Accident Report: Rockfall on Tuolumne Peak

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Accident Report: Rockfall on Tuolumne Peak

A Central Yosemite Double Play!

Accident Report: Rockfall on Tuolumne Peak

Page Type: Trip Report

Location: California, United States, North America

Lat/Lon: 37.87530°N / 119.4833°W

Date Climbed/Hiked: Jul 15, 2005

Activities: Mountaineering

Season: Summer

Page By: Jeff Moore

Created/Edited: Aug 18, 2005 / Sep 19, 2008

Object ID: 170350

Hits: 16230

Page Score: 90.26% - 32 Votes

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Accident Site

On July 15, 2005 at 4:30 pm I was injured when I dislodged a large rock while climbing a short class 3-4 chimney on Tuolumne Peak in Yosemite National Park. I was climbing alone collecting data for a research project exploring rockfall. I had not informed anyone of my itinerary, carried no cell phone, and was not wearing a helmet.

The research project had taken me to nearly the same spot the previous Monday to determine rates of cliff erosion by rockfall. On this Friday I had completed 2 sites and was heading for a third at a large cirque amphitheatre on the southeast flank of Tuolumne Peak near Tuolumne Meadows. Approaching the site I was stemming an inside corner when I grabbed a hold above my head and dislodged a large rock. The rock was about twice the size of my chest and it came free from the wall easily, causing me to fall about 15 feet in an upright position. While falling, the rock was at the level of my chest and I fought to move it away from my body. During the fall the rock crushed my left ring finger, nearly severing it, and struck my right forearm, opening an 8 inch gash and destroying much of my forearm muscle. I landed on my feet and badly sprained one ankle (at the time I thought it was broken).

I assessed my situation noticing significant bleeding from my right forearm. Both bones in my arm were visible but neither were broken. My right hand was rendered useless due to the muscle injury, clasped closed without the opposing muscles required to keep it open. I quickly dropped my backpack and took off my shirt to wrap my arm at which point I was alerted to my left finger injury. The finger was almost totally severed, dangling by a small thread of tendon, but was not spurting blood. At the time, I considered pulling it off to ease my descent but did not. The combined injuries left me without dexterity making it difficult to wrap my shirt tightly around my open arm wound.

Looking up I could see Tenaya Lake four miles in the distance where my car was parked and where I would find help. I cursed myself for not having a cell phone but was thankful I was able to walk. Before descending I opted to reshoulder my backpack which had in it a treated nylon jacket, long underwear top, water, food, headlamp, maps and aerial photos, a compass, and an emergency space blanket, none of which I could easily retrieve due to my hand injuries. I placed my left hand atop my right forearm so the shirt would soak up the blood from both injuries, and did my best to hold both arms above my heart.

I began descending over steep slabs, ledges and boulders within 1 or 2 minutes of my fall. I had studied maps of the area well and knew there was a trail some 2,000 vertical feet below the accident site, but in attempting to follow the most direct route I was stopped by terrain too steep to descend in my condition. Backtracking and moving to a lower-angle route, I reached the trail in about 1 hour, during which time I suffered the first of two very painful tripping incidents. I remembered from the maps that once I reached the trail I should head in a counter-intuitive direction, away from Tenaya lake, before the trail would swing around to the proper heading. Unfortunately, I arrived at the trail in a different place than I thought I would, and after walking for about a half an hour I realized I was heading the wrong way. I turned around and hiked out. During my 2 hours hiking on the trail I was badly attacked by mosquitoes since I was covered in blood, wearing no shirt, and couldn’t fend them off with my hands. This stands out in my mind as being the worst part of my day. I also fell another time while crossing a slickrock stream which, aside from being painful, soaked my cotton pants. I encountered no other people on the trail.

I reached the highway at 7:30pm, 3 hours after the accident, and immediately flagged down a car which slowed, looked me over, and drove on. Another car came shortly, and I was driven to the Tuolumne Meadows ranger station. There were no rangers inside so I was helped out of the car and sat on the steps while the driver went to go find one. Before leaving, my helper took off my backpack, first having to peel my left hand from atop my right forearm which had scabbed to the shirt wrapping my wound.

When the Yosemite rangers arrived they decided to take me down to the Mammoth hospital. However, leaving the ranger station in the ambulance we headed west instead of east on Hwy 120 until after about 5 minutes I spoke up and we reversed our course. In Mammoth I was treated very well, undergoing 4 hours of surgery to first clean out the rocks and mosquitoes from my right arm then pin together the complex fracture on my left finger. I was in the hospital there for 2 more days before being flown to San Francisco for micro-surgery to repair my damaged nerves and muscles.

Now, one month after the accident, both my arms are splinted and immobile making every function difficult and requiring near constant care. This accident report is, in fact, typed letter by letter with a pencil strapped to my left splint. At this point I cannot open my fingers or thumb on my right hand, but my left finger is successfully reattached.

As for lessons learned, I think a couple are fairly obvious: let people know where you are going, carry a cell phone if you hike alone, be weary of loose rock, and wear a helmet on steep terrain. I feel very lucky that the rock did not strike my legs or head or I may have not been able to walk out of there and, because of the circumstances, it would have been days until I was reported missing.

