Boulder Canyon Fatal Accident

Sarah Z wrote:

  kdvr.com/news/local/avid-co…

Marc was one the most kind and generous climbing partners I have known. Although he was one of many mentors for me, he was the one that inspired me to become a better offwidth climber. 

A couple random tidbits with him over the years: 

-He let me sleep beside his gear in his car when I was a newbie and didn't own a tent. 

-He let me borrow his #7 & #8 for a creek trip and said all he wanted in return was a photo of me using them.

-He had the biggest collection of gear (climbing, BASE jumping, sky diving, etc.) I have ever seen. When I asked him how he could afford it all he mentioned that for years he would buy one piece of gear every paycheck. 

-On one of my first trips to Vedauwoo we all marveled at how he was able to "princess" his way up an offwidth.

-He knew I was looking for the old #4 cam and texted me when he saw it randomly at a used gear store. I bought it. 

-Marc used to wear this ratty old Corona (?) visor hat all the time. I saw it on another friend's head one day. When I asked the other friend about it, he said he had found it in Eldo. Marc confirmed he had lost his visor at some point. 

-Biggest deadhead I've ever met. Every time I see Grateful Dead paraphernalia, I think of Marc. I will continue to do so. 

He will be dearly missed. 

Sarah please know that you are in the thoughts of many in this vast climbing community. I didn’t know Marc but I can so easily picture myself in your shoes. Im so sorry the universe works in such a way that you’ve lost such a dynamic partner.

Athena wrote:

Marc was one the most kind and generous climbing partners I have known. Although he was one of many mentors for me, he was the one that inspired me to become a better offwidth climber. 

A couple random tidbits with him over the years: 

-He let me sleep beside his gear in his car when I was a newbie and didn't own a tent. 

-He let me borrow his #7 & #8 for a creek trip and said all he wanted in return was a photo of me using them.

-He had the biggest collection of gear (climbing, BASE jumping, sky diving, etc.) I have ever seen. When I asked him how he could afford it all he mentioned that for years he would buy one piece of gear every paycheck. 

-On one of my first trips to Vedauwoo we all marveled at how he was able to "princess" his way up an offwidth.

-He knew I was looking for the old #4 cam and texted me when he saw it randomly at a used gear store. I bought it. 

-Marc used to wear this ratty old Corona (?) visor hat all the time. I saw it on another friend's head one day. When I asked the other friend about it, he said he had found it in Eldo. Marc confirmed he had lost his visor at some point. 

-Biggest deadhead I've ever met. Every time I see Grateful Dead paraphernalia, I think of Marc. I will continue to do so. 

He will be dearly missed. 

He told me one day “I don’t have enough C3s,” turns out he had 3 full sets. Every time we climbed any offwidth he would get on there and say “time to princess my way up this.”  For a man that said he hated offwidths, he would climb any of them. He was so looking forward to getting on your climb in Eldo. One thing about Marc- he was so inclusive. He didn’t care if you had one day of experience or 7,000 he would walk you through the system and teach you. If I learned something new he would sit and watch, learn the system, and thank me for teaching him. For every single tale I read or hear know that he shared many tales. He connected us all in a way so few have the ability to do. 

I'm really, really sorry for your loss Sarah.

Awful. Riviera feels like about the least likely place for something like this to happen.

Thanks for writing an account of what happened and including a photo of the location.   

Yeah, we picked Riviera because it was supposed to be the “safe” crag with a big flat belay area for the kiddos. 

I’m extremely sorry to hear about your loss, Sarah. I’ve been in your situation, although it was cancer instead of climbing. Looks like you have a big support group, which will help.

I’d like to comment on the “safety” of the Riviera: I once posted a comment on the Riviera page, saying that above and out of sight are large quantities of unstable blocks. I’ve climbed undocumented continuations above the Riviera and climbed obscure and undocumented routes above those and the big ledge system. I’ve seen lots of bad stuff up there, much of which could spontaneously fall. This is, in fact, a serious danger that lurks above lots of popular crags. Wearing helmets is always wise, but those can do only so much. 

Reading Sarah's description: Marc was scrambling around on terrain with gravel, sand, dirt, some loose rocks.  Probably something everyone reading this has done 10,000 times in the past.  Approaching a climb, setting a TR, descending a multi-pitch.

Easily could have been any one of us.

I'm so sorry for those affected. :(

John RB wrote:

Reading Sarah's description: Marc was scrambling around on terrain with gravel, sand, dirt, some loose rocks.  Probably something everyone reading this has done 10,000 times in the past.  Approaching a climb, setting a TR, descending a multi-pitch.

Easily could have been any one of us.

I'm so sorry for those affected. :(

I went right and he went left from the exact same location. The dice were rolled in a way that was his time. 

