Here's the link to the story.

http://www.krdotv.com/story.cfm?storyID=2146

Thanks, Nate, my dad told me about this when we finished up at Lincoln, didn't know any particulars about a reported long technical fall.

The report indicated no equipment was used to prevent the fall hazard while the climber was looking down the routes from the top.

Something like this makes me think twice about walking to the top edge to check out the climbs at Ouray without using an anchor tie-in to approach to edge.

Does anyone else feel more the hazard of lower angled, possibly even non-technical, ice terrain opposed to the more technical face climbing?

Hear about this this morning and was actually at the same area yesterday. Even exchanged messeges on rc.com with this guy. Its a shame it happened.

Yes, because we get complacent on the easy non-technical terrain and that's were we end up making mistakes. And in no way do I mean that the fallen climber was being complacent by any means. Condolences to the family of the fallen climber...

Tough to hear. All I can say is that I truly hope that he died doing what he loved. Its alwasy a terrible tragedy when one of us "falls" but at the very least perhaps his family can find some relief in the fact that we find beauty in what we do and what it represents.

High up in the apple tree climbing I go,
With the sky above me, the earth below.
Each branch is the step of a wonderful stair
Which leads to the town I see shining up there.
Climbing, climbing, higher and higher,
The branches blow and I see a spire,
The gleam of a turret, the glint of a dome,
All sparkling and bright, like white sea foam.
On and on, from bough to bough,
The leaves are thick, but I push my way through;
Before, I have always had to stop,
But to-day I am sure I shall reach the top.
Today to the end of the marvelous stair,
Where those glittering pinacles flash in the air!
Climbing, climbing, higher I go,
With the sky close above me, the earth far below.

-- Amy Lowell --

My deepest condolences to friends & family.

Mark ~ imo, no one should underestimate potential hazards of low angle travel during winter

This sucks man...

A bit more detail in this story:
http://gazette.com/display.php?id=1329369&secid=1

We were climbing at this location last weekend and Reid may have been there as well. A couple of deaf climbers were starting the climb as we were leaving.

Here's a comment someone posted to the story Nathan linked to.

Adrenelin thrills frequently kill. Sad price to pay for the family and friends.
-MDP 01/29/07 08:10:43 AM

This totally rubs me the wrong way. What an asshole. This person is just showcasing his/her ignorance.

10-4 Jay, that's why it's up to us to discuss mis-information.

My climbing partner was at the ice when this happened...scary ordeal for sure, but w/ all due respect it sounds as though the climbers (Mr. Hunt who passed away, as well as his partner) were being careless. At the top of any climb w/out crampons on, and w/out being anchored in (two brand new, bomber bolts on this particular climb) is reckless. From what I understand, the two individuals were experienced climbers but it just goes to show you should never get too comfortable. My condolences go out to the family and any people who were close to this gentleman, but to the 'friend' who is his partner, if you're reading this what were you guys thinking!? Sorry for being curt.

Here's a picture from the top of the falls last weekend. I assume that the spot he fell would have been just above where you can see the anchor in the picture.

http://www.aiohq.com/images/hullytop.jpg

In reading the report from the Gazette and seeing your pic, Nate; I could see myself in the exact same position looking down the route.

I definitely could see myself in this situation.

An interesting point made during Jill Fredston's avy presentation last night; we, as a society, are so quick to assign blame for an incident that we have a hard time looking within ourselves for the answer. There will be assumed and accepted risk in our lives.

I posted almost this same response to the Gazette... my partner and I were standing at the top maybe twenty feet back from the anchors when Reid (who I did not know) and his partner walked up. Reid asked if he could rap through, we said sure, and he walked up to the edge (without crampons on or any gear out). We turned to talk with his partner (we were facing away from the climb), and when we turned around a minute later he had disappeared already. Horrible and tragic and very pointless. Surely some things could have been done differently but what climber has not made a mistake? My best to everyone who knew him. To his partner... I am so terribly sorry.

I do strongly apologize for my comment earlier. I guess if I was in the partners position I would feel horrible right now, as it is I feel bad enough that a member of our community has been lost. At the same time, my partners and I are always very careful to be anchored in close to an edge and have the proper equipment ON when need be. The top of Hully would be a 'need be' situation in terms of having crampons on. Stories such as this are what make the non-climbing community think that climbing is an extremely dangerous activity....ask any life insurance provider!

This all being said, this will be my last post on the topic.

