FALL ON ICE, FAILURE TO FOLLOW ROUTE, CLIMBING ALONE
FALL ON ICE, FAILURE TO FOLLOW ROUTE, CLIMBING ALONE, DARKNESS, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT Washington, Mount Olympus On A ugust 9, 1987, Robert Concannon (27) arrived at G lacier M eadow s in m idafternoon. He signed out on the bulletin board in front o f the ranger tent and started up the m oraine trail. Ranger D ave H alloran chased him down to ask if he w as clim bing. Concannon rem em bers that he did not stop to talk to Halloran because he w as in a hurry. He told H alloran that he was clim bing and that he w ould return after dark. C oncannon reached the sum m it o f the w est peak o f M ount O lym pus at 2015. He descended to the saddle betw een the w est peak and the false sum m it. (He had been seen in the saddle around 2100 by Janet Hardy, the Snow D om e researcher.) He decided that he could save time on his descent if he descended on the north side of the saddle instead of going up the False Sum m it and around the Five Finger Ridge. There w as a large crevasse w hich he w ould have to cross im m ediately below the
saddle. He thought that it w ould be possible to jum p the crevasse. W hie he was w alking the edge looking for a jum p off place, he slipped. He rem em bers thinking that since he had the m om entum he w ould go ahead and jum p. He jum ped. He landed on the low er lip o f the crevasse. Instead o f landing in soft snow as he had expected, he landed on ice. He lost his balance and fell into the crevasse. He rem em bers looking up from the bottom o f the crevasse about six m eters to the lip. There w as a ledge system w ithin the crevasse and by cutting steps and holds, he w as able to clim b to the lip. He descended the rest o f the w ay dow n the apron ramp tow ard Snow Dom e. In the fall he had dam aged his ribs on his left side. He also rem em bers that he could not use his ice ax in his left hand. (H is left w rist w as later found to be broken in tw o places.) He found that he w as breathing hard and that the breathing w as causing pain in his ribs. He rem em bered seeing som e snow chutes leading off of Snow Dome to the G lacier on the east side. He cut over to the chutes rather than follow the normal descent route because he thought that the norm al route w ould require him to down clim b on rock and he w as w orried about his footing in the dark. He fell twice and self-arrested with his ice ax as he crossed tow ard the chutes. He fell a third tim e and although he w as in an arrest position, he could not stop because he w as on ice. He fell dow n-slope and over two crevasses before striking the low er lip of a crevasse. The crevasse had a ledge inside the lip w hich he ended up resting on. He discovered that his leg w as broken. He lay there w earing shorts and a Gortex parka. He eventually w orked his w ay into his bivy sack and spent the night. He had a pair o f Lifa “ long johns” and decided that he w ould have to rem ove his boots to put them on, but did not. In the m orning he tried to reach the lip o f the crevasse and found that he could not get out. H e experim ented w ith yelling early in the morning but gave up. Later in the m orning he yelled again and thought that he could make a loud noise and perhaps attract som e early clim bers. Concannon w as heard by a group o f clim bers w ho had overnighted at a cam p below the chutes w hich C oncannon had intended to descend. The clim bers were able to notify Ranger H alioran and the G lenn party w ho w ere starting to search from the area o f the Cal Tech Rocks. A total o f 22 people participated in the rescue— 11 volunteers, 10 park rescuers, and one helicopter pilot. The rescue started at 0630 and w as com pleted at 1958, w hen the victim w as airlifted from the scene. (Source: H unter Sharp, Ranger, O lym pic N ational Park)
Analysis Mr. Concannon w ent clim bing solo, at night, and on a m ountain that he was unfam iliar with. H e w as not very w ell equipped, and he attem pted to take a short cut. It could have been w orse, though. It so happened he fell into a fairly shallow crevasse, there w as a clim bing party cam ped nearby w ho reported his fall, and the w eather w as good. (Source: Steven G len)
saddle. He thought that it w ould be possible to jum p the crevasse. W hie he was w alking the edge looking for a jum p off place, he slipped. He rem em bers thinking that since he had the m om entum he w ould go ahead and jum p. He jum ped. He landed on the low er lip o f the crevasse. Instead o f landing in soft snow as he had expected, he landed on ice. He lost his balance and fell into the crevasse. He rem em bers looking up from the bottom o f the crevasse about six m eters to the lip. There w as a ledge system w ithin the crevasse and by cutting steps and holds, he w as able to clim b to the lip. He descended the rest o f the w ay dow n the apron ramp tow ard Snow Dom e. In the fall he had dam aged his ribs on his left side. He also rem em bers that he could not use his ice ax in his left hand. (H is left w rist w as later found to be broken in tw o places.) He found that he w as breathing hard and that the breathing w as causing pain in his ribs. He rem em bered seeing som e snow chutes leading off of Snow Dome to the G lacier on the east side. He cut over to the chutes rather than follow the normal descent route because he thought that the norm al route w ould require him to down clim b on rock and he w as w orried about his footing in the dark. He fell twice and self-arrested with his ice ax as he crossed tow ard the chutes. He fell a third tim e and although he w as in an arrest position, he could not stop because he w as on ice. He fell dow n-slope and over two crevasses before striking the low er lip of a crevasse. The crevasse had a ledge inside the lip w hich he ended up resting on. He discovered that his leg w as broken. He lay there w earing shorts and a Gortex parka. He eventually w orked his w ay into his bivy sack and spent the night. He had a pair o f Lifa “ long johns” and decided that he w ould have to rem ove his boots to put them on, but did not. In the m orning he tried to reach the lip o f the crevasse and found that he could not get out. H e experim ented w ith yelling early in the morning but gave up. Later in the m orning he yelled again and thought that he could make a loud noise and perhaps attract som e early clim bers. Concannon w as heard by a group o f clim bers w ho had overnighted at a cam p below the chutes w hich C oncannon had intended to descend. The clim bers were able to notify Ranger H alioran and the G lenn party w ho w ere starting to search from the area o f the Cal Tech Rocks. A total o f 22 people participated in the rescue— 11 volunteers, 10 park rescuers, and one helicopter pilot. The rescue started at 0630 and w as com pleted at 1958, w hen the victim w as airlifted from the scene. (Source: H unter Sharp, Ranger, O lym pic N ational Park)
Analysis Mr. Concannon w ent clim bing solo, at night, and on a m ountain that he was unfam iliar with. H e w as not very w ell equipped, and he attem pted to take a short cut. It could have been w orse, though. It so happened he fell into a fairly shallow crevasse, there w as a clim bing party cam ped nearby w ho reported his fall, and the w eather w as good. (Source: Steven G len)
