Accidents in North American Mountaineering...1997?

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Eddie

Trad climber
Boston
Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 1, 2006 - 12:16pm PT
Does anyone have the ANAM that includes Fall 1997? I'm looking for the write up of an accident at Cannon Cliff, NH that fall.

If you have it could you, uhhh, scan it (that one accident, if it is in there) or type it or take a good picture of it and email it to me or something?

Sweet.

Eddie
Derek

climber
Jun 1, 2006 - 03:23pm PT
Are you looking for the write up of the accident on the Whitney G?

-Derek
Eddie

Trad climber
Boston
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 1, 2006 - 09:51pm PT
yes Derek--that's the one. I could certainly have been off on my dates (if so, sorry Dave). I remember the rescue was in the paper, and it was a pretty big deal--so I suspected it was in the ANAM.

I was there and helped in the rescue, and I was wondering what the analysis/write up looked like. Do you have more info Derek?

Thanks, Eddie
Majid_S

Mountain climber
Bay Area
Jun 2, 2006 - 12:42am PT
The AAC publishes the book one year after they get their report so the 1997 book has the 1996 reports, if you are looking for a report in 1997 that should be in 1998 and I have a copy of the 1998.

If you can wait till saturday I may be able to find a 1997 book.

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jun 2, 2006 - 12:47am PT
This is in the 1998 edition of Accidents in North American Mountaineering page 53

FALL ON ROCK, PROTECTION FAILED, LOOSE ROCK
New Hampshire, Canon Cliff, Whitney-Gillman


On October 29, Daniel Becker (19) and Jonathan Waldman (19) were switching leads on the very crowded Whitney-Gillman with multiple parties above and below. The party immediately ahead of Daniel and Jonathan were having a difficult time on the crux, the infamous "pipe pitch". The steep and intimidating pipe pitch goes out right over the imposing north wall before veering left again onto the southeast face. Having had retreated in the past due to crowds, Daniel saw a possible variation on the cliff that would hopefully allow them to pass the bottleneck on the pipe pitch. He was hoping to climb straight up and meet the normal route again at the end of the pitch. Starting from the belay at the end of the second pitch, Daniel climbed up a little and found a fixed piton, which he clipped as protection. Knowing the pition was of questionable security, he soon placed a camming unit in a crack which turned out to be the back of a refrigerator-sized block. He also placed a stopper in a crack that he knew was a poor placement, but trusted the camming unit just below. Climbing ten feet higher, he stopped to look for more protection when his foot-hold broke and he fell. The stopper failed and the camming unit began to arrest his fall, when the forces the cams placed on the rock became greater than the forces that held the rock on the cliff. The refrigerator-sized rock broke free, and Daniel was falling again. His belayer Jonathan described feeling the belay working. He could feel he was stopping Daniel's fall when all pull on the belay stopped. This was the point when the big rock broke free. Luckily for Daniel and the parties below, the rock fell to the left causing no harm. Daniel was tumbling and landed face first on a flat ledge breaking his jaw, nose and fracturing his skull. He continued to fall, but the pitons in a corner on the second pitch held, and he came to a stop hanging from his rope about 20 feet below and to the right of Jonathan. The total length of his fall was 60 to 70 feet.

The climbing party below, Dr. Josh Boverman and Christian Caslin initiated the rescue. Boverman used a cell phone to call 911 at 11:48 am and NH Fish & Game was notified. A separate climber identified only as "Jay" lowered Dr. Boverman to Daniel while Caslin maintained contact with Fish & Game. Boverman assessed Daniel's condition and the two where lowered to a ledge. From this ledge on the first pitch, they lowered Daniel to the ground. Dr. Boverman felt Daniel's conditions could be life threatening and that he needed immediate medical care beyond what could be done at the foot of the cliff. Daniel had been unconscious for a period of time, but had regained consciousness by now.

Eight Fish & Game officers arrived at the scene by 1:00 pm and called for a National Guard Helicopter. Many climbers on the scene were able to help lower Daniel in a litter down the talus, away from the cliff where the helicopter was able to pick him up at 3:55 pm. He was flown to Littleton and then to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical center in Lebanon.

Analysis

Both climbers were experienced, and Daniel had climbed the route before. One could criticize Daniel and Jonathan for climbing below other parties on a route famous for big loose rocks, however, that did not directly contribute to the accident. Daniel's problem was that he either misjudged the structural integrity of the crack where he placed the cam or misjudged the ability of the camming unit to subject the rock to such high forces. s protection, camming units are able to hold a fall when placed in parallel crack by pushing out against the crack more than they are pulled down by the falling climber. A climber can develop high forces in a fall, and the dynamic climbing rope will absorb most of this, but as much as 2600 lbs. can remain in the system. The remaining force is roughly doubled where the rope passes through the protection doing the catching; this is approximately 5000 lbs. at the protection! The cams need to push out more than the 5000 lbs. is pulling them down in order to remain in the rock. This is a severe example, and Daniel's fall could not have resulted in such high forces but evidently it was enough to get the large rock to break free. Good protection is more than the hardware staying in the rock, it's also the rock staying on the cliff! (Sources: Jonathan Waldman, Daniel Becker, and other climbers on the scene).

