Confessions of an Idiot

[daway8]

This is a PSA to warn/remind people of the dangers of shortcutting on safety.

We've probably all done it a time or two, or at least have been tempted to: it's that moment when your good sense says "I should probably put on spikes here" and/or "I should probably grab my ice axe for this section."

But then comes the rationalization: "it's just a short little section; I got this - it's not worth stopping to pull out the gear for."

As a point of reference, I've been climbing for decades now. I have hundreds of summits under my belt (when counting repeats) with dozens of winter climbs including a recent successful snowflake of Longs peak.

I've learned proper safety techniques by taking climbing classes, AAIRE training, and learning and practicing proper self arrest technique. Each year, and especially before taking on dangerous terrain I review and practice, in a safe location, how to self arrest after a fall by practicing going down a slope feet first and head first on my back and on my stomach and have become proficient at using my ice axe to rapidly arrest in all those circumstances.

I have invested in mountaineering boots, crampons, ice axe, ice tool, microspikes, helmet, etc and have spent plenty of time and money learning to safely use these tools.

But all this didn't prevent my trip to the ER as a result of a momentary lapse of judgement.

Here's the situation: a friend and I were climbing an easy class 2 13er in the Sawatch that included bashing through a lot of unconsolidated snow in the trees then slugging up the long slope to the summit. The snow was variable quality on the summit ridge - sometimes powdery, sometimes punchy, sometimes blown to bare, dry rock. Avy danger was green (low) for the day.

All was well until the last tiny little push to the summit - a section of maybe 20 feet or so of pretty steep snow above slightly more gentle slopes below. It had the first signs of some very minor cornices just starting to form at the top. It was red shaded on the map but avy danger was low and we'd not detected any signs of instability.

My friend, who was wearing microspikes, easily went straight up and over the small feature. I was still wearing snowshoes with the ascents flipped up and was feeling a bit impatient to get to the top. I tried briefly to see if I could just send it up in snowshoes but it was too steep and I just slid backwards. Reluctantly I stopped to remove the snowshoes and strap them to my pack.

The intelligent thing to do next would have been to take the extra minute or two to put on my microspikes and grab my ice axe. But it had been a long approach and I wanted to be done and, come on, it's just 20 feet - I got this. I'll kick steps and be fine. I shrunk my poles and held them as I tried the final little push to the summit.

A small slip made me stagger but not fall, however I dropped one of my trekking poles which, to my great annoyance, slid down perhaps 50 feet before stopping in some rocks.

I use my poles a lot and hate leaving gear on the mountain so decided to go ahead and retrieve it. Still impatient to be done I told myself "well I'll make this quick by just sliding down to get it."

I had come up towards the summit at a slight angle. The snow I had just ascended was not at all bulletproof. Expecting similar conditions right next to that on the path where my pole slid down I once again opted to not bother to unstrap my ice axe thinking I'll just lean back, sit on my butt and do little kicks with my heels to control my speed.

But the snow in this little section proved to be MUCH firmer than the nearby patch I had just come up. The instant I started sliding I knew I was screwed. I shot off like a rocket. This was this sort of situation I had practiced for but I stupidly had my ice axe strapped to the back of my pack where it was of no use. I flailed about desperately trying to reduce my speed but only succeeded in rotating myself a little.

It all happened in a blur - I was shocked at how instantly the situation transformed from "oh, this is nothing" to "oh crap!" My left arm slammed into the first jagged exposed rock and my body rolled to a stop in the pile of rocks and snow below.

My partner called out from the summit to ask if I was ok to which I responded "I'm not sure yet." My left arm was aching severely but not broken, and I still had full use of both hands. I had stashed my headlamp in my left chest pocket and that had been smashed into my ribs making them tender.

I pulled back the sleeves on my left arm to take a quick look. I caught a glimpse of essentially a bloody dent in my arm but it wasn't gushing or anything. Being someone who can get queasy at the site of bloody injuries I decided to have my partner take a look, but on safer terrain. This time I put on my spikes, grabbed my axe and had my partner direct me around to the lowest angle approach so I could get up onto the flat ground of the summit to deal with the injury.

With proper gear and a less aggressive approach angle it was easy to get to the summit which I went ahead and tagged so I wouldn't have to return. Then I asked my partner how he was at dealing with blood. He didn't have any issues so inspected my arm for me. There was a good size gash but no major bleeding. He recommended we wrap the wound and that we cancel our plans for additional peaks so I could go to the ER for stitches rather than try to do the upcoming scrambling of the next peak with an injured arm.

I had a miniature pocket knife and my partner had an unused neck gaitor which he cut up to wrap the wound with since we had both left our first aid kits in our cars (add that to the list of bad decisions for the day...)

We had many hours of backtracking through deep snow to return to the TH then many hours of driving to get to the ER (everything else was already closed by that time). When I explained what happened they ran me through the works and checked me out extensively including X-rays and blood work but thankfully all I had wrong was some slightly tender ribs and a gash on my left arm that took 6 stitches to seal up.

I got very lucky on this first day of 2024. If I had hit my head or injured my legs that far from the trailhead this story could have ended very differently. I was also blessed to have a super helpful and compassionate partner who went out of his way to help me in many ways throughout the day (thanks Yaktoleft13!)

