Climber Death Taylor’s Falls MN

Hindsight is always 20/20, acccidents are called accidents for a reason.  No need to bash people.  

If there was ever a case for using these accident forums to highlight important points and potential dangers, this is a great example.

I hope all climbers, young and old, experienced or not, can take something away from this.  

I do find it amazing and impressive that people were able to pinpoint basically the exact rock that moved during this accident--there is wisdom on the web, unfortunately there's also a lot of BS. 

This is especially sad because from the pictures it looks like there were so many other nearby placement and protection possibilities   

Condolences to all. 

My career was in aviation (now retired) and when accidents would happen in that field there was always a very similar reaction  (judging/criticism of person involved) as most incidents tended to come down to “pilot error”. As has been said, hindsight is 20/20.
However, accidents in aviation as well as in climbing happen even to the most experienced among us. So who am I to judge another’s actions—after all, they bet their life on what they did.
I’m not particularly religious, but I find the expression “but for the grace of God go I” to be particularly appropriate. I suspect we have all had close calls that could have gone either way except for the intervention of Fate.
In this case, I like to think I might have made different decisions about my anchor. But maybe I wouldn’t have, for whatever reason. I take it all as a sobering lesson on how easy it can be to make that one awful mistake—regardless of our knowledge and experience level.
My condolences to all involved and a big thank you to the survivor who may have prevented future similar accidents with his testimony in that amazingly detailed accident report.
Climb safe, all!

Daniel Joderwrote:

….hindsight is 20/20.
However, accidents in aviation as well as in climbing happen even to the most experienced among us. So who am I to judge another’s actions—after all they bet their life on what they did.
I’m not particularly religious, but I find the expression “but for the grace of God go I” to be particularly appropriate….

Agree.  This hits close to home.  Literally.  Early on, decades ago, I cut my trad teeth here.   And teach my kids there today.  Even back then after “years” of experience, I felt like an “expert” leading 5.10 trad while others top roped. Many years later after I became more knowledgeable and critical,  I re-assessed everything in more detail.   I was more lucky, than expert   

“There but for the grace of god (and sheer dumb luck) could’ve gone I”

This place definitely “eats pro” and seems great at first blush for trad.  Problem is that it will just as easily spit pro right back out.  It’s all shattered basalt.   Trust nothing and sew it up.   Be very careful and critical about placements.

Given the context of how braggart the survivor is throughout that report about his supposed vast experience - and that he killed a mentee - I think calling a duck a duck here is appropriate.  I was fine with the report - they all say they’re experienced - until I saw those photos.  His quoted final conclusion about redundant features is totally off as well - like stay away from Indian Creek.  IMO the report is incomplete and this guy needs to be put in his place - incompetent.

James Wwrote:

Given the context of how braggart the survivor is throughout that report about his supposed vast experience - and that he killed a mentee - I think calling a duck a duck here is appropriate.  I was fine with the report - they all say they’re experienced - until I saw those photos.  His quoted final conclusion about redundant features is totally off as well - like stay away from Indian Creek.  IMO the report is incomplete and this guy needs to be put in his place - incompetent.

Did we read the same report? 

I don't think climber 1 was bragging about his experience here. The point is, anyone can make a rookie mistake, even someone who has built a thousand anchors. This horrible accident was the result of complacency. The familiar setting and relatively mellow itinerary probably contributed the complacency. It's even sadder seeing the photos and the several other useable cracks in the vicinity of the failed anchor.

Anything can happen. Always bring your A game. 

@ James W--criticizing and blaming is easy.  

You know what's f**king hard?  Putting your incredibly consequential mistakes out there in public to be judged, and, potentially, to help others. 

Yes, he made a terrible, terrible mistake.  Acceptance, empathy, humility.  These will move us forward.  

James Wwrote:

Given the context of how braggart the survivor is throughout that report about his supposed vast experience - and that he killed a mentee - I think calling a duck a duck here is appropriate.  I was fine with the report - they all say they’re experienced - until I saw those photos.  His quoted final conclusion about redundant features is totally off as well - like stay away from Indian Creek.  IMO the report is incomplete and this guy needs to be put in his place - incompetent.

Taylor’s Falls is well known for having placements that may have been “bomber” for decades suddenly become not viable for placements due to our Minnesota climate involving lots of freezing and thawing throughout the year.

While I’ve never made an anchor off of a single crack there, I do have anchor setups that I repeatedly go back to while taking beginners out (that I will now check more thoroughly now before weighting). This is not something unique to me either, and probably was shared by Climber 1 in the accident. He probably rapped off this same setup numerous times with no adverse results. This accident could’ve happened to a lot of people, and calling this individual “incompetent” is nauseatingly disrespectful.

