Accident at Gate Buttress?

There was a man with what looked to be a horrendous head injury lying on his face in the Gate parking lot next to a SUV around 7:00 last night. Two police officers had just arrived and were attending to him; ambulances and other emergency vehicles were passed lower in the canyon. I don't know whether he had been climbing/bouldering, but the location and nature of his injuries suggest it could have been. The amount of blood was sobering, even just viewed in passing.

There are no reports of this on any of the news sites I have checked. Anyone know what happened?

this was not a climbing related issue.

what kind of an issue was it. got me curious now.

I heard it was a gun shot wound to the head, but a search on the local news sites doesn't produce anything. Anyone else with more info?

this topic has no relevance here.

if you are curious, i suggest you look into this issue on your own time.

grk10vq wrote:this topic has no relevance here. if you are curious, i suggest you look into this issue on your own time.

With all due respect, I disagree. Perhaps it was seeing what I saw, but I find it hard not to want to make sense of it. I would feel that way regardless of where it occurred, but these canyons begin to feel a little like our backyards given all the time spent playing in them over the years. So the what happened thoughts become a little more relevent, even if it wasn't a climbing accident (and I am relieved to hear it wasn't).

Perhaps you prefer not to spend any more time on it, and that's certainly fine. There are alot of posts that don't have relevance to me, so I don't spend my time reading them. But I would still like to know what happened at Gate Buttress. I don't understand the lack of reporting by the news media, but public forums like this often provide another way to gather information.

grk10vq wrote:this topic has no relevance here. if you are curious, i suggest you look into this issue on your own time.

Yea, this is my own time. And i'm looking into it on an open community forum dedicated to the goings-ons of climbing areas. Careful of rule #1 there admin. So gunshot wound?

In this case I don't think it's the admin violating rule #1, no offense.

i see where you're coming from NjC, and you're right, forums such as this can give insight and information that doesn't get covered by other sources. on the contrary, sensitive issues can blow up, become quite construed, and get just plain ugly. i am trying to diffuse a touchy subject, maintain some respect and tact, and maybe thats not my place. i'm sure this event will surface soon and you can draw your own conclusions. i'll leave it be at this and we'll see what happens.

and ryan, rule #1? i think you're misunderstanding it.
if i told you to go fuck yourself, that'd be breaking rule #1.

grk10vq wrote:this topic has no relevance here. if you are curious, i suggest you look into this issue on your own time.

I don't see any harm in raising the question and hoping for answers. I would do the same, just as I would expect anyone to, having witnessed such an awful scene. I don't believe this was asked in the quest for a new gossip thread, but rather, simply for answers. I can understand your concern surrounding such a sensitive subject, but I don't see anything out of line here. My 2 pennies.

NjC - I hope you find the answers you need. I think we all know what it's like to witness something disturbing and feel the need for answers.

grk10vq wrote:this topic has no relevance here. if you are curious, i suggest you look into this issue on your own time.

Possible climbing accidents have relevance on MP. Gun shot wounds in climbing areas have relevance on MP.

I don't think you were being a jerk, but your offhanded dismissal was very "iron curtain" in tone.

"on the contrary, sensitive issues can blow up, become quite construed, and get just plain ugly. i am trying to diffuse a touchy subject, maintain some respect and tact, and maybe thats not my place."

It's not your place. Since when have admins stepped in because something can be "touchy."

Also, you're the only one who has used profanity in this thread.

Easy there, Tiger.

Evan

NjC wrote: With all due respect, I disagree. Perhaps it was seeing what I saw, but I find it hard not to want to make sense of it. I would feel that way regardless of where it occurred, but these canyons begin to feel a little like our backyards given all the time spent playing in them over the years. So the what happened thoughts become a little more relevent, even if it wasn't a climbing accident (and I am relieved to hear it wasn't). Perhaps you prefer not to spend any more time on it, and that's certainly fine. There are alot of posts that don't have relevance to me, so I don't spend my time reading them. But I would still like to know what happened at Gate Buttress. I don't understand the lack of reporting by the news media, but public forums like this often provide another way to gather information.

