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Accident up at Source Lake/Alpental


olyclimber

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I'm the son of the girlfriend who was with him. They were on a boulder field above Source Lake, nearly back to the real trail. She didn't see the beginning of his fall but some boulders must have shifted under him in just the wrong way at the wrong time. As far as I can tell it was pretty much an unlucky accident, be careful with loose rock wherever you find it.

 

Shout out to SMR and the great team they have.

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I can relate to that over 60 thing. You get more tired at days end, and it's easier to pitch on the downwards hike out if that's really what it was in this case (the media rarely gets these stories right). I've taken to using a ski pole or 2 after Ivan and Ben turned me on to their benefits. I wouldn't have ripped out about 8 (but who counts LOL) of my shoulder tendons if I'd had one. Wishing a full recovery on whomever it was that tumbled.

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Ah now that makes more sense. I mean you can see the trail in the snow in the video...that would be a crazy fall from the cliffs of the Tooth....not even possible.

 

Best wishes, I hope he is ok. Terribly unlucky, some times you just trip in the wrong place and it can be very bad. Hoping for the best outcome.

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Probably not a bad idea to wear your helmet when traveling across boulder fields off trail, though I had never really considered that before this accident. I've certainly taken a tumble in this type of terrain before, but luckily haven't been seriously hurt. I can see how it would happen though.

 

Hoping for a speedy recovery!

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Probably not a bad idea to wear your helmet when traveling across boulder fields off trail...

 

I don't wear a helmet hiking. Still trying to get it on my noggin while climbing:-) But here's another suggestion that I pitched to my kid just last weekend hiking steep uphill/downhill cross country to the base of our climb -no trail. We tend to double tie knots in our shoelaces so that they do not become untied and become an inconvenience to re-tie.

The double knot is a regular shoe tie, then you take the floppy ears and tie another knot. They will not easily become untied. Loos something like only more streamlined:

90f9bd71bb1a2040.jpg

If you do the double knot and happen to snag a stick walking down hill, it's easy to trip. I told the pup that while walking downhill do not ever do the double knot. If you snag a stick (which is very common) your shoelace will pull through and become untied while you maintain your balance: an inconvenience sure - as you now need to re-tie the shoe, but not a major health issue a full on trip/roll down the hill it could be if your shoelace didn't untie.

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looking back at my own personal "Accidents in Gene's north america Mountaineering", over half of times when someone in my group has been injured, it has been coming down talus slopes. Two of them was the descent down from the rambles. Luckily none of them involved a head injury but that was due to dumb luck.

 

wearing a helmet on descents would be a pretty good idea. But then I would be confused with the Mountaineers groups, right? Maybe they are on to something or maybe I am just getting old.

 

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One more update: one of the guys who helped them out had the presence of mind to take some pictures. He fell from further upslope behind the photographer, then tumbled down to where you see the people in the photo.

 

Here is the lat/lon: 47.45, -121.45

 

imagejpeg_3.jpg

Edited by thedylan
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I'll chime in with the "non-technical descent is often the scariest part" crew. I'd probably be up there myself today if I hadn't dislocated a shoulder in a tumble descending from Green Giant Buttress 2 weeks ago. Instead I'm watching youtube videos and typing this with one hand.

 

More well-wishes to the injured climber and another shout out to SMR. You guys rock. I want to be you when I grow up.

 

-Tom

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