This is truly heartbreaking news. My condolences to the climber’s family and his partner; apparently the climber was a well-liked teacher who was important to the local deaf school. Just curious, because I have not seen anyone post this question; but why were they rappelling into the climb to begin with? This climb is so easy to reach from the bottom. I am struggling to understand why a party would approach from the top instead of from the bottom. Could the fixed anchors at the top be coaxing people to approach the climb in this manner? Just to give you a little background on where I am coming from, a good friend of mine from high school died many years ago in a similar incident at Franconia Notch, NH, where he was walking around the top of an ice climb and slipped. To me, the fixed anchors at the top of the gully are not really necessary (they have only been recently added), and if they are leading folks to rappel in instead of walking down to the base, then perhaps they could be removed. This is a narrow gully, and is not comparable to approaching a climb in Box Canyon. Does anyone else have any thoughts about the way this climb should be approached and whether or not the bolted anchors should be there?

I was the first rescuer on scene. Reid was not wearing crampons. he was wearing a helmet. The other climbing party had removed his pack to facilitate administering CPR. Reid was lying on a slope of about 30 degrees, which makes CPR problematic. I was told that CPR had been stopped some time before we could reach him. We were equipped with an AED and our team member is a paramedic and had an ALS pack with him. This team member is also a deputy coroner and prnounced Reid dead shortly after we arrived on scene.

While radio traffic was being passed to get the coroner to the staging area, Reid's partner, also hearing impaired, looked up from where he was sitting a few feet downhill and asked what was going on. I had never told anyone their friend had died before this. I told him our paramedic had could find no pulse or breath sounds. I told him Reid had not survived the fall. I can assure everyone his anguish is genuine.

Accidents happen. Most members of our team climb. Im a climber. It's hard to think about who's to blame, who's at fault when the association is personal. The tragic thing would be for no one to learn from this or any accident.

Climb Safe.

I cannot see where Ibishop was being an ass. Insensitive may be.

Tragic as this is, it is a common occurrence in climbing. There is risk involved every time we go out. I have been climbing since 1978 and the list of accidents that happen on 4th class terrain seems to out weigh accidents while actually climbing. I grieve for the loss, and I hope that we as a community can acquire the wisdom to learn from others mistakes. It does not take but a few minutes to protect your life. I had a close friend die last year rappelling. The slings broke loose that were wedged in between to rocks. He was the second to rappel. He would still be alive today if he backed up these slings with a $7.00 chock and a $7.00 runner. How many times do we hear about someone rappelling off the end of the rope. This happen last February while I was in El Portrero Chico. The belayer was a guide. Fortunately his girl friend only had minor injuries. Complacency should not have a home in this sport if you want to survive. May be I am being an "ass" as well with this posting. That is not my intention. My intention is to hopefully shed light on a aspect of this sport that we love so much and is ignored on a regular basis and has caused so much tragedy. If this posting makes one person think "May be I should rope up or throw in some protection instead of risking it" I have accomplished what I intended to accomplish with this posting.

Peace be with all.

Julian... I don't (didn't)know either of them so am not sure of their skill level, but my partner and I that morning had been belaying from the top as neither of us are confident enough to lead that climb, and I'm assuming they were going to set up some sort of toprope/ upper belay as well.

Reid was a friend of a friend. He wasn't a lead climber...most likely was setting up a top rope.

If anybody was being an ass it was the paper/reporter/photographer.

What kind of vultures take pictures of dead or injured people being carried out in a litter from an accident? Did that image add to the news? Did it educate anyone here? Do you understand better?

Chris Rea had a good song in 1996: "You Must be Evil"
It had the following line with regards to the press:
"You can tell us we don't need to see it"

I ran into some jackass woman in Eldo filming a VERY critically injured climber being carried down. She had no regard for the feelings or situation that the climber was in (having fallen 100' to the ledge) and filmed and talked about it all the while.

Having her there, "on site" was B.S. It added nothing to the information. When people are critically injured, and possibly even dying, we ALL KNOW that attitude can make a huge difference in the chances of survival. I asked her what she thought about that. She said it was none of my business and asked me what I did for a living. I told her I make computer hardware and I was pretty sure that nobody buying my product was being filmed without consent or was struggling for their dear life at the time of purchase.