Surgery and wound pics: Removed

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ben jammin

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

Good grief!!!

Powerful trip report complete with gruesome pics.

The vivid pics of the insides of your muscles, bones and gory bits kinda reminds me of the morbid fascination I last experienced when taking frogs appart in biology class back at school.

What's the prognosis for your finger / arm?

I wish you a good recovery!

cheers,

ben

Posted Aug 27, 2005 7:18 pm

Corey Bigler

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

Great job on doing all you had to do to get where you needed to, and not giving up. Your courage is an inspiration. Best wishes on a speedy and full recovery. Corey

Posted Aug 28, 2005 11:59 am

Corax

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

I hope you're feeling better and better by the day!

Soon you're be out (and up) there again!

Best wishes, Corax.

Posted Aug 28, 2005 5:42 pm

kamil

Trip Report Comment

Voted 10/10

Great job you made it back... wish you a very quick and full recovery.

Take care mate

Kamil

Posted Aug 29, 2005 6:31 am

Jeff Moore

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

thanks guys for your kind words. at this point, six weeks after the accident, i am just beginning to move my right hand. i sustained both muscle and nerve injuries to those areas which raise the wrist, raise the fingers, and extend the thumb. for a while i could not move my thumb which i was quite concerned about, but now i can feel the muscles contracting even tho the thumb doesnt really move. other functions are similar, weak but they are there, so im hopeful to regain full function w/o additional surgery. much p.t. in my future. still have pins in my left finger, but they come out soon.

jeff

Posted Aug 29, 2005 12:18 pm

hagertyp

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

WOW! I'm astonished at how collected you kept yourself; enough to even point out the ambulance was headed in the wrong way. Did you ever feel faint during your trek down? As a medical student, I find the repair job remarkable, and I'm sure you must be grateful you didn't pull off your finger. Stay strong with the physical and psychological recovery.

Paul

Posted Aug 29, 2005 3:26 pm

Joerg Marretsch

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

Great job to come back and i wish you a full and quick recovery!

Best wishes, Joerg

Posted Aug 29, 2005 3:27 pm

RealityCheck	Trip Report Comment
Hasn't voted	Hold it - his courage is an inspiration? Do you mean to tell me that a guy who failed to follow ANY basic safety precautions deserves your admiration merely because he survived in spite of his own carelessness? The guy's been through a lot, so I'll go easy, but come on. No helmet? No rope? No phone? No trail? No first aid gear? No notice of his destination? This is cavalier, cowboy climbing at its worst. Where is the discussion about responsibility, judgment, forbearance, courtesy, and prudence? This guy's lucky to be alive. Yet, shockingly, he sounds bent on tempting fate again. I don't hear in his narrative any accounting of lessons learned, changes to be made, or recognition of the effects of his own recklessness on anyone but himself. He's obviously got a girlfriend who was terrified when she learned that his narcissistic recklessness almost got him killed. What about her? It's not all about you, friend. What would earn my admiration? At the least, an acknowledgment that his choices -- especially in matters of "fun" that he probably isn't willing to compromise on -- have broader consequences. And preferably, some indication that he is attempting to be more responsible and thoughtful when making personal decisions which affect other people. I see this same mentality in people every day at my job, and I'm so sick of seeing the consequences of people repeating disastrous - even deadly - patterns that they could have changed.
	Posted Sep 6, 2005 6:37 pm

keema

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

I realize RealityCheck is probably a troll but I have to respond. I can't stand people who do not read carefully and then pontificate in a holier than thou attitude!!

No helmet - I didn't wear one nor did the two who did the peak a week before me nor any of the others that I am aware of that climbed the class 3 rock. We are all cowboys?

No rope - he was solo! on less than class 5 rock!

No trail - That's right, there is no trail up there and a fair number visit the peak each year. He did read his topo well and knew where to go.

No phone - They do not work in that area of the park anyway.

With that said, maybe you just you missed the line As for lessons learned, I think a couple are fairly obvious: let people know where you are going, carry a cell phone if you hike alone, be weary of loose rock, and wear a helmet on steep terrain

Posted Sep 6, 2005 7:28 pm

RealityCheck	Trip Report Comment
Hasn't voted	Keema's missing the forest for the trees. Whether doing any one of those things would or would not have helped is irrelevant -- the point is that he did none of them. He wasn't thinking about safety before starting on a seriously risky activity. I feel bad for the guy, but that cavalier attitude frustrates me. And I seriously doubt that any of his defender's on this page share it. My judgment is harsh, and I don't like to be that person. But look, the guy's 26 (or so his bio says), is apparently intelligent as Berkeley engineering student, and obviously has a caring girlfriend from the pictures that he voluntarily posted. I would hope that the lessons learned extend far beyond what to do to decrease the risk next time out on the mountain. But I've seen enough of these situations to know that people tend not to make the fundamental lifestyle changes that are necessary in time.
	Posted Sep 6, 2005 10:24 pm

Corey Bigler

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

In response to Reality Check. My earlier comment stating that Jeff's courage is an inspration was made in regards to after the accident! Doing all he had to, to get to help, and did not comment whatsoever on the climb itself. You replied to the comment entirely out of context.

