the head".

 

I think a more apt description in this case is "involuntary manslaughter".

 

Just my two cents.

 

Legal action is not always the answer. If this young man were to be charged I do not see what the value of bringing a conviction would be. He was truly sorry, and it is a complete waste of resources and time of the legal system. Otherwise its a terrible accident.

Edited August 31, 2007 by XXX

[Bug]

I do not know many people who I have climbed with who have not at some point purposely and willfully caused a large rock to fall over a cliff. Myself included.

It is less and less acceptable even in remote places as the population continues to explode. But to call it anything more than a tragic accident seems inappropriate. We all have to learn from this and adjust our practices accordingly.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[ashw_justin]

Yet not completely accidental nor unpreventable. Surely there is some constructive burden that the thrower could take on, such as trailwork, speaking to kids about his mistake, interviewing or writing an article to increase awareness, etc. What he knows now should be shared, not forgotten or locked away. Might even help him come to terms. (Although I wonder if our justice system will ever be that humane, or sensitive enough to distinguish the forgivable mistakes from the unforgivable.)

[DRep]

In montana on granite peak 2 different parties have been hit by trundles that killed several people. MT passed a law outlawing trundling and the penalty is attempted manslaughter, or manslaughter. one person is on trial right now for it. F***ing hikers.

[rob]

Well, if there is one thing we have learned from 20 thousand years of civilization, it is that punishment ALWAYS solves the problem.

[cj001f]

Well, if there is one thing we have learned from 20 thousand years of civilization, it is that punishment ALWAYS solves the problem.

 

lack of punishment never solved anything either. I can't classify a deliberate preventable act with unfortunate consequences as an accident. I don't see throwing him in jail as much of an answer... but "I'm sorry" just doesn't work. Community service?

 

such a shitty way to die and a shitty story to hear.

[Bigtree]

Legal action is not always the answer.

 

XXX, I couldn't agree more. I would however have appreciated more accurate/meaningful reporting so as to emphasize how stupid it is to do this sort of thing - it could have your head or mine the rock connected with.

[XXX]

Legal action is not always the answer.

 

XXX, I couldn't agree more. I would however have appreciated more accurate/meaningful reporting so as to emphasize how stupid it is to do this sort of thing - it could have your head or mine the rock connected with.

 

I agree the media and the outdoors community as a whole should take more responsibility, but sending this young man to jail will serve no purpose. If anything he should be sentenced to community service and trail work for his negligent acts.

[Coldfinger]

Best thoughts should be on Molly (Pete's wife). The rights or wrongs aside, she's a very special person on her own after this.

[Bug]

I like the idea of the law being in place. Even if most people never hear about it, some will. "A few" years ago, three friends of mine were climbing in Mill Creek when some local kids started dropping rocks on them. They yelled up at them to make sure they knew there were climbers below them and they intesified their efforts to kill my friends. Everyone made it down with only one knee injury in spite of large and small rocks hurtling past them on a large wall (6-8 pitches). When they got off the wall they ran down the trail with the intention of tracking down the gang of kids. But when they got down to the parking lot there was a sherrif there. So they reported the incident. As it turned out, one of the kids was related to the sherrif. And this is in a small Mormon community where they take care of their own (remember the Meadow Mnt Massacre?). If one of my friends were not the daughter of a Senator, nothing at all would have come of it. As it was, the only real punishment was that they had to go to court in Salt Lake City a few times. With this anti-trundling law on the books, the outcome might have been different. This is an extreme case of kids on a "wilding" but illustrates one good application of the law.

This guy who killed Pete Absolon apparently had no malicious intent. Growing up in Montana and trundling rocks were part of the way we played. With more and more people in the mountains these days, we all have to be more careful but we are also just one generation past the point where people are "likely" to get hurt. So I do not condone his actions but since he seems to be deeply affected by the outcome, his punishment is probably already in place.

[Keith_Henson]

While a criminal conviction and incarceration may not be appropriate, a judgment in a civil court may be in situations where the financial loss of a killed bread winner causes hardship to the remaining family by the act of an ignorant--though not malicious--person.

[Bug]

A jury of his peers. Not a bad idea.