She called the cops to get rid of me. Meanwhile, since they did not yet arrive and neither had the rescue team, I asked her if she thought that he'd still be alive when he got there and if it seemed possible to her that being filmed might be discouraging and embarrassing to him and add to his suffering or even effect his odds of survival? She wouldn't answer.
So I asked her if she was hoping to catch him conscious or unconscious and which she thought might make a better shot? She still wouldn't answer...
So I told her that I broke my ankle and ripped all of the ligaments it once and that it hurt so bad that I passed out and shit my pants. That's what happens sometimes when people get hurt. I asked her if she thought it would make better footage if he was coughing up blood or was covered in shit when the litter arrived?

That's about when the cops arrived. They asked me to leave because she had freedom of the press. So I asked them what about their concern for my freedom of speech. They said that they were just following general protocol and 'protecting' the reporter.
So I asked them to please enforce state law and inspect the permit that is required for filming and the commercial use of any footage taken in a State Park. They said they did not know what I was talking about. I explained and they said that they were unaware of any permit requirements on state park land.

I talked to a ranger about this later- He was WELL AWARE of said law. You can't film for comercial use in the park without a permit. And there are no blanket permits. Ergo, the News had no permit and can not film. I asked him to consider the idea that the park can prevent film crews from being present to harass or otherwise bother accident victims by filming them. He said he'd "look into it." I gave him my card and asked him to get back to me. It never happened.

So apparently, if we as a community want to stop reporters and photographers from taking pictures of injured dying or dead bodies of our friends and passing them around, then we need to let the news and papers know that we don't care for it.

Am I way off base here or is anyone willing to sign a letter to this effect that I intend to send to the various media outlets?



---------------------Lyrics below------------------------
I come home from work, I see my little girl,
She's crying on the floor, Shes been watching that tv.
This ain't late no, this aint even dinner time.
To show them things on that screen, Whats wrong with you?

You must be evil.

Oh I know why you do it, You're just looking for sensation.
You got a hold of something, You tell us that its news.
You don't have to show that stuff, Can't you show us some respect?
You can tell us we don't need to see it,
We don't need those cheap effects.

You must be evil.

You don't have to show that stuff, You ain't fooling no-one.
You made my little girl cry, I wish you were here.
We all know why you do it, Sometimes you even slow it down.
You're giving out some bad ideas here,
I can't believe that you don't realize...

You must be evil.
I wish you were here.

"To me, the fixed anchors at the top of the gully are not really necessary (they have only been recently added), and if they are leading folks to rappel in instead of walking down to the base, then perhaps they could be removed. This is a narrow gully, and is not comparable to approaching a climb in Box Canyon. Does anyone else have any thoughts about the way this climb should be approached and whether or not the bolted anchors should be there?"

Hey Julian,

I was the one who put the new anchors on top of the first and second pitches. I did this after consulting with a few other local climbers.

My thought process was the following:

1. Almost all people approach this from the top -- many because they are more comfortable top roping this. Some because they don't want to have to deal with crossing private property -- although maybe there is a way around this?

2. The anchor that people had been using (the flimsy tree and pin on the bench just below the new anchor) is a bit questionable at best.

3. I was hoping that having bolts at the top of the climb would make it safer for people setting up top ropes (I don't think adding the bolts in any way increases the number of people who access this climb from the top. I was just hoping to make it safer for the people who do)

Regardless, this accident is a tragedy. My heart felt condolences to his family, friends, and students.

Tony, I have mixed feelings about media coverage; I think they just don't understand, and maybe don't care about, what responsible coverage is. They shove cameras into the scene as quickly as possible and spew out bs that one source gives them. That the one source is qualified, I have no problem; but what happens is the context gets edited & changed to present a more dramatic story.

On the other hand, the use of their facilities & media outlet during a search is a viable asset.

I think we'd like to see more educated and responsible coverage of a given incident. Not: "Oh! get a shot of that carnage, we need shock-value!"

Why is it that there is no coverage of a skiier injured or killed in an incident at a ski resort until after that person is well off the mountain, but any backcountry technical SAR mission and it's a f'n media blitzkrieg?

Maybe people moving near mountain areas in this country just don't have enough respect for these areas.

I think this goes back to society trying to insulate itself from risk & having media promote fear so that responsibility is pointed at someone else.

Climbers have every right to freely express themselves as much as anyone else out enjoying the outdoors; and we have every right to assess risk and to use or to not use gear we see fit to work on technical terrain.

Its a sad situation for sure, but how many of us have been all too eager to get on the ice. As for the gully, it has been a while since I have been there but I do not recall any bolts at the top. We walked, slid, screed down to the base from the right hand side and used a tree in pitch 2 as our top anchor. Its a great gem but sorry to be reminded of it in a sad situation.