Posted Sep 9, 2005 1:49 am

Andinistaloco

Trip Report Comment

Voted 10/10

Jeff,

Sad to see that your trip report turned into a "was this guy doing what he should have been doing" kind of argument. I think it's ridiculous... if a person does something hardcore solo, they're a hero, and if they get hurt, they're a fool. Some folks will never understand that climbing is ABOUT doing stuff with an element of danger.

Or maybe I'm just biased (I'll have to scan some of my own grisly pictures some day)...!

Anyway, how's the recovery going? You ought to post an update or something - I'm sure there's a bunch of SP folks who are curious how you're coming along.

Posted Oct 8, 2005 7:35 pm

Jeff Moore

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

well, yah, everybody is welcome to their opinion, so i'll let him have it, i was expecting some criticism. i could do without the preachy attitude though, i know i messed up i tried to be frank with that at the beginning.

as for my recovery, i progress slowly. my right hand is mostly functional, although i still cant raise my thumb and my ring finger droops oddly. hopefully these things will repair themselves in time, but they may not so future surgery is probable. on my left hand, where my finger was nearly severed, i have just recovered from a recent (third) surgery one month ago. my bone unfortunately did not heal on its own so i had to have a titanium plate installed with 6 small screws. it was a really blow at the time because i was just getting mobile then had to be splinted for another couple weeks. right now it is almost like a fake finger, its hard as a rock from scar tissue, i cant move it, and i cant feel it.

but im out of splints now, and in fact leave tomorrow for my first return to the mountains, collecting more rockfall data, hopefully this time not first hand. anyway, im excited to be active again but still have a long way to go and another surgery is likely in the coming year.

here's an xray showing my new finger hardware:

take care - jeff

Posted Oct 9, 2005 12:13 am

Nugs

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

Upon reaching the highway I immediately flagged down a car which slowed, looked me over, and drove on.

I think this is the most shocking peice of the trip report. I'm glad you ended up getting help shortly after. Anyways, good luck with the continued recovery and research.

Posted Oct 29, 2005 3:39 am

kamil

Trip Report Comment

Voted 10/10

No news and it's been a while... Jeff, how ya doing mate?

Posted Jan 14, 2006 8:42 pm

Jeff Moore

Trip Report Comment

Hasn't voted

Well, I just recently went to the doc and am getting ready to go back under the knife for another dual arm job. Presently my left ring finger doesn’t bend (but feeling is coming back) so the first part of the surgery will be to get that finger bending again which basically involves cutting up some scar tissue. On the right arm I will be having a tendon moved over from my right index finger to my thumb (I guess there is an extra tendon on the index finger). This will get my thumb moving again but it will be forever tied to my index finger since they will share the same muscle group, so I wont be able to operate each independently. Finally, the ring finger on my right hand is droopy, a result of trying to approximate destroyed muscle bellies, so it will be tethered to my middle finger by sewing the tendons together on the top of my hand. Here again, I will be forever unable to operate those fingers independently. So basically on my right hand I'll have 3 fingers: pinky, ring and middle together, and index and thumb together. This will afford me most of the basic function required, but its gonna be kind of weird. Not looking forward to being laid up again from more surgery, but I guess I’m doing pretty well considering... Thanks for asking - Jeff

Posted Jan 16, 2006 1:36 pm

Andinistaloco

Trip Report Comment

Voted 10/10

Jeff, sorry to hear about the additional surgeries - hang in there man. I remember busting my knee, and once they put it back together I was thinking, "okay, cool, now that's over with." Un huh. It was over with, not including the next six surgeries. Anyway, best of luck with your next recovery....

Posted Feb 2, 2006 3:24 pm

Jeff Moore

4th surgery update:

Hasn't voted

So I am just now recovering from my 4th surgery… this time its another dual arm job although I’m not as limited as with previous operations. I had tenolysis on my left ring finger, so now it bends again although it’s real swollen and painful from the incisions on top and bottom. I also found out that I had no A2 pulley on this finger; I guess it was lost in the original accident (marmot food), so I had one made from corpse tissue. On my right hand I had two tendon transfers, one makes my thumb functional again and the other fixes a droopy finger. This hand will be splinted for another 6 weeks. Hopefully this will be my last surgery and I should regain most function with this latest operation. Some pics of my latest wounds are below.
Remember to carefully test those holds, and to always let people know where you’re going… jeff

Posted Apr 14, 2006 1:06 am

kamil

Voted 10/10

good to hear your getting functional... Happy Easter!

Posted Apr 16, 2006 10:41 pm

rangermatt

speechless

Voted 10/10

Hope the recovery is going ok for you - that's certainly quite a story you have; good thing you're still alive to tell it. Scary to think about one loose rock being all that it takes to totally change your life - it could have happened to a lot of us. A lot of times I do similar things and think "what are the odds?" Good reminder that the worst case scenario does happen on occasion.

And those photos..... WOW!

Posted May 8, 2006 7:24 pm

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