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gregory_huey
May 14, 2012, 12:37 AM
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Registered: Mar 3, 2006
Posts: 149
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Rockfall at The Trough/Tahquitz Sat May 12 2012 (uncertain of time - perhaps around 2pm) Lukasz and I were climbing The Vampire at Tahquitz Saturday May 12 2012 when rockfall on The Trough seriously injured two climbers. I heard it start, and looked to my right to watch in horror as many pieces - some perhaps one to several cubic feet - rained down while several parties tried frantically to take cover. A number of people were hit. In the aftermath people called out to ask if everyone was ok. This was answered by several people yelling no, someone was bleeding profusely from a head injury - please get help. We were on pitch three of The Vampire - though we had a good view of what was happening, there was nothing we could do in the short term. Climbers went up The Trough to help get the injured down. Other people were telling them to apply direct pressure to stop the bleeding immediately. Another person yelled down to say their partner's breathing was labored and 'gurgling'. We heard sirens in the town, and later a chopper made about five visits, both inserting and extracting people. We had planned to rap down The Trough to descend, but decided now instead to walk off the friction descent. When we finally got back to vicinity of the accident, all of the injured had been evacuated. We heard from one of the first- responders still present that one person had a serious head injury, and another had a serious chest injury. Both were in and out of consciousness during the rescue - but both had strong vitals getting on the chopper he said, so most likely they would pull through. Lukasz and I climbed up near The Trough to approach the start of The Vampire. Had the rockfall happened earlier, it could have hit us. Lukasz actually saw the block start to fall. Though he saw people in the vicinity, he said that he could not tell if anyone had caused it to fall, or if it had simply fallen on its own. The gear and ropes that were left on The Trough in the wake of the rescues was recovered by someone, though I did not get their name. If anyone has more info - particularly concerning the fates of the injured - please post it here. I'm really hoping to hear they are ok. At the risk of stating the obvious, its worth making several points: 1) There is likely going to be loose rock on The Trough now. Lukasz pointed out to me that such a significant rockfall will not only leave loose debris on a route, but loosen other rocks that were previously stable. Parties should consider this in the near future before either climbing or rapping on The Trough (even if no one else is on the route, a party rapping can dislodge rocks upon themselves when pulling their rope). 2) The first-responder also told me in this season (cold - thawing - hot temperatures) large rockfall like that is not uncommon. 3) The young lady that received the head injury was wearing a helmet. I think if she had not been she likely would have been killed. A helmet is always a good idea when climbing outdoors. 4) This happened with no warning. One moment it was a perfect sunny day for lots of happy climbers - seconds later there was tragedy and climbers were yelling for help. There is no way those climbers going into this - preparing for their climb on The Trough - could have expected this as a reasonably likely outcome. Thus its wise for anyone climbing multipitch to be prepared for something like this. Learn about self rescue, and what to do if your partner is injured or knocked unconscious. Think about - and find out about - what one should do to rescue one's self or others in such a situation. If you don't know what to do, you are not fully prepared for your climb. 5) Wilderness First Aid courses - like the one offered by NOLS WMI - do help prepare for a scenario like this, and require only about 16-20hrs. 6) When on a route, be _very_ careful around loose blocks/flakes. Accidentally dislodging one could end the lives of people below.
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Sin
May 14, 2012, 3:05 AM
Post #2 of 4
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Registered: Apr 17, 2007
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Wow that's crazy, thoughts and prayers to the affected, I really hope they pull through. I was gonna head out there this saturday to either do the trough or white maiden with a new follower, but decided to go thursday instead. Talk about rolling the dice......:/
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wonderwoman
May 14, 2012, 12:39 PM
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Registered: Dec 14, 2002
Posts: 4275
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How awful! Hope both climbers pull through.
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