Bad accident at the crest
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Cara_Biner
- Casual Observer
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- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 7:54 am
- Location: Langley
Bad accident at the crest
A very bad accident on the crest, not exactly sure of the things that went wrong, but a woman fell from a ledge while on a multi pitch at the crest. We stayed with her and others while waiting for the ambulance. She was not in good shape. If there is news of her wellbeing please leave me a message... It was a terrible end to a wonderful day, and our best wishes are with her. Just hoping she is going to be okay.
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Cara_Biner
- Casual Observer
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- Location: Langley
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tattooed_climber
- Full Member
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- Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:30 pm
- Location: Port Coquitlam, BC CANADA
confused how this could have happened....-
Cara_Biner
- Casual Observer
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- Location: Langley
Like I said it didn't make sense to me either. One of her partners said, she was rapping down from the second pitch, and her rope wasn't long enough, the rest to me is unclear. He said she held onto a jug instead of inching up to anchor, then pulled her rope. I'm not sure if that is what happened, it is hearsay. Regardless she pulled her rope coming down from the second pitch, tumbled down, and hit the ground hard, her lower back landing against a tree. She didn't seem to have broken her back, she was moving ever so slightly, and obviously in immence pain. Luckily she was wearing a helmet, but still had blood coming from a head wound. She was not concious while being loaded into the ambulance. I just hope she is going to be okay.
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tattooed_climber
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- Location: Port Coquitlam, BC CANADA
geeee.....bad juju before my road trip....ya i hope she's ok.....
sounds like she may have rapped pass her anchor, OR, which makes more sense....was rapping (and the rope wasn't centred through the anchors/chains) and when one strand came to an end on one side of the belay device....well, i think you guys know what happened from there, she fell with one strand locked in her belay device "Pulling" the other strand through the anchors, all the way to the deck...
sounds like she may have rapped pass her anchor, OR, which makes more sense....was rapping (and the rope wasn't centred through the anchors/chains) and when one strand came to an end on one side of the belay device....well, i think you guys know what happened from there, she fell with one strand locked in her belay device "Pulling" the other strand through the anchors, all the way to the deck...
Nothing like the sound of thumpin' a piton first thing in the morning...
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tattooed_climber
- Full Member
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- Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:30 pm
- Location: Port Coquitlam, BC CANADA
Yesterday, around 3:30 or so.
It's really unclear to me what happened. I was belaying on a route about 25 M to lookers right when I heard a noise and some shouts that at first made me think a big rock was falling. I looked over and half a second later saw that it was a person and instantly felt sick. We were very worried about spine injuries, so we tried to support her weight--she was on a steepish side slope--and keep her in place until rescuers could arrive. One of the others checked her for bleeding, and there was only the scalp wound which was not bleeding heavily, and her airway was clear so there was really nothing to do except try to support her and do what we could to make her comfortableuntil the rescuers arrived.
As cara said, her partner made it sound like she was simply unanchored on the ledge and fell. The rope came down with her, and given her position I couldn't see whether/how she was attached to the rope until the paramedics arrived and we rolled her over onto the clamshell, at which point we just quickly pulled equipment off to get it out of the way to facilitate strapping her onto the board. However, I -think- she had a reverso with both strands of the rope threaded clipped to her belay loop. I should have had the presence of mind to look more closely so I could be more definitive and determine which part of the rope was threaded (ends vs. near the middle) but I wasn't really focused on those sorts of issues. That being said, I think it's more likely she somehow misthreaded the rappell but this is really just a hunch b/c I was just too focused on the rescue and didn't really examine the rig.
I desparately hope she is OK. It was a horrific fall, and her vital signs were very very weak as she was loaded into the ambulance. They landed a copter on the seatosky just to the north, and the paramedics said she'd likely be taken to a trauma center in Vancouver.
I have mixed feelings about even posting this, but it's my hope people seeing this take extra care, especially threading rappells. I do not want to ever see anything like this again.
It's really unclear to me what happened. I was belaying on a route about 25 M to lookers right when I heard a noise and some shouts that at first made me think a big rock was falling. I looked over and half a second later saw that it was a person and instantly felt sick. We were very worried about spine injuries, so we tried to support her weight--she was on a steepish side slope--and keep her in place until rescuers could arrive. One of the others checked her for bleeding, and there was only the scalp wound which was not bleeding heavily, and her airway was clear so there was really nothing to do except try to support her and do what we could to make her comfortableuntil the rescuers arrived.