Marc was a truly good, truly admirable human being. People always say nice things about others who have passed, but Marc actually was one of the best human beings I've ever known.

He was kind, thoughtful, caring, and generous. He would literally give you the shirt off his back (or an extra windshirt from his pack) if you needed it. He and Sarah Z. loaned me aid gear and taught me how to use it for my first day rebolting. Like Athena noted, he frequented the Sports Recycler and would let you know if he saw a piece of gear that you were looking for. That's how I got a BD 3.5.

He was smart, curious, and always learning, always trying to be safer and more efficient as a climber. He was a fast learner and happy to share what he knew. He'd be super excited to try out a new piece of gear or new technique. His enthusiasm was contagious, which is how I ended up with a VT prussic and a rope hook.

I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone, including his exs.

He was a skilled and fun climbing partner. We did many multipitch adventures and never had an epic. Once it started to rain when we were halfway up Pear Buttress, which he completely took in stride and with good humor all day. We got sandbagged on some heinous chimney thing at Turkey Rocks, but I never once doubted that Marc would get us through it. Marc's default settings were calm, capable, positive, considerate, mindful, friendly, and cheerful. He made type 2 fun actually fun.

The photo is Marc at the base of Pear Buttress. Marc, you will be sorely missed.

Very sorry for the loss and the pain you and family and friends are going through right now. In time, may you and your loved ones be filled with more great memories of Marc and less sorrow. Praying that memories of his selfless character and many adventures will hopefully dampen the pain and make life easier for you all.

Posting this with permission from Sarah Z. Thank you, Sarah, for your strength and desire for the community to learn from this tragedy.

I was there the day Marc died. I desperately want to never go through something like this again, but if I do, I want to be more prepared. I have a few personal take-aways that I'd like to share here in the Injuries and Accidents thread. I hope that maybe this can help someone. 

It's tempting to imagine all the ways the day could have forked differently so that Marc would still be alive and well. If only we had chosen a different crag. If only the Coke can hadn't rolled down to that ledge. If only Marc hadn't spotted it and gone after it. If only conditions were slightly different and he hadn't slipped. If only he had fallen differently and not struck his head. If only he was still wearing his helmet. If only he had shouted, or someone saw the fall, and the response had started immediately.

It’s tempting to wonder whether a helmet or immediate response might have saved him. But it happened the way it happened, and we’ll never know what might have been. Marc wasn’t doing anything that we haven’t all done, and none of us were perfect on that day or any other day. There’s no use in trying to pinpoint blame. A series of events lined up, and Marc got terribly unlucky.

Regardless of the specifics of Marc's fall, here are some things I've been thinking about, and will do differently. 

-I will be abundantly cautious about scrambling in possibly unstable terrain.

-I will wear a helmet in more situations, even when I think it’s not necessary.

-I will be more mindful of where my partners are at the crag, and quicker to check on them.

-If I fall and I have the ability, I will shout. Loudly. Probably something obscene. 

-I will always carry my emergency beacon when I might be out of cell coverage.

-I will know exactly where my beacon is in my pack and make sure it is close to hand. On this day, by coincidence, I had my beacon already out and sitting on a rock. 

-I will make sure I know EXACTLY how the beacon works. I learned about my beacon (Garmin InReach Mini) when I first got it a couple of years ago. I understood the basics, but I had some gaps. When Sarah called for an SOS, I first grabbed my beacon and activated its emergency signal. I saw that it was sent. Meanwhile, I tried calling 911 on my phone too but it didn’t appear to connect so I put it in my pocket and started down the trail toward Marc's position. Then, I heard a faint voice talking to me from dispatch. I wasn't sure whether it was coming from the beacon or the phone. In the adrenaline and chaos, I held one up to each ear and spoke to dispatch. I was able to confirm they knew we were at the Riviera and where the trailhead was, and to give basic info about Marc's condition. At the time I thought the voice was coming from my beacon but I now know that the beacon doesn't have voice call capability, so the phone call must have connected after all, or dispatch called my number based on the SOS signal. After about a minute of talking, I must have accidentally hung up the phone or it lost signal, because dispatch got disconnected.  