This accident definitely sent waves through the Minnesota climbing community, and it makes me feel ashamed that statements like this even exist in the general climbing community as a whole. Respectfully, you need to shove off here and know when you’re crossing a line. 

I tried making an anchor at that same location around 2018. At some point  that rock structure was one piece and did not look fractured like  it does in the picture.   When I  pulled the cam and tested it the entire large block which didn't look like a block at all moved to my surprise and I used alternative cracks.  I am not sure if this block fractured  before or during this incident.  It's crucial at Taylor's falls not to rely on one crack for any anchor. Many of the cracks people use  the at the top of the MN strip  also are flexible with enough force and it's  impossible to  tell on some of them  if they are trustworthy. All  of the  anchors that are built  at the MN  strip section around piece of cake route  should include a tree or a boulder rather than only cams. 

The block has moved for a long time. It will pass a medium wiggle test because it’s massive but if you really pull on it, it moves significantly. This is not the only party to place gear behind that block and have it pull (but thankfully people usually have other pieces in other features). I appreciate the accident report. I know this was hard on the MN climbing community and especially the community at Escape. RIP Mitch. 

James Wwrote:

Given the context of how braggart the survivor is throughout that report about his supposed vast experience - and that he killed a mentee - I think calling a duck a duck here is appropriate.  I was fine with the report - they all say they’re experienced - until I saw those photos.  His quoted final conclusion about redundant features is totally off as well - like stay away from Indian Creek.  IMO the report is incomplete and this guy needs to be put in his place - incompetent.

Sorry y'all. I feel bad for the deceased and the survivor but I'm gonna have to side with James W on this one. I also question the mentor's claimed experience.

“I have built over 1,000 anchors in rock, ice, and snow in my climbing career. I have never had a piece of protection, let alone a whole anchor, fail. I do remember testing the rock and it not moving, but regardless of how well I tested it, there was simply no reason to build the anchor in a single crack. There were other rock features in the area I could have used, along with at least one significant tree I could have included in the anchor.”

Anyone who's climbed seriously for over 10 years placing gear regularly, has had protection rip at some point. The fact that he says he has never had a piece of protection fail makes me very skeptical of his claimed experience. In addition, if the rock was so suspect that you had to pull on it, with many other bomber options nearby, why would you build a non-redundant anchor there and use the smallest cams which have the least margin for error? If forced to use that feature, an experienced climber would have put larger cams on the other side of the blocks leaving some room for error. The possibility of the rock moving was foreseeable by the climber. Why take the unnecessary risk when you're guiding someone who has no idea how to judge an anchor? The accident report reads like an overconfident climber trying to escape accountability when in reality, he should never have been teaching whether its due to overconfidence or incompetence and someone who trusted him paid the ultimate price - that should be the bottom line in the accident report analysis. 

I'm going to put Mike K and James W in the categogy of "climbers who like to criticize others becasue it makes them feel better about themselves, either 1) becasue they get to demonstrate their great knowledge, or 2) because it makes them feel like accidents couldn't happen to them."  Either way, it's a terrible way to behave.  The climbers I've roped up with that truly have a great deal of experience have been along the most humble and gracious people I've known.  Just sayin'...

Mike Kwrote:

Sorry y'all. I feel bad for the deceased and the survivor but I'm gonna have to side with James W on this one. I also question the mentor's claimed experience.

“I have built over 1,000 anchors in rock, ice, and snow in my climbing career. I have never had a piece of protection, let alone a whole anchor, fail. I do remember testing the rock and it not moving, but regardless of how well I tested it, there was simply no reason to build the anchor in a single crack. There were other rock features in the area I could have used, along with at least one significant tree I could have included in the anchor.”

Anyone who's climbed seriously for over 10 years placing gear regularly, has had protection rip at some point. The fact that he says he has never had a piece of protection fail makes me very skeptical of his claimed experience. In addition, if the rock was so suspect that you had to pull on it, with many other bomber options nearby, why would you build a non-redundant anchor there and use the smallest cams which have the least margin for error? If forced to use that feature, an experienced climber would have put larger cams on the other side of the blocks leaving some room for error. The possibility of the rock moving was foreseeable by the climber. Why take the unnecessary risk when you're guiding someone who has no idea how to judge an anchor? The accident report reads like an overconfident climber trying to escape accountability when in reality, he should never have been teaching whether its due to overconfidence or incompetence and someone who trusted him paid the ultimate price - that should be the bottom line in the accident report analysis. 

Nah, you don’t have to have gear fail to gain “experience”.  Sounds like he had plenty of experience but got complacent because it was always worked out before.

Lesson #1

Don’t commit your anchor to a single feature.

Lesson #2

Inspect said feature to ensure you haven’t committed to a single feature, sometimes your anchor may look redundant but is not.

