telewoman wrote:thexcat wrote:When I climbed Shasta in 2005, there was a very similar incident. Guy fell ~2000ft from Redbanks and had to be airlifted out later that day
Apparently the guy had forgotten to wear the ice ax leash.
Ummm...I know that the guide services in the Mt. Shasta area don't encourage climbers to wear a ice-axe leash around the wrist. It it used more for glacier and rope travel. A few accidents that have happened on the mountain with people wearing their leashes and then taken a fall has been the ice-axe impales into the person's leg, arm, and even worse stories.
I believe there are two rules of thought to wearing the ice-axe leash. I personally don't wear the leash except to attach it to my harness for glacier and rope travel. Just my thoughts.
I recall an accident in 2005 over Memorial Day weekend. There was a major whiteout .. I turned around near Thumb Rock and headed back down the gulch. Downclimbing the rock hard snow was an exercise in patience.. it was not a big deal to me since I'd been up Shasta three times in 2004. Mostly I'd come up to meet a group and practice glacier mountaineering skills.
Anyway, I remember getting back to Bunny Flat and watching a man being loaded into an ambulance. It looked like a lot of skin had been scraped off his hands and forearms. I read later that he'd also suffered a broken ankle. Can't recall how far he'd fallen, but I see there are some accident reports for past years here -
http://www.shastaavalanche.org/advisori ... /accidentsThe current
climbing advisory says this -
USFS wrote:A climber fell while ascending on the night of 10/31 and tumbled 1200 vertical feet. He had multiple injuries and was helicoptered off the mountain and flown to a hospital in Redding on 11/1. The current conditions are more hazardous than the typical conditions during early summer climbs. We currently have 1-3 feet of hard snow on the mountain above 9000 ft. This leaves numerous rocks protruding through the snow. With smooth and firm snow, if you fall and are unable to self arrest immediately, you will pick up speed rapidly and most likely impact rocks, resulting in serious to fatal injuries. We had a fatality in November, 2008 under similar conditions. The current climbing conditions are best for experienced mountaineers. Always wear a helmet and use an ice axe and crampons. Self arrest should be second nature. Also, we are observing a lot of rock fall as the sun warms slopes, so use caution and minimize your exposure. Check the weather forecast before your climb, monitor the weather during your climb and be prepared for strong winds, cold temperatures and low visibility as weather changes rapidly this time of year.
Sorry to hear about this. Hope you get some good skiing in this year Robin