As cara said, her partner made it sound like she was simply unanchored on the ledge and fell. The rope came down with her, and given her position I couldn't see whether/how she was attached to the rope until the paramedics arrived and we rolled her over onto the clamshell, at which point we just quickly pulled equipment off to get it out of the way to facilitate strapping her onto the board. However, I -think- she had a reverso with both strands of the rope threaded clipped to her belay loop. I should have had the presence of mind to look more closely so I could be more definitive and determine which part of the rope was threaded (ends vs. near the middle) but I wasn't really focused on those sorts of issues. That being said, I think it's more likely she somehow misthreaded the rappell but this is really just a hunch b/c I was just too focused on the rescue and didn't really examine the rig.
I desparately hope she is OK. It was a horrific fall, and her vital signs were very very weak as she was loaded into the ambulance. They landed a copter on the seatosky just to the north, and the paramedics said she'd likely be taken to a trauma center in Vancouver.
I have mixed feelings about even posting this, but it's my hope people seeing this take extra care, especially threading rappells. I do not want to ever see anything like this again.
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Cara_Biner
- Casual Observer
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- Joined: Mon May 30, 2005 7:54 am
- Location: Langley
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johny_canal
- I'm New Here
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Accident details
I was climbing at Forgotten Wall so I don't have a first hand account of the accident but I arrived on scene shortly after. Here are some of the details:
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2006
Time: Approx. 1500 hrs.
Location: Chek --> The Crest --> Master of My Domain (1st Station)
Person Involved: Female, age approx. 55 - 60
Wittness Information:
- Situation: Woman was preparing to descend from the 1st station.
- Saw: No reported seeing the accident.
- Heard: There were several people near the station (on other climbs to the right) and at the base of the MomD climb who recall hearing the woman asking/saying (unclear) if she could pull the rope or that she was going to pull the rope. No one knew whether she was preparing to rappel down or lower off through the chains. That was all that was heard before she fell. No one knew how experienced she was. Wittnesses at the base of the climb recall hearing her hit portions of wall before she hit the ground. There are two fallen logs at the base of the climb, laying on top of soft moss and soil but it is unclear where she landed. A large patch of lose chalk was noted on the side of one of the logs. It is in the line that she would have fallen but it wasn't certain that it was from her or a previous climber (as the logs are popular areas for climbers to gear up).
I arrived on the scene a few minutes (unkown exact time) after the fall. The woman was laying 3-4 metres away from the base of the climb, directly on the approach path that leads up from the road. The fallen logs, noted above, lay in between her and the base of the climb. A nurse and two physicians from Vancouver (who were climbing at Forgotten Wall) arrived the same time as I did and continued the first aid already being provided by other climbers at the Crest. One of the other climbers was already on the phone with Squamish 911.
I'm a little unclear of the exact time because I didn't have a watch but the ambulance arrived at around 1520 hrs. (I learned later that the ambulance was dispatched north immediately though the drivers were not clear of the exact final destination.) During the call to 911 I overheard that the operator was asking about GPS coordinates (which were not available as no one had a GPS) and possible helicopter landing zones. The climber on the phone with the operator was able to provide directions (I'm also assuming that the 911 operator had access to local maps). One ambulance drove right up to the Crest Approach trail with EMT/Paramedics (?). I learned later that another ambulance drove up to the main parking lot, near Forgotten Wall, to assess possible helicopter landing zones. I overheard their radios mentioning the difficulty in finding a landing zone due to small area (main parking lot) and the overhead powerlines in the area.
I'll leave out the details of extrication but suffice to say that given the conditions of rough and uneven terrain, the EMT/Paramedics were moving very quickly. My guess would be that the injured woman was assessed and strapped to a backboard with O2 and IV within 10-15 minutes.
She was loaded onto the ambulance. The ambulance did not move for approx. 10 min. I can only assume that they were trying to stabalize her before moving down the rough road. During that time, I noticed the helicopter ambulance flying overhead. I'm not aware what the final means of transportation was as I remained at Chek while the ambulance drove back down to the highway. One of the EMT/Paramedics said that they were likely transporting her to the Vancouver General Hospital.
At that point I remember looking at my watch and it was just before 1600 hrs. As mentioned, I didn't have a watch and my estimation of the timing of events is very approximate at best.
That's the best I can remember, let me know if you have any questions that I might be able to answer. Also, I'm very concerned about her condition as well, or if there is anything I/we can do to help. If anyone has any additional information, please post it.
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2006
Time: Approx. 1500 hrs.
Location: Chek --> The Crest --> Master of My Domain (1st Station)
Person Involved: Female, age approx. 55 - 60
Wittness Information:
- Situation: Woman was preparing to descend from the 1st station.
- Saw: No reported seeing the accident.