The most annoying thing is that I had all the necessary gear and experience to have allowed me to completely avoid this situation. An extra minute or so to stop and pull out the gear that I already had in my pack and put to use the safety practices I already knew would have prevented this late night trip to the Emergency Room.

So please, please, please everyone learn from this idiot. The next time that little voice in your head says "it's just 20 feet - I got this," make sure you very carefully consider the outcome. Take that extra minute or two in order to do things right.

My new New Year's resolution: don't be an idiot.

[skyrme17]

I'm glad you're OK, and doing well! Wishing you only safe adventures.

[HikesInGeologicTime]

Ahh, Colorado snow. Gotta love it, especially if you’re a skier/snowboarder/couloir climber, but you can never trust it, as I learned the unfortunately literally hard way myself on Handies in 2019, in a story remarkably similar to yours except for the location, being solo, and taking the brunt of the damage with my face rather than my arm.

Super glad that the worst that happened was us now being in competition for the…best?…“I don’t need no stinkin’ ice axe or crampons on a snow crossing this trivial!” story, and thanks for being bold enough to share yours!

[greenonion]

David. Thanks for sharing this. Glad you are relatively ok. Am not surprised you got great help from yak!

[Scott P]

Glad you are OK. I think we've a been there (without an ice axe and/or crampons/spiked when we should have had them). It's an easy trap to fall into and a good one to be reminded of.

[yaktoleft13]

Kudos for sharing. Lessons were learned and fortunately at the expense of only a few stitches. Plus, we still snuck a summit!

We learn and we do better next time. Such is life (and mountaineering)

[12ersRule]

Glad you are safe, David. Good lessons to learn. I've definitely done that before, left my gear in the bag when I should've been using it.


Here are my confessions:
1) I really could care less about style. I'd count a summit if a helicopter dropped me off there. (hey choppers are expensive).
2) I care more about the lives of most wolves than I do people. There are a lot less of them and about 8 billion of us.
3) If I were better at Espanol, I'd be working hard at trying to retire and live in a lot cheaper Latin American country.

I wanna hear y'alls true confessions


Alright....so much for one of my New Years Resolutions. Have a good one.

[headsizeburrito]

Glad you are in one piece and thanks for a detailed account of the incident. Calling yourself an idiot is certainly too harsh, but it's easy to be hyper critical after something like this.

You are certainly right that we've all cut a corner once in a while. Sometimes we can claim it's a "calculated risk" and sometimes it's just being thoughtless or lazy and getting lucky. If we are honest, nobody can be perfect 100% of the time and we've all gotten away with things that could have easily gone wrong. That said, we can all do more to evaluate safety and most of us really aren't in such a hurry we can't pause for a moment to be more careful. It's a good reminder of what can happen and an opportunity to reflect on how we operate up there. I know it has me thinking about a better way to carry my spikes so they are more accessible without having to take my pack off so I don't skip it out of laziness for short/seemingly marginal sections like you were dealing with.

Nice job on Long and I hope you recover quickly!

[Wildernessjane]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s a great reminder and you may have helped someone to avoid potential disaster. Glad you are okay and it was not worse.

[ekalina]

Thanks for sharing. An accident/miscalculation like that could happen to anybody. Your experience reminded me a little of an accident in Crestone Peak's Red gully that I read about, albeit at a different time of year and with more serious consequences:

"On Saturday, July 11, Jennifer Staufer (39) and her climbing partner, Adam Vonnahme (38), climbed Crestone via the south face (class III). Both climbers had multiple 14er summits; Crestone was Jennifer’s 41st 14er. While ascending, they wore Micro Spikes and used ice axes, due to ice and snow on the route. During the descent, the snow appeared to be soft enough to forgo the Micro spikes. Near 13,000 feet, Jennifer slipped on an icy patch while crossing a couloir. Unable to self-arrest, she fell approximately 150 feet, stopping in a snowmelt waterfall. She had to wait for her climbing partner to help her move or she might have fallen farther."

http://publications.americanalpineclub. ... w-and-Rock

I was on a hike once where we took spikes on and off several times, and there was one person in the group who used a carabiner to clip the rubber rings that comprise the frame of the spikes to near their waist (maybe hanging from their pack's hip belt - but be careful not to drop them if you unbuckle the hip belt). I haven't tried it myself but it looked much more convenient than stowing them in the pack. Obviously it wouldn't work so well with crampons though.

[climbingcue]

David first of all I am happy that it was not much worse for you, and you will heal up soon.

I had a similar event happen in June of 2020 climbing Argentine Peak. I forgot my ice axe in the truck (Dumb), but I did have my micro spikes with me, but I was too lazy to get them out for a 20 ft snow crossing. Sure enough I almost made it across and then slipped, sliding down 50-75 ft, all I though was the rocks are going to stop my slide and I am going to break an ankle. Lucky for me, the rocks were loose enough that is help stop me without any injury to myself. I was super pissed off with myself for even putting myself in that situation, I knew better and that is why I was super pissed at myself. I went on to summit the other three peaks that day, so it all turned out ok. It could have been much worse, and I was solo on that hike. Take the extra time to use the correct tools for the job.

[osprey]

But one can stumble even on a smooth road, and such is human fate.
Chekhov