Climber Death Taylor’s Falls MN

Buck Riowrote:

I also know exactly which crack you are describing...BITD there was a paint mark on it.  No hiker is going to see it so maybe it is time to bring it back it.  I've always used the perfect stopper crack on climbers left and the tree on the right for the anchor.

I was up there today climbing at the MN Strip and stopped by the top of S&J on my way out. I added a tape X to the block that moves. Figured it’s more permanent than chalk but not as bad as paint. Hopefully it will help others think twice when building anchors up there

Matt Edlund wrote:

Good on ya...never thought I would see an accident because of that.

Buck Riowrote:

Good on ya...never thought I would see an accident because of that.

Unless there is more information somewhere else, I'm not reading anything here that says anyone has determined the cause of the accident.  The loose block in the photo is surrounded by numerous other cracks of several sizes.  It would be a bizarre and unlikely level of incompetence to stack all pieces for an anchor behind that one block, or to even be able to do that without noticing it moves.  I'm not seeing it.

The surviving partner has posted in the local FB page, but not accident details.  I too have some misgivings about the accuracy of earlier assumptions and info.  I’d love to know clearly exactly what happened and where, but I’m willing to give plenty of time for that info to come out.  Doesn’t really change or affect my own climbing.  

I appreciate the thought and effort Matt, but if you put an X on every loose or suspect chunk of rock at TF that a climber might use, you’d be staring at a sea of X’s.   The saving grace of TF is that there is also plenty of decent pro to back things up, and the climbs are relatively easy.  

I was climbing there on Sunday as well and took a moment to reflect on the recent loss.   It was a perfect sunny spring day and It was heartening to run into some of the same people you continue to run into over the decades, and it was sobering and sad to know I’ll never have an opportunity to run into a new, young and stoked climber.   But at least for a moment there, I could share some of his spirit and keep the torch lit. 

Matt Edlundwrote:

I was up there today climbing at the MN Strip and stopped by the top of S&J on my way out. I added a tape X to the block that moves. Figured it’s more permanent than chalk but not as bad as paint. Hopefully it will help others think twice when building anchors up there

Agree with Mark, I'm not sure the tape "X" is the right solution to this but I appreciate the intention. First and foremost, how does the park feel about this "X"? Do inexperienced climbers even understand the purpose of the "X" or could it draw unwanted attention or be confused as a "tick"? Tape will inevitably weather and become litter, likely ending up in the river. 

alpinejasonwrote:

Agree with Mark, I'm not sure the tape "X" is the right solution to this but I appreciate the intention. First and foremost, how does the park feel about this "X"? Do inexperienced climbers even understand the purpose of the "X" or could it draw unwanted attention or be confused as a "tick"? Tape will inevitably weather and become litter, likely ending up in the river. 

I considered all of those points before I added the tape and still think it was an ok choice. I packed out pockets full of litter on my way, too, so I’m very conscious of LNT, but I thought this was a decent compromise. Climbers at TF are familiar with the concept of “X means loose block” and while we don’t know the details of this accident I figured that this would at least be something to get folks’ attention. It’s a dangerous block on top of a very popular beginner route. If it makes someone think twice and they’re safer for it, I’m fine with that. 

Matt Edlund wrote:

I considered all of those points before I added the tape and still think it was an ok choice. I packed out pockets full of litter on my way, too, so I’m very conscious of LNT, but I thought this was a decent compromise. Climbers at TF are familiar with the concept of “X means loose block” and while we don’t know the details of this accident I figured that this would at least be something to get folks’ attention. It’s a dangerous block on top of a very popular beginner route. If it makes someone think twice and they’re safer for it, I’m fine with that. 

For all of the naysayers on here, this is the first lead for generations of climbers. And since people these days don't have mentors like I did, to show them how to test blocks to make sure they are solid, we need chalk and tape X's to let them know it isn't safe to load up this crack with red and yellow cams and call it good. 

I didn't have cams when I started, so I always used the nut crack(s) on the left. Will take #7 up to #11 stoppers.  Tree on right is obvious. 

This is so sad. A stark reminder that our sport can kill you.

I offer my sincere condolences to the climbers, their Families and Friends.

Bolted anchors would have prevented this tragedy. It’s a busy roadside crag, stop acting like it’s paradise. If Yosemite and Indian Creek have bolted anchors, Taylor’s falls should as well. 

Cam Schaeferwrote:

Bolted anchors would have prevented this tragedy. It’s a busy roadside crag, stop acting like it’s paradise. If Yosemite and Indian Creek have bolted anchors, Taylor’s falls should as well. 

Not going to argue about bolts per se, as that’s a side issue.  Just that it is untrue that bolts would’ve prevented this accident.   They were specifically working on natural gear placements and anchor set-ups for an upcoming trad road trip.   

Cam Schaefer wrote:

Bolted anchors would have prevented this tragedy. It’s a busy roadside crag, stop acting like it’s paradise. If Yosemite and Indian Creek have bolted anchors, Taylor’s falls should as well. 

