First this season. Condolences to friends and family.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_13366234?source=rsssimplepiehome

It's always a very sad thing when someone dies when climbing.

Unfortunately, the news reports are usually so baffling that they are essentially useless for anything other than reporting that someone has died. How is it that he was "being belayed" but was "found" by a CDOT worker? Unless the CDOT worker was his belayer...?

No matter what the details, condolences to his family and friends.

Jeff was a friend of mine and also a climbing guide that I worked with up here in Vail. He was not found by a CDOT worker. It was an unfortunate accident and I was told by the first responders that they will probably never know exactly what happened. The route was inspected afterwards and it was found that all his placements were sound and no gear had popped. It appears to be an unfortunate fall that could happen to anyone. He knew the route well and was a solid climber. My condolences go out to his family and friends......

JJ wrote: The route was inspected afterwards and it was found that all his placements were sound and no gear had popped. It appears to be an unfortunate fall that could happen to anyone.

AHHH....

How did he deck if all was as you post?????


As a guide myself, I would most certainly like to know.

i was wondering the same... gear holding would lead someone to believe the belayer made the catch no?

YUP.. you'd think!

Now I am really confused.

Would really like to hear the facts asap!

"A climber who fell 15 feet from a rock formation near Boulder Falls on Thursday morning died. . . .

"The climber was not wearing a helmet."

It's not certainty, of course, but a 15-foot fall is one of those that could LIKELY not have been fatal if he was wearing a helmet. In a 90-footer, not so likely; but in a 15-foot fall, a helmet can make a huge difference. Damage to limbs and torso in a 15-foot fall is unlikely to be fatal; it's the head that's fragile, as well as most critical to life.

WingLady wrote:Unfortunately, the news reports are usually so baffling that they are essentially useless for anything other than reporting that someone has died. How is it that he was "being belayed" but was "found" by a CDOT worker? Unless the CDOT worker was his belayer...?

Absolutely ridiculous. Yet another example of crappy reporting. And these people actually get paid for it.

Day Hiker wrote:"The climber was not wearing a helmet."

It's not certainty, of course, but a 15-foot fall is one of those that could LIKELY not have been fatal if he was wearing a helmet. In a 90-footer, not so likely; but in a 15-foot fall, a helmet can make a huge difference. Damage to limbs and torso in a 15-foot fall is unlikely to be fatal; it's the head that's fragile, as well as most critical to life.

Was that the actual cause of death or are you assuming a traumatic blow to the skull led to his death?????

Just cuz he "was not wearing a helmet" does not mean that was the ultimate cause of death.... does it?

Part of the bad reporting I suppose.

I don't know for sure about this incident but my company is set (maybe early next year) to go and mitigate a vast chunk of the rock in the boulder falls area, we recently were contracted for the project. there was another death to a tourist @ boulder falls due to a fallen rock. my guess this is the same situation. we will be tearing off tons of loose rock from what I can tell by the photo's I was given..

The Chief wrote:

Day Hiker wrote:"The climber was not wearing a helmet."

It's not certainty, of course, but a 15-foot fall is one of those that could LIKELY not have been fatal if he was wearing a helmet. In a 90-footer, not so likely; but in a 15-foot fall, a helmet can make a huge difference. Damage to limbs and torso in a 15-foot fall is unlikely to be fatal; it's the head that's fragile, as well as most critical to life.

Was that the actual cause of death or are you assuming a traumatic blow to the skull led to his death?????

Just cuz he "was not wearing a helmet" does not mean that was the ultimate cause of death.... does it?

Part of the bad reporting I suppose.

Well, that's why I specifically wrote "It's not certainty" and emphasized "LIKELY." But think about what else I wrote. It's certainly possible to die from a non-head injury in a 15-foot fall. But the damage that would typically occur to a leg or arm or torso from a 15-foot fall is typically not the type that would be life-threatening. That doesn't mean it can't happen, and it doesn't mean it didn't happen in this case. But it's A LOT less likely than life-threatening damage to the brain in an unprotected head in a 15-foot fall.

I agree about the bad reporting, of course.

Let's ALL wait till the situational facts are released before ANY of us start posting/assuming anything, regardless of the local reporting integrity issue.

I don't mean to make light of this tragedy; but it is fairly standard for reporters to note that someone "was not wearing a helmet", regardless of the relevance. That's a tidbit the reporter can grasp, and the more tidbits s/he can fit into a story, the better.

In Vegas about 10 years ago, a 15 ton block of concrete fell some distance onto a worker. Of course, he was horribly crushed and died instantly. Yet a TV news reporter felt it was necessary to point out that the worker "was not wearing a helmet".

"Brown died from his injuries on the way."


AHHHH.... what were they?

It appears that he didn't deck out from his fall.

We will have to wait and see....

Latest Boulder County Sheriff’s Office "OFFICIAL" Press Release

JJ- first and foremost, my condolences to you and others who worked with Jeff. It goes without saying my heart goes out to family as well.

I'm appalled at the irresponsible reporting of the Denver Post. This is not the first time, nor is it limited to the Post. I frankly don't understand why it's so flippin' difficult to fact-check and get the full story before posting. How must they think the family feels? Have we become such a blood-sucking network that concern and sympathy for the bereaved is a passing thought?

It's not as if they haven't been given ample opportunity to hire on a freelancer who knows WTF is going on. Apparently it's just too much bother.

Grrrrrrr. I'm sorry that Jeff's people have to put up with this crap.