Eddie

Trad climber
Boston
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 2, 2006 - 08:45am PT
Thanks Ed, that is definitely it.
bob sevigny

Trad climber
Centerville
Aug 19, 2018 - 08:57pm PT
i was there as well. and my friend j saved the guys life!
he rapped off the thing and pulled young dan up. i was there.
coulnt believe that dan was coherarant, tough kid. his head was split wide open,his nose was gone. knuckeles were bloody to bone. teeth busted out. asked if he he knew the day and date, he did!!! my partner acc him to hosp. dont think there was ever a thank you either dan. good luck with your medical career dartmouth.....say a prayer kid. you and your bud almost killed us all.






bob sevigny

Trad climber
Centerville
Aug 19, 2018 - 09:15pm PT
ya, the Huey was there. thought it was gonna hit the rocks (blades)
one of the longest days of my life.dan went off rt. and almost killed us and others. ironically, these people saved your life dan.my partner saved your life kid.did you ever thank him? he went off into the abyss, saying he needed to rescue i was stone cold frozen after all the giant slabs you dropped on us. but dan, he and only he saved your life. your buddy was reluctant to answer the call. so you know... he was from a small town in vermont.hope your well now dr?.....just remember what really happened kid.i was on the pitch when you were rescued by my friend. i thought you were dead. you didnt look good! lucky for u there was my friend and a dr, on rt. whatever. i think you need to appologise the climbing community for your reckless behaviour that almost killed us, as we were below you and went through the whole thing. hours and hours. bob 7e
bob sevigny

Trad climber
Centerville
Aug 19, 2018 - 09:25pm PT
off rt and pulled a giant slab on top of him and us.
cmon. was right under him. say it like it was. no experience.
and thank god for your life. i know who you owe for it. me,? hope you have matured dan, you almost killed many people. that ended up hand over hand lowering you down the mt.
bob sevigny

Trad climber
Centerville
Aug 19, 2018 - 09:34pm PT
the one who rescued you was not them kid.
trust me i was on pitch with him, "j" was your Savior, these a holes are not claiming credit? the dr. was there as i said,but you really owe your life to "j" from vermont pal.he rapped into the dirty gloom and came back with your beaten sorry ass! dropped you at my feet. helped you onto the pitch. just hope you will maybe pass this on and say your prayers dan. bob 7e capecod
bob sevigny

Trad climber
Centerville
Aug 19, 2018 - 09:36pm PT
cocmic fagman,f*#k you. eat sh#t and die. go pats!
johntp

Trad climber
Little Rock and Loving It
Aug 19, 2018 - 09:39pm PT
ya, the Huey was there. thought it was gonna hit the rocks (blades)
one of the longest days of my life.dan went off rt. and almost killed us and others. ironically, these people saved your life dan.my partner saved your life kid.did you ever thank him? he went off into the abyss, saying he needed to rescue i was stone cold frozen after all the giant slabs you dropped on us. but dan, he and only he saved your life. your buddy was reluctant to answer the call. so you know... he was from a small town in vermont.hope your well now dr?.....just remember what really happened kid.i was on the pitch when you were rescued by my friend. i thought you were dead. you didnt look good! lucky for u there was my friend and a dr, on rt. whatever. i think you need to appologise the climbing community for your reckless behaviour that almost killed us, as we were below you and went through the whole thing. hours and hours. bob 7e

Not having been there this may be over presumptuous, but that's a bit harsh. If the guy was as messed up as you state he was probably in shock and had no real clue of his circumstances. Having had head trauma myself as the result of a climbing accident, the victim is not really all there. I was patched up by an ER doc and EMT who rapped a nearby route. Don't think I thanked them but will be forever grateful to them.
jstan

climber
Aug 19, 2018 - 09:40pm PT
On Cannon you don't want to assume any rock will stay put. And climbing below other parties is asking for trouble. Learned this on the first route I did on Cannon. If there is a crowd, be smart. Pack it in.
JLP

Social climber
The internet
Aug 19, 2018 - 11:20pm PT
Guy signs up for a new account here to reply to a 12 year old thread about a 21 year old accident - goes off like it happened hours ago. Nothing batsh!t whacked out crazy about that at all.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Aug 20, 2018 - 03:30am PT
Bob. relax, take the little yellow pills. sounds like the kid got messed up pretty bad and likely had a long recovery. probably had no way of even knowing who rescued him. not like everyone was on line and connected in 97. sounds like bob was takeing big chances by getting in line on that cluster fck that day as well...
climbski2

Mountain climber
The Ocean
Aug 20, 2018 - 03:34am PT
Schizoid episode. Take your meds.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Aug 20, 2018 - 08:49am PT
Most of us are lucky to never have experienced such an accident.

I've been in a few recently, and also had some close calls (but not as severe as the one reported) and they are tough to work through, especially when the injuries to the victims are severe.

First responders these days often are offered therapy to mitigate post traumatic stress after particularly difficult rescues/recoveries.

It is not a bad thing to be reminded that we are responsible for our actions not only through the direct personal consequences, but also those who might suffer consequences, partners, other climbers on the route, rescue personnel.

Cannon Mt. is an attractive climbing destination for major populations centers on the East Coast and many show up. I never did Whitney-Gillman, following Stannard's dictum, but I did Black Dike one winter, and it was a sh#t-show with many parties making their way up the ice. It was a scary thing to have so many with such a wide range of capability and experience.

The risks undertaken were a group risk, even though we did not imagine undertaking those risks when we showed up to climb. Bad judgment on our part to go up there in those conditions.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Aug 20, 2018 - 01:45pm PT
unfourtunatly the only way to have a decent experience on the dike these days is to go in really crappy weather or when the route is not in.....
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Aug 20, 2018 - 08:10pm PT
I did it in the 1990s, I can't imagine what it must be like now.
ionlyski

Trad climber
Polebridge, Montana
Aug 20, 2018 - 08:14pm PT
Is it possible some of the posts are missing from this thread? Perhaps from this "dan"? Sounds like Schitzo is dialoging with someone who is no longer there. Weird
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