Nobody ever would mistake this for paradise, everyone knows that is in California. 

Bolts would not make a difference. 90+% of the people that climb here TR. Getting to anchors to set up the TR would probably kill more people than it would save. 

I appreciate all of the dialogue here. These are always difficult things to discuss. And I especially want to be respectful to the surviving climber, as well as the friends and family of the deceased, and not jump to conclusions about what happened or caused the accident. The survivor posted about extensive experience and I honestly don’t know if the block I taped had anything to do with it. I also don’t see bolts becoming a thing anytime soon at TF. I think the best outcome is just more awareness of the hazards, like in any accident report, and a commitment to do what we can to keep ourselves and others reasonably safe. Thanks 

I've gotten an update on this and I wanted to share here for future travelers. This was overheard so please don't take this as definitive but it's what I was told by someone that knew and I think it's important to document this stuff rather than assume what happened. The TLDR is that they were trying to rappel from the top, had setup a cam anchor on a SINGLE boulder/crack. It was one of the setups where two people rappel (I'm not super familiar with it), but essentially they put load on the anchor to test while on rappel, the anchor failed because the rock moved, and both climbers fell to the bottom.

I was also told that there was research done by the Accidents in Climbing people and that it may appear in the next year of the book for that reason.

Again this was NOT caused by rockfall, it was caused by a rock moving that the entire trad anchor depended on, which then failed. I'm not an expert on this but the solution here for me is to 1) test that the rock doesn't move before using it, and 2) setup trad anchors that don't depend on a single rock/crack to function, and 3) back up rock anchors with a long static rope/webbing and a nearby tree if you can. I don't know if the moving rock in discussion was the same rock that was used but the Accidents book may provide more information.

I spent the day building practice static anchors at Interstate today actually, and did discover one rock I used would move with sufficient force. My anchor was backed up with a tree however, and the rock would not have been able to fall off the side, so it would have probably been fine, but it goes to show, you need to be really diligent about placements in rocks over there.

^ The description above reminds me of an accident in 1996, which was responsible for the end of the Outdoors Unlimited program in the SF Bay Area.

https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/4th/41/1040.html

“The four anchors installed by McGowan and Veilleux apparently had actually been installed in one rock crack system. The anchor devices let loose releasing the rope when a large piece of the mountain face shifted”

Thanks for the update, Kyle. 

This reminds me of an article in the new 2022 version of Ascent. It was written by a man who lost his father to a somewhat similar accident at the same place 50 years ago. We don't often hear about the long term impact on survivors, but it seems like they are affected for the rest of their life. Of course, losing a family member is worse, but losing any partner must be difficult. I hope the survivor of this recent accident gets continued support.

Paywall, or pick up the magazine somewhere:

https://www.climbing.com/people/climbing-accident-father-dies-son/

Kyle Drakewrote:

I've gotten an update on this and I wanted to share here for future travelers. This was overheard so please don't take this as definitive but it's what I was told by someone that knew and I think it's important to document this stuff rather than assume what happened. The TLDR is that they were trying to rappel from the top, had setup a cam anchor on a SINGLE boulder/crack. It was one of the setups where two people rappel (I'm not super familiar with it), but essentially they put load on the anchor to test while on rappel, the anchor failed because the rock moved, and both climbers fell to the bottom.

I was also told that there was research done by the Accidents in Climbing people and that it may appear in the next year of the book for that reason.

Again this was NOT caused by rockfall, it was caused by a rock moving that the entire trad anchor depended on, which then failed. I'm not an expert on this but the solution here for me is to 1) test that the rock doesn't move before using it, and 2) setup trad anchors that don't depend on a single rock/crack to function, and 3) back up rock anchors with a long static rope/webbing and a nearby tree if you can. I don't know if the moving rock in discussion was the same rock that was used but the Accidents book may provide more information.

I spent the day building practice static anchors at Interstate today actually, and did discover one rock I used would move with sufficient force. My anchor was backed up with a tree however, and the rock would not have been able to fall off the side, so it would have probably been fine, but it goes to show, you need to be really diligent about placements in rocks over there.

Simul rap. Never rely on a single feature for an anchor.

Sometimes at DL if there was such a scenario I would extend some webbing way back to a second feature, tree or whatever, to create redundancy.

I have been informed this is now documented in Accidents in North American Climbing 2022, "Rappel Anchor Failure, Minnesota" starting on page 62.

https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201216255?fbclid=IwAR2MCMd9IttcSYObu-MssUeHN8TITochv3t_N_t294iXuJo6nasPBPoHj3s

Wow - so he did in fact stack all his pieces behind 1-2 unsupported blocks.  It seemed too incompetent to even be possible when first mentioned above.

James Wwrote:

Wow - so he did in fact stack all his pieces behind 1-2 unsupported blocks.  It seemed too incompetent to even be possible when first mentioned above.

Someone is dead and someone is injured and probably living with loads of guilt. Bashing them online seems incredibly inconsiderate and provides nothing positive.