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majid_sabet
Sep 18, 2009, 12:07 AM
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A climber who fell 15 feet from a rock formation near Boulder Falls on Thursday morning died en route to a Denver-area hospital, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said.
http://www.dailycamera.com/...nty-news/ci_13363283
(This post was edited by majid_sabet on Sep 18, 2009, 6:53 AM)
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sonso45
Sep 19, 2009, 2:39 PM
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Sad news again. My condolences to his family.
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majid_sabet
Sep 20, 2009, 2:05 AM
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Fall victim identified as Denver man
By James Collector For the Camera
Posted: 09/18/2009 11:08:20 PM MDT
A rock climber who died on the way to a hospital after falling from a rock formation near Boulder Falls on Thursday has been identified as Jeffery John Brown, 41, of Denver, according to the Boulder County Coroner's Office.
At about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Brown and a friend were traditional climbing the Empor Route on the North Face of Cobb Rock. While leading the route without a helmet, Brown fell.
"We don't know exactly how high above his last piece of protection he was when he fell, except that he was fairly close to the crux," said Deputy Chris Norcia of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office.
Norcia estimated that Brown may have fallen between 30 and 60 feet.
"There was gear still attached to the route, and nothing had failed that we could see," Norcia said.
The belayer lowered Brown, who was unconscious, to the ground and immediately ran to the nearby road for help. Most cell phones do not receive service around the Cobb Rock area, according to Jeff Sparhawk of the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group.
At the road, the belayer found a worker associated with the Colorado Department of Transportation who had pulled off onto the shoulder. The worker offered to try to aid Brown while his climbing partner stayed by the road to wait for rescuers.
Upon arrival, rescuers performed a technical rescue and airlifted Brown to a hospital. Brown died from his injuries on the way.
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sonso45
Sep 20, 2009, 4:59 PM
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Hopefully, the belayer can shed some light. Lot of things could have happened.
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gmggg
Sep 21, 2009, 2:03 AM
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majid_sabet wrote: "We don't know exactly how high above his last piece of protection he was when he fell, except that he was fairly close to the crux," said Deputy Chris Norcia of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office.
This is the most intelligent "official" statement I have heard during a climbing accident. I guess in Boulder even the police climb!
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adam14113
Sep 22, 2009, 10:19 PM
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The report says all the pro was in and mentions the belayer lowering Mr. Brown. It doesn't sound like it was a ground fall. They did mention he wasn't wearing a helmet which probably wouldn't have been brought up if the death was related to a ground fall.
Maybe the rope caught his leg and flipped him upside down into the rock?
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timstich
Sep 24, 2009, 3:59 AM
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There is a lot of ledge fall potential on Empor, on both pitches.
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robdotcalm
Oct 7, 2009, 2:51 AM
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This is from Mt Project:
«I was Jeff's SO. And this is what I know...
Jeff was near the top when he fell (and was doing the route in a single pitch). He had placed only 3 pieces of gear, but there was a piece after the dihedral. The Daily Camera was incorrect as to how far he fell. When the hospital first called me they said he fell 80 ft. When the rescue workers came and talked to me they said he probably fell 50-60 ft. And they said he may have been trying to place a nut when he fell as they found a piece on the ground that belonged to him. None of the pieces he had placed fell out.
It seems that somehow he fell upside down, because his belayer noticed when the rope got tight, Jeff's chalk ball hit the ground.
Jeff had been leading 12s all summer so his confidence was high. He had my helmet and his in his car, but chose not to wear his or have his partner wear mine. Because he was climbing with a novice climber, the belayer was not aware right away that something terrible had gone wrong. It may have been 20 minutes before he was lowered down, and 2 hours passed before he was in the helicopter from the time he fell.
I don't know if he had been wearing a helmet if he would still be with me or not, as it's obvious to me there were a series of mistakes. I do know that I will always wear my helmet from now on.
And I will always miss you Jeff!!!»
Comment: If he placed a piece after the dihedral, it implies that he was getting near the end of the second pitch, say a 100 ft off the deck. The climb is traditionally done as 3 pitches. It's rated 5.7+, which is right on.
Condolences to Jeff's family and friends. A terrible loss.
Rob.calm
(This post was edited by robdotcalm on Oct 7, 2009, 3:18 AM)
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timstich
Oct 8, 2009, 2:59 AM
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The climb is sometimes done in only two pitches, but I also usually do it in three. You have a buttress that crosses the face of Cobb Rock. For Empor, you come up behind the buttress and belay in the gully it forms. From there, it's a zig-zagging 5.7 crack to finish. If you were to fall on this crack, you could easily impact the buttress or part of the gully ledges. It would not be a clean fall if you had any rope out.
Here's a photo looking down from the top of P3 that shows the buttress and it's relation to the finish. Notice how you climb into the direction of the gully and then back out to the right.
(This post was edited by timstich on Oct 8, 2009, 3:20 AM)
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