FALL INTO CREVASSE, CLIMBING UNROPED British Columbia ...

FALL INTO CREVASSE, CLIMBING UNROPED British Columbia, Bugaboo Mountains, Bugaboo Spire O n S eptem ber 13, 1989, while crossing the C rescent Glacier after clim bing the Kain Route on Bugaboo Sprie, Jo h n Ulricson (45) fell ten m eters o nto a snow bridge in a crevasse. I was traveling behind, carrying a rope. After about 30 m inutes of work, Jo h n was o u t o f the hole, b u t n o t w ithout some dram atic m om ents. (Source: T. J. English (43), Hopewell, NJ) Analysis After seeing many o th e r climbers traverse this sh o rt stretch o f glacier u n ro p ed on a well established snow trail, we did not give the m atter m uch thought. Normally, when we crossed glaciers, we roped up, b u t in this case we assum ed C rescent was a benign glacier. Obviously this was n o t the case. A dditional Com m ents: Jo h n was w earing his helm et, parka, and harness. The h elm et pro tected him on impact, the parka kept him from getting hypotherm ic, and the harness allowed him to securely tie in the rope from above.

In the fall, Jo h n lost one cram pon and would have lost his ice ax if he had n o t h ad a leash. W ithout his rem aining cram pon and ice ax, I am convinced I would n o t have pulled him o u t o f the crevasse. (Source: T. J. English, Hopewell, NJ)