Agree that gunshots or any other kind of crime in the parking areas or near climbing areas is a big concern and a valid topic. It could get swept under the carpet by the local news editors as a non-story, thus we would learn nothing about what happened. Good to know if the general safety of an area is being changed due to gangs, drug traffic, car break-ins, etc. or whatever else occurs.

grk10vq wrote:and ryan, rule #1? i think you're misunderstanding it. if i told you to go fuck yourself, that'd be breaking rule #1.

You start by stating, "check this out on your own time". WTF does that mean? Were you expecting to get a bill from the guy? This is his time and you sound like a jerk making that statement. The above post is fairly asinine too. Oh, and you can go hypothetically fuck yourself also.

grk10vq wrote:i see where you're coming from NjC, and you're right, forums such as this can give insight and information that doesn't get covered by other sources. on the contrary, sensitive issues can blow up, become quite construed, and get just plain ugly. i am trying to diffuse a touchy subject, maintain some respect and tact, and maybe thats not my place. i'm sure this event will surface soon and you can draw your own conclusions. i'll leave it be at this and we'll see what happens.

I appreciate your clarification. As Evan said, your dismissal did feel "iron curtain in tone", and I'm not someone to stop thinking or questioning just because I'm told to do so.

I saw no signs of an automobile accident, so it sounds like it was most likely a suicide though possibly a murder...I don't even know if the man survived. I appreciate that either would be sensitive and difficult for those involved, and there probably is an optimal timeliness for details to emerge, especially in the former situation. I don't have a clue about how investigations could be compromised by public speculation on a site like this, but without factual information, rumors and misinformation do simply run rampant.

My interest in knowing what happened may be a little different than those who weren't in the area Wed night. But I think the bottom line is that because it occurred in a public setting, and one of the most used trailheads for SL climbers, questions are natural and legitimate. I hope it does surface soon.

When there is a car accident, seems like there are always the people, the majority even, who hit the brakes to get a look at the scene, checking out to see if there are blood and guts... it's easy to forget that human misery in a case like that is not entertainment.

Problem with a public forum with a broad user base is that even the most innocent topics almost inevitably degenerate into something ugly anyway. Which is usually fine, but not in all cases...

NjC since your motivation for wanting to know what you saw seems pretty darn legit, I'm completely sure you'll easily be able to find out in a more private fashion than a public forum. Have you PM'ed GRK and asked him directly for example?

The rest of maybe you reign in the bloodlust a little? If climber safety was an issue here this would be a much different discussion without a doubt.

grk10vq wrote:if i told you to go fuck yourself, that'd be breaking rule #1.

awesome.

It is indeed heartwarming to see that we have such congenial administrators on our site.

And to samg...bloodlust? are you serious?

DFrench wrote:It is indeed heartwarming to see that we have such congenial administrators on our site. And to samg...bloodlust? are you serious?

Would "the morbid drive to know all the details of another human's suffering because work is a little boring today" suit you better?

Man, the sense of entitlement and lack of empathy here is stifling and already kinda ugly.

Less gossiping more climbing.

Woodchuck ATC wrote: Good to know if the general safety of an area is being changed due to gangs, drug traffic, car break-ins, etc. or whatever else occurs.

Absolutely true, but this was covered in post 2 in this thread. Not climbing related.

I just find it a bit ironic that the very people who claim to be ~preventing~ this discussion are the same ones fueling the fire. Did anyone above ask for morbid details? I think not.

Not sure about anyone else but grk's comment in post 2 certainly didn't clear up any lingering questions for me about the safety of the access point/parking lot for a climbing location.

Apologies if I did fuel the fire, not my intention.

Is the statement that this is not a climbing related issue and does not affect climber safety enough for you now though?

I hope so. And if it isn't enough, why not? (hypothetical question, not looking for an answer)

Someone getting shot in the head at a climbing area? Sounds like something a climber might want to know about...

Also sounds like somebody needs to get laid...