Enjoy!

It should be noted and acknowledged (just like hindsight is 20/20), that this climb in particular lends itself to “complacency”.  First, it is 5.5c (an awesome 5.5 with stems and jams and a bit of face, that takes all manner of pro.  It starts right from a short path from the park lot.  It’s the closest thing to an outdoor gym climb  (One of the problems there). Then it mostly finishes on a wide flat ledge platform, with the anchor and tree options well back from the edge.  This large space where both can drop packs/gear and walk around and talk further adds to a sense of “ease” and casualness.  I have personally often brought up seconds with just a hip belay (I’m anchored) on this climb.  

I can see if he just led it, only has some small cams left, plugs in a quick anchor that would be serviceable and likely be fine anywhere else with solid rock.   Brings up climber 2 and then after shooting the shit, the plan evolves to rapping without a full critical reassessment of the anchor. Probably 99 times out of 100 it would be fine.  It’s that 1/100 that bites you in the ass when things aren’t set ideally for the situation  

I don’t feel I need to second guess or parse the words of his explanation, simply because I am 100% certain that a fun day out climbing turned into an unimaginably life altering tragedy that will haunt him for the rest of his life.  None of our words or criticisms can take back what happened and the fact that he KNOWS, and would give anything to do it over differently.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all and be safe out there.  

When tradiban is wrangling the conversation back to something product in response to your post, your really should take some time to reflect.

No one is stating that mistakes weren’t made. Climber 1 owns that he made mistakes. If you think experienced, competent climbers can’t mistakes, you haven’t been climbing for very long. It will happen to you at some point, hopefully with less severe consequences.

Try and out yourself in this persons shoes and see how crushed he is from this. How personal attacks online would teach you absolutely nothing compared to the event itself. And how incredibly sad it would be to feel like the climbing community abandoned you instead of supporting you. Survivors guilt is intense even if you don’t harbor any blame for the mistake. This person needs friends at this time. Not anchor lessons. 

"I can see if he just led it, only has some small cams left, plugs in a quick anchor that would be serviceable and likely be fine anywhere else with solid rock.   Brings up climber 2 and then after shooting the shit, the plan evolves to rapping without a full critical reassessment of the anchor. Probably 99 times out of 100 it would be fine.  It’s that 1/100 that bites you in the ass when things aren’t set ideally for the situation"

The mentor stated that he has been up there multiple times, so he should be well aware of what gear to bring to make a safe redundant anchor. He tested the block because he had a thought that it might be unstable and still used it despite better options and lecturing about redundancy earlier in the day. This was not an unknown unknown event. If I performed a surgery in an area that I know I shouldn't be in, being careless and not isolating structures, and hurt someone, it's not an accident.  It's plain negligence no matter how bad I feel or how much I own up to it and it isn't going to keep me from scrutiny of my peers, getting sued, or losing my license. If a drunk driver was reckless and killed someone else, it doesn't absolve you of scrutiny from the community just because you admit your mistake and have guilt. I am just uncomfortable with how this accident report was written as the author makes it seem that anyone with his experience level could have easily made the same mistake. This is true to some extent, but not highly likely when it is foreseeable to an experienced climber. I know of a climber in the midwest who killed a young girl because he made a negligent anchor and he served prison time for manslaughter.  Today he is still scrutinized by the climbing community, do you think this is wrong? I don't. We need to move away from confusing the lack of sympathy/empathy from objectively identifying the root cause. For example, everyone is blaming the recent accident on Snake Dike on the lack of bolts when the sole responsibility is always on the climber and her lack of experience and poor judgement got her in trouble. We shouldn't be afraid to call a spade a spade even if it might hurt someone's feelings.  

Mike Kwrote:

"I can see if he just led it, only has some small cams left, plugs in a quick anchor that would be serviceable and likely be fine anywhere else with solid rock.   Brings up climber 2 and then after shooting the shit, the plan evolves to rapping without a full critical reassessment of the anchor. Probably 99 times out of 100 it would be fine.  It’s that 1/100 that bites you in the ass when things aren’t set ideally for the situation"