-I will look into satellite texting for phones and prioritize that in my next phone purchase. I am grateful that the other person on scene had emergency satellite texting capability on her phone and maintained contact with the emergency folks to get their advice and update them on what we were doing for Marc. Texting by phone was much easier and more intuitive than using the beacon. The beacon itself has an excruciatingly slow user interface to text using the three basic buttons on the device. (I did not even try to do this, given the urgency to go to Marc once help was on the way). Garmin now has a phone app that you can tether to the beacon and use to text family and friends, so that might be as easy as the satellite phone texting. It looks like emergency response can also text through the Garmin Messenger app, and now in hindsight scrolling back through my messages on the app I can see that they tried, but I didn’t realize it in the press of the moment. I was not very familiar with that feature and did not check the app for EMS messaging. (Again, the need to learn exactly how the device works and stay updated as features improve). In the spirit of redundancy, I will probably maintain my Garmin beacon subscription even if I get a phone with satellite emergency texting. (Actually, I need to learn more about this. I just now googled and learned that the Garmin Messenger app also uses the satellite network when cell or wifi are not available). 

-I will work hard to desensitize my squeamishness and improve my emergency medical skills. I took a WFR class in the early 2000s but have not maintained my certification. I felt horribly unprepared for this accident. I was the most useless person on scene. I was not sure whether we should roll Marc over for CPR, out of fear of a spinal injury. I was not sure whether I could feel his pulse or if I was feeling my own pulse in my fingers. I was scared that if we rolled him over and his facial injuries were horrific, I might pass out and create another problem. I will be forever grateful to the other person on scene who took control. She yelled at me to help her with Marc or else "then he's fucking dead". Her clarity galvanized me to action. We jointly rolled him over and took turns providing chest compressions until the medics arrived. She also knew the right rate of compressions to give. The medics said Marc likely didn't survive the initial impact, but it helps to know that we did what we could.

-I will also be forever grateful that the other person on scene encouraged Sarah to hold Marc’s hand and tell him she loved him. I was afraid to ask Sarah to approach because I didn’t know if she’d want to see Marc in that condition. But Sarah did take his hand and talk to him. She said she was glad she did, and that she felt Marc knew. I will remember this.

-I now know firsthand how adrenaline and chaos impact my thinking, and I realize how important it is to rehearse emergency skills regularly and get them dialed in so that they are retrievable in an emergency. 

-Lastly, I know I’m living a cliche, but since last Sunday, I care much less about the petty stuff. It has all been washed away by the smack-in-the-face lesson that life is stupid and short and random and precious. What really matters is love and community.

I’m glad that Marc’s last day on Earth was a good one with family and friends, up until the end. Miss you, Marc. Wish you were here. 

Thank you for that informative rundown L Kapp. I'm so sorry you all had to be there for this but you are right... a beautiful day out with those we love is a wonderful last day for any of us. I hope you all find peace and find joy in the mountains that Marc clearly loved so deeply. Take care of eachother. 

Sounds like you all did what you could in an awful situation, didn't freeze up, and made use of the resources & knowledge you had. At the end of the day, that's all any of us can do, no matter our level of training and preparedness.

Hoping you spend time in community and with others who knew and loved your friend. Sounds like there's no shortage of people who fit that description. May his memory be for a blessing.

As tragic and heartbreaking as this is, this is a gold standard of accident threads.  Heart, prayers, and respect goes out to all involved.  What an emotional and sobering read.  

So sorry to hear about your loss. While Marc and I weren’t super close we have both been part of the boulder climbing community for over 20 years. I met him a long time ago when I worked at Neptunes. We climbed and skied together a fair bit for a couple seasons but then lost touch for random reasons. He was a super fun guy to be in the mtns with and was always super competent. I would see his posts on MP and always fondly remember the routes we did together. You have my deepest condolences. RIP my friend

So sorry for your loss. 

Sarah is going through a lot this week but I know she's reading and appreciates everyone's condolences and memories of Marc. I do too. Thank you, everyone, for reading, for caring about Marc's life and death, and for your kind wishes.

A little more follow up from me:

-I have purchased a couple of CPR PPE (personal protective equipment) kits, including masks with one-way valves to facilitate rescue breathing. I'll keep one in my pack and one in my car. I checked with a nurse friend who said this kit looks good. I'm all for shaving pack weight, but this is going to get priority.

-Someone I know from the Boulder Climbing Community saw this thread and reached to me out with condolences and a recommendation for this Wilderness First Aid course that is tailored for climbing situations. My deep thanks to them. I wanted to pass the info on for other local climbers. Let's fill these classes.

-I forgot to mention that my listed emergency contact (husband) was notified by Garmin about my beacon activation. He spent a tense hour+ wondering if I was okay before I had a chance to text him. Garmin did not provide him with any other information about the incident. Something to keep in mind.

-I will continue to prioritize bright/neon colors in my outdoor gear. Sarah spotted Marc by his bright red jacket. I took off my bright orange jacket and waved it in the air when we heard the emergency sirens coming, so that they could spot our location from the road and the trail. Fuck fashion. Visibility matters.

Sad deal 

I offer my sincere condolences to Marc’s Family and Many Friends.