- Heard: There were several people near the station (on other climbs to the right) and at the base of the MomD climb who recall hearing the woman asking/saying (unclear) if she could pull the rope or that she was going to pull the rope. No one knew whether she was preparing to rappel down or lower off through the chains. That was all that was heard before she fell. No one knew how experienced she was. Wittnesses at the base of the climb recall hearing her hit portions of wall before she hit the ground. There are two fallen logs at the base of the climb, laying on top of soft moss and soil but it is unclear where she landed. A large patch of lose chalk was noted on the side of one of the logs. It is in the line that she would have fallen but it wasn't certain that it was from her or a previous climber (as the logs are popular areas for climbers to gear up).
I arrived on the scene a few minutes (unkown exact time) after the fall. The woman was laying 3-4 metres away from the base of the climb, directly on the approach path that leads up from the road. The fallen logs, noted above, lay in between her and the base of the climb. A nurse and two physicians from Vancouver (who were climbing at Forgotten Wall) arrived the same time as I did and continued the first aid already being provided by other climbers at the Crest. One of the other climbers was already on the phone with Squamish 911.
I'm a little unclear of the exact time because I didn't have a watch but the ambulance arrived at around 1520 hrs. (I learned later that the ambulance was dispatched north immediately though the drivers were not clear of the exact final destination.) During the call to 911 I overheard that the operator was asking about GPS coordinates (which were not available as no one had a GPS) and possible helicopter landing zones. The climber on the phone with the operator was able to provide directions (I'm also assuming that the 911 operator had access to local maps). One ambulance drove right up to the Crest Approach trail with EMT/Paramedics (?). I learned later that another ambulance drove up to the main parking lot, near Forgotten Wall, to assess possible helicopter landing zones. I overheard their radios mentioning the difficulty in finding a landing zone due to small area (main parking lot) and the overhead powerlines in the area.
I'll leave out the details of extrication but suffice to say that given the conditions of rough and uneven terrain, the EMT/Paramedics were moving very quickly. My guess would be that the injured woman was assessed and strapped to a backboard with O2 and IV within 10-15 minutes.
She was loaded onto the ambulance. The ambulance did not move for approx. 10 min. I can only assume that they were trying to stabalize her before moving down the rough road. During that time, I noticed the helicopter ambulance flying overhead. I'm not aware what the final means of transportation was as I remained at Chek while the ambulance drove back down to the highway. One of the EMT/Paramedics said that they were likely transporting her to the Vancouver General Hospital.
At that point I remember looking at my watch and it was just before 1600 hrs. As mentioned, I didn't have a watch and my estimation of the timing of events is very approximate at best.
That's the best I can remember, let me know if you have any questions that I might be able to answer. Also, I'm very concerned about her condition as well, or if there is anything I/we can do to help. If anyone has any additional information, please post it.
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Climbingjunky
- Junior Member
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- Location: Scurvy, British Columbia
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Chunkymonkey
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 10:12 am
I was also climbing at the Forgotten wall when the accident happend. A couple of friends went up to see if they could help, but they could only offer assistance on keeping the injured climber stable.
At this point, nobody was climbing on the Forgotten wall. We all just stood around speculating on what could have happend. It was a strange site, as several ropes were up, and there was nobody about.
When the second ambulance came up, I went out to the road to help them. They said they were looking for a helicopter landing site. I surmised that the only one possible would be the main parking area. They said that it was too small - needed to be at least a 150 foot diameter circle.
I then walked up to the Crest to show one of the parametics where the injured climber was. I breifly spoke with one of the climbers I knew there well away from the accident site. Nobody seemed to know the exact details of how the accident happened. There was already too many people around, so I went back to the Forgotten wall.
My group left about 20 minutes after the two ambulances. On the way out we found that the highway was closed to allow the helicopter to land.
At this point, nobody was climbing on the Forgotten wall. We all just stood around speculating on what could have happend. It was a strange site, as several ropes were up, and there was nobody about.
When the second ambulance came up, I went out to the road to help them. They said they were looking for a helicopter landing site. I surmised that the only one possible would be the main parking area. They said that it was too small - needed to be at least a 150 foot diameter circle.
I then walked up to the Crest to show one of the parametics where the injured climber was. I breifly spoke with one of the climbers I knew there well away from the accident site. Nobody seemed to know the exact details of how the accident happened. There was already too many people around, so I went back to the Forgotten wall.
My group left about 20 minutes after the two ambulances. On the way out we found that the highway was closed to allow the helicopter to land.
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johny_canal
- I'm New Here
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 8:31 am
Possible Rig Setting
I forgot to mention this in my first posting. I briefly recall seeing the injured woman's harness setup. First, I want to say that it is possible that I have the details incorrect here, everything was moving very quickly at this point and I didn't make a concious decision to inspect her setup -- I merely glanced at it while we were moving her. Therefore, if someone remember better what the rig was like, please correct me.
As I recall, I remember seeing her harness in place and her ATC + locker set with a single strand of rope through it.
As I recall, I remember seeing her harness in place and her ATC + locker set with a single strand of rope through it.
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