The mentor stated that he has been up there multiple times, so he should be well aware of what gear to bring to make a safe redundant anchor. He tested the block because he had a thought that it might be unstable and still used it despite better options and lecturing about redundancy earlier in the day. This was not an unknown unknown event. If I performed a surgery in an area that I know I shouldn't be in, being careless and not isolating structures, and hurt someone, it's not an accident.  It's plain negligence no matter how bad I feel or how much I own up to it and it isn't going to keep me from scrutiny of my peers, getting sued, or losing my license. If a drunk driver was reckless and killed someone else, it doesn't absolve you of scrutiny from the community just because you admit your mistake and have guilt. I am just uncomfortable with how this accident report was written as the author makes it seem that anyone with his experience level could have easily made the same mistake. This is true to some extent, but not highly likely when it is foreseeable to an experienced climber. I know of a climber in the midwest who killed a young girl because he made a negligent anchor and he served prison time for manslaughter.  Today he is still scrutinized by the climbing community, do you think this is wrong? I don't. We need to move away from confusing the lack of sympathy/empathy from objectively identifying the root cause. For example, everyone is blaming the recent accident on Snake Dike on the lack of bolts when the sole responsibility is always on the climber and her lack of experience and poor judgement got her in trouble. We shouldn't be afraid to call a spade a spade even if it might hurt someone's feelings.  

"... makes it seem that anyone with his experience level could have easily made the same mistake. This is true to some extent, but not highly likely when it is foreseeable to an experienced climber"

You quite literally just repeated exactly what Mark said; this accident was not "highly likely" in any way considering how long this climber had likely gone without incident. Nobody in this thread is saying "climber one should be absolved of all responsibility" but instead approaching the analysis with respect and class as one should. Had you had a life-changing incident out climbing where you made a severe, but not poor-intentioned, mistake I'm sure you'd really appreciate people ragging you on the internet saying you're negligent and irresponsible. This guy has probably been repeating what happened in his mind over and over since the minute it happened and doesn't need people reminding him of that.

Furthermore, comparing this event to drunk driving is just plain idiotic; the climber wouldn't have chosen to build a sub-optimal anchor given the choice. Given your burning desire to somehow tie this into the Snake Dike incident it's pretty clear that you need to maybe go outside, talk to some real people, and actually learn what it means to be empathetic. Christ you people are a walking embarrassment. 

@ Mike K--I'm with you part of the way--This accident absolutely deserves scrutiny from the community.   I have little patience for the voices that don't want to analyze accidents, and I've argued many times in these threads to leave the memorials and positive vibes to a separate page.  But that analysis has taken place.  It is very clear what happened.  What you and James are now doing is moving toward blaming and shamning, questioning the knowledge, truthfullness, and legitamacy of the person involved. 

James called the climber ignorant, and you questioned the mentor's claimed experience.  Let's say you are right--what would that imply?  Would it mean that people who were not ignorant or who actually had significant experience could not make similar mistakes?  Of course not.  Obviously, the most knowledgeable and experienced climbers in the world make simple mistakes all the time, from not tying in correctly, to not locking biners, to not checking pro, and so on.  If this were not true, we would not talk about things like complacency, as Mark highlights above.  Basically, your arguments that the climber must be ignorant or untruthfull about his experince are not logical. 

It seems like what bothers you is that somebody died, the survivor seems to have portrayed himself as experienced, and you're having a hard time beleiving that somebody with his experience could make that mistake.  But, as above, we know that experienced climbers have accidents.  Do you want to see the survivor express more contrition or less assumed confidence?  Recall that his words have been filtered through several layers of editing and expression; we really don't know what he said, how he framed his experience.

I get it. Somebody died because of the mistakes of another who was acting in a role of responsability, albeit in an informal way.  As others have pointed out, I am sure there is no one who appreciates this more than the survivor.  You seem to be saying he should be judged by some standard of negligence, but this raises all kinds of legal issues.  

What do you see as a better outcome here?  What do you want to see remedied or made right?  

Chronically Injuredwrote:

"... makes it seem that anyone with his experience level could have easily made the same mistake. This is true to some extent, but not highly likely when it is foreseeable to an experienced climber"

You quite literally just repeated exactly what Mark said; this accident was not "highly likely" in any way considering how long this climber had likely gone without incident. Nobody in this thread is saying "climber one should be absolved of all responsibility" but instead approaching the analysis with respect and class as one should. Had you had a life-changing incident out climbing where you made a severe, but not poor-intentioned, mistake I'm sure you'd really appreciate people ragging you on the internet saying you're negligent and irresponsible. This guy has probably been repeating what happened in his mind over and over since the minute it happened and doesn't need people reminding him of that.

Furthermore, comparing this event to drunk driving is just plain idiotic; the climber wouldn't have chosen to build a sub-optimal anchor given the choice. Given your burning desire to somehow tie this into the Snake Dike incident it's pretty clear that you need to maybe go outside, talk to some real people, and actually learn what it means to be empathetic. Christ you people are a walking embarrassment.

Oh please give me a break. The self proclaimed experienced climber had plenty of choices and consciously choose to build a sub-optimal anchor even after lecturing about redundancy. I feel empathy for the true victim and his family and friends. If you're going to be careless and cause harm to others, while you have a chance to live on and climb another day, don't fully expect me to be fully sympathetic for your guilt.