Legendary North Texas rock climber dies in fall
November 30, 2006
I just received the following information from Friends of Forester:
The rock climbing community lost a legendary climber and environmental advocate on November 24 when Jimmy Ray Forester fell while climbing in El Potrero Chico in northern Mexico. Forester, an experienced, talented and well-known climber, failed to return to camp after a climb on El Potrero Chico’s “The scariest ride in the park”, a 55-pitch 5.9 ridge route. When he didn’t return after the early-morning climb, an attempt was made to view his progress with binoculars, and when unsuccessful, a search was initiated. He was found the next day at the base of the wall.
“Jimmy was an intelligent and super strong climber,” said Ryan Ray, a Forester climbing partner. “He never put himself, or anyone else, in danger. This climb was well within his capabilities, so we can only speculate what might have happened. It could have been rockfall or a handhold that gave way.”
Forester became an iconic figure throughout Oklahoma and Texas during his 17 years in the sport. He established his own characteristically ground-up, onsight style and was endued with a deep sense of climbing history and tradition that energized other climbers. According to his friends, he was also a consummate climbing teacher and mentor.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Todd Skinner dies in accident on Leaning Tower
October 25, 2006
Much has been going around the internet about Todd Skinner’s death Monday while rapping off the Leaning Tower in Yosemite. I received an email today from a climbing partner who just moved out to California. His friend and fiance were on Leaning Tower right before Skinner. They were rapping down as he was jugging up and helped afterwards. Their report from the scene is that
His harness broke. It was old and worn out, and he had a new one on the way in the mail.
If that isn’t a sad reminder for all of us to check our gear regularly, I don’t know what is.
The SuperTopo forum has a long thread with a lot of stories memorializing Todd. Will Gadd (Gravsports) and Dougald MacDonald (The Mountain World) relate their thoughts about Todd and there is some more media coverage at MSNBC, MountEverest.net and The Mercury News.
UPDATE: More from my friend on the accident and the harness failure:
what he heard from one of their SAR friends was that the belay loop gave out
Again, remember to check your gear…
Popularity: 19% [?]
Indoor climbing considered safer than soccer
October 8, 2006
A recent study found that indoor rock climbing has a low risk of injury and is 10 times safer than soccer. The study was published by the quarterly medical journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine (PDF) by the Wilderness Medical Society.
From the scotsman.com,
The study by German researchers was based on the rates and types of injury at the 2005 World Championships in rock climbing in Munich, Germany, which involved almost 500 climbers from 55 countries.
The championships had an injury rate of 3.1 per 1,000 hours compared to adult male national soccer competitions where players face an injury rate of 30.3 per 1,000 hours.
Over the course of the competition’s events that totaled 520 climbing days, only three of 18 medical problems were treated as significant injuries, including a broken ankle, back sprain and knee sprain, while the majority of the problems were just bruises.
An interesting study for the average person who thinks climbing is more risky than other sports, but what I would be more interested in reading is a study that compares the injury rate within the various climbing disciplines. Personally, I find I get more injuries when climbing indoors (especially bouldering) compared to climbing outside. With bouldering, I think the reason is obvious. If you’re bouldering outside, all the problems are spread out across more time, usually the whole day. When bouldering indoors, a climber typically compress the same amount of problems (or more) into a 2 hour session. This simply stresses the body much more.
joost.climbing.nl also has some additional reporting on this study.
Popularity: 14% [?]
Aron Ralston update
July 4, 2006
From scrambling accident to beer commercials, the LA Times has an article updating Aron Ralston.
Three years ago, Ralston was just another outdoor adrenaline junkie, attempting to be the first person to solo climb all 59 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot-plus peaks in winter. During a break from his quest, he ventured into a Utah canyon where an 800-pound boulder rolled onto his right hand, pinning him for six days until he freed himself by severing his arm with a pocketknife. Within a year, he returned to the Colorado Rockies to finish his climbing quest.
Ralston’s outrageous act of nerve has since made him a bestselling author, a beer pitchman, an eco celebrity and a motivational speaker in high demand by corporate America. At 30 years of age, he is one of the nation’s best-known mountaineers. But in the mountain-climbing community, he is the foolhardy adventurer who nearly died after committing the cardinal sin of hiking into the outdoors without leaving word on his whereabouts.
UPDATE: Although this was a rather short post on my part, the comments have taken off and provide a great conversation on this story. Keep reading below for an interesting commentary on Aron Ralston’s story.
Popularity: 32% [?]
2 dead after climbing Mt. Pumori in Nepal
March 31, 2005
A Nepali guide and a Panamanian climber died after returning from Mount Pumori in Nepal.
Both of them successfully climbed Mt. Pumori on March 25, but while returning, they climbed 100 meters down and unfortunately slipped and fell down in mountain trench of 500 meter depth which led them to the death.
These two climbers were on the 11 member International Pumori Expedition 2005 team.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Avalanche Kills Climber at Quandary Peak
March 28, 2005
MountainZone.com reports that two climbers were hit by an avalanche at Quandary Peak in Colorado’s Tenmile Range. One of the climbers emerged with only minor injuries while the other died.
Popularity: 3% [?]
High-altitude cerebral edema
February 26, 2005
Men’s Health has a piece on high-altitude cerebral edema. While the article is a novice’s account of climbing the Mexican volcano Pico de Orizaba, it provides great insight into how even the most physically trained people can fall victim.
High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) can occur unpredictably at altitudes above 14,000 feet. Fluid fills the cavity between the brain and skull. The resulting pressure on gray matter induces headache, nausea, dizziness, emotionalism, seizures, disorientation, and, if left untreated (at higher altitudes, mostly), death. We all knew this. The best treatment is to head down the mountain. Immediately.
More information on climbing Mexican volcanoes can be found here and here.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Climber missing on Mount Huntington
February 18, 2005
KTUU in Anchorage, Alaska reports that a climber is missing on 12,240-foot Mount Huntington. Apparently the 26-year-old Johnny Soderstrom, a mountaineering instructor, disappeared on the approach. His climbing partner, Joe Reichert, lost him as he skied behind Soderstrom. Mount Huntington, though shorter than Denali, is considered more difficult.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Climbers killed in Greece avalanche
February 15, 2005
BBC News reports that four Greek climbers have been killed in an avalanche in the southern Peloponnese mountains in Greece. A group of 28 climbers were caught in the avalanche on Mount Menalos. The other climbers survived with minor injuries.
Additional resources:
Briton killed in Greek avalanche (Reuters)
Five dead, six injured by avalanche in Greece (Yahoo)
Popularity: 6% [?]
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