Accident Prevention

Of all the “don’ts” of climbing, grabbing a quickdraw while you are falling is one of the bigger no-nos, and can result in serious injury, including “de-gloving” a finger.

Wagner crouched to dyno, but his feet slipped off the smears, and he fell.

Narrowly avoiding a death fall at an instructional clinic.

Many climbers use and love the European Death Knot (EDK), believing that it is the best knot for tying two ropes together. The knot can, however, flip and roll down the rope, coming completely untied.

On Saturday, March 12, Mark Davis died in a rappelling accident at Indian Creek, Utah. Davis was an experienced climber, over 25 years, with successful ascents in Patagonia and of El Capitan in Yosemite, among other places. He was 50 years old.

On Wednesday, March 9, Eric Michael Klimt died in a fall from Moonlight Buttress (5.12d), a classic 11-pitch crack climb in Zion National Park, Utah. He was an accomplished climber and teacher.

On February 21, an ice climber fell 100 feet on Professor Falls (WI 4 920 feet) on the north side of Mount Rundle, Alberta, Canada. He sustained severe injuries and was airlifted to an ambulance and then taken to the hospital in critical condition.

On January 23, an ice climber fell off the second pitch of Screw and Climaxe (NEI 3+), a 350-foot ice climb on the north side of Pitchoff Mountain in the Adirondacks, New York.

Susan Sarossy died in a fall in Diablo Canyon, near Santa Fe, New Mexico on January 18. She was a prominent and respected member of the local climbing community.

Just after 3 p.m. on September 1, Eric Hengesbaugh, 27, was climbing broken terrain on the fourth pitch of the East Face (II 5.7) of the Surgicle, a tooth-like feature on Temple Crag in the Palisades of California...

A 330-pound rock knocks a belayer unconscious. Nevertheless, she holds fast to her belay.

Lightning, rockfall and a narrow escape on the Cassin route, Cima Piccolissima, Italy.