La Plata Accident

[Jim Davies]

A good, detailed article about Jeff Ashby's fall and successful rescue on July 15th.
https://leadvilletoday.com/2019/07/20/a ... lata-peak/

[bmcqueen]

Thanks for sharing Jim. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Jeff!

[nunns]

Glad that he is OK. Sounds like someone who had a good plan in place for himself if anything was to happen. That should be a good lesson for all of us.

Sean Nunn

[onebyone]

Wow!

[pvnisher]

Preparation, attitude, determination.
Could have gone poorly, but he had prepared, kept survivor attitude, and adapted to situations (piling rocks to get out of the water).
Excellent example of him being a survivor (not victim) and also huge props to the rescue crews.

[CheapCigarMan]

“These are the neighbors and friends who make up Colorado’s mountain rescue teams. They are the men and women, the mothers and fathers who choose to leave their warm beds in the middle of the night to be dropped off on a cold, dark mountain to risk their own life and safety for someone they don’t even know.”

Thank You

[TravelingWilbury]

Wow that sounds eerily similar to a close call I had on the same route back in April. I knew there were significant cornices on the east side of the ridge but I thought I was close enough to the edge of the snow that it'd be <12" deep. Imagine my surprise when the snow below me gave way and my left side slammed down onto a rock, landing chest deep in the snowbank I was just standing on. I've experienced some pretty miserable postholing, but this wasn't like the usual sinking in the snow feeling. I dropped right through like the bottom dropped out.

I happened to land in such a way that my left arm, though I felt like I almost dislocated it, was in a strong position to grasp the rock, but as I tried to feel for something below me to stand on, my feet were just kicking through rotten snow with no resistance. I eventually was able to roll back onto my backpack towards the rock and roll out of it like a turtle on its shell. Looking at the hole I left behind, it doesn't look nearly as scary as it felt when I was stuck hanging there, but I couldn't help but thinking how close I was to something much much worse. If I had been just a little bit farther out and missed that rock, I imagine I could've plunged pretty deep into the rotten snow (over my head at least), or I might've even triggered a cornice slide (which was the biggest avalanche threat of the weekend and there were reports of big ones letting go elsewhere in the Sawatch). Hell even just 6" farther out and I probably would've dislocated my shoulder on that rock.

I told myself I was probably exaggerating with those worst case scenarios, but reading this article gave me chills thinking they might not've been so far fetched. Anybody know exactly where on the route the fall happened?

[Tigerbear]

Way to go Donny!

[DeTour]

Deeply inspiring, and well-written. Thanks to all of the SAR heroes, and to Kathy Bedell for an exquisitely crafted account, and thank you Jim for posting it.

To Jeff Ashby, assuming you eventually read this thread: One silver lining to your ordeal is that, by sharing how you dealt with it, you've helped equip others (like me) with a little more knowledge and determination should we ever face such a situation.

And, another reminder to get and maintain your CORSAR card: http://dola.colorado.gov/sar . This thread prompted me to renew the expiring cards for my gang.

[Tornadoman]

Thanks for sharing the article, nice to see a successful rescue! Wishing Jeff a speedy and complete recovery!

[greenonion]

Sorry if I missed it, but can anyone say where this happened on La Plata? Is this still a possible hazard and risk on the mountain?

[Herbert]

Not to make too light of the situation, but I note that if an astronaut who has made 3 trips to the Space Shuttle can get off route, it can happen to anyone. Makes me feel a little better about all those switchbacks I've missed. On a more serious note, it's great to see such a positive outcome considering the circumstances. An amazing effort by SAR. Just can't say enough good things about them.