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danep
Nov 14, 2011, 3:14 PM
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Registered: Mar 19, 2007
Posts: 26
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I was at Reimer's Ranch this weekend and witnessed the aftermath of an incident involving an unroped female hiker/climber who fell 10-20 feet. As with most incidents, solid details are hard to come by. A local news article says it was a climber, but everyone I talked to at the scene said it was just a day-hiker, possibly a youth. She fell from a 10ft-wide ledge, commonly used as a belay area, and broke a leg, but was not reported to have more serious injuries. I saw her talking and joking with rescuers after the incident. A Starflight helicopter circled the scene for approximately a half-hour before short-hauling her in a litter out of the valley and to a waiting ambulance. She fell in a heavily wooded area, so I assume that the helicopter was waiting for rescuers on the ground to move her to an evacuation area.
The take-away message for me: although the big falls and fatalities attract the most attention, the truth is that most climbing incidents don't involve great heights or even technical climbing. All of the incidents and near-misses in my experience have occurred during the approach, hike out, or during the first few moves of a climb. We should certainly remain vigilant of major screw-ups, but remember that climbing isn't necessarily the most dangerous aspect of climbing.
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bearbreeder
Nov 14, 2011, 11:22 PM
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Registered: Feb 2, 2009
Posts: 1960
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i believe there was an incident last year at yosemite where a very strong climber slipped on easy 3rd class ground on descent and fell to her death
its a sobering reminder that you can easily die on "easy" ground even after a climb is over
anyone can fall anytime, anywhere ... its a risk we all take ...
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timstich
Dec 2, 2011, 12:59 AM
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Registered: Feb 3, 2003
Posts: 6267
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We helped a teenage boy out of the area near the river who had twisted his ankle once. It's not the easiest trail down to the river.
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