FALLING ROCK, INADEQUATE PROTECTION, FAILURE TO TEST ANCHOR, NO HARD HAT Washington, Leavenworth This accident occurred on June 14, 1987, to B leecker M orse (37) and Jim Turk (30), as reported by Turk. B leecker and I have clim bed Icicle Road area a lot, but not since 1984. Since it w as our first time out this year, w e w ere only top-roping on clean granite. In the
afternoon we decided to look for som ething unfam iliar to try and hiked away from the roadside climbs. We follow ed the base o f a cliff band that had a lot o f rottenlooking rock until we hit a nice crack that intercepted a ledge about 15 m eters up. The rock looked m uch better here, and there w ere signs o f past use (bolts, etc.). Plus, the ledge had a 5.0 gully w e scram bled up to set a top rope. O nce on the ledge, the anchors seemed self-evident to me. There w ere tw o tailgate-sized flakes that w ere apparently bonded to the rock form ation on the ledge. Bleecker was a very safety-conscious clim ber, so w e looped w ebbing around each, then set the anchors so that neither one w ould take a full load in the event o f a fall. (The crack w as just at the edge of B leecker’s ability, so we planned on falling.) N either flake show ed obvious signs o f a fracture that may cause it to fail the w ay they did. I clim bed first, w ith B leecker belaying me w ith a belay device anchored to a tree at the cliff base directly under the route. I ’m not sure, but I seem to rem em ber hanging on the belay when I got just off the ground. I know for sure that I reached up, grabbed the anchor w ebbing and hoisted m yself over the top to avoid having to knock little rocks dow n on my friend by using the littered ledge itself. The point is, the anchor got loaded at least once by me. B leecker clim bed next. He got just off the ground and peeled off. I had him reeled in tight, since he w as ju st off the deck. I low ered him to the ground and unloaded the belay. At this point, we w ere hit by rockfall. There w as no sound, ju st rockfall. Bleecker w as struck by one o f the anchor flakes and w as m ortally injured. I w as struck by sm aller stuff and knocked dow nslope from my belay stance, but not before seeing the other flake land next to Bleecker and me. B leecker had suffered a depressive skull fracture and probably a broken neck, but w as still breathing and had a pulse. I stabilized his head and w ent for help, although part o f me knew he w as already gone. Chelan County sh eriff’s deputy, am bulance crew, and fire departm ent all responded rem arkably fast. The evacuation was difficult because of the steepness o f the approach and distance from the road. Bleecker w as dead w hen loaded into the am bulance, even though v/e had IV, oxygen, and a doctor at this point. It had been two hours since the accident. (Source: Jim Turk)
Analysis Just prior to the rockfall, we had discussed helm ets. B leeck er’s was forgotten at hom e— mine w as strapped to my pack. I elected not to put m ine on because the route looked im m aculately clean; there w asn ’t a lot of w all left above the ledge, and because B leecker d id n ’t have one.... (1) W ear helmets! A helm et w ou ld n ’t have saved B leecker M orse, but it would have saved my having stitches in my head. (2) Select a belay stance out o f the direct route path if possible. (3) Select anchors as if your life depends on it. It does. (Source: Jim Turk)