I Fall Down

I am back in Seattle far earlier than expected. On my second roped lead of the trip, on the third pitch of the Ham'n'Eggs Couloir on the Moose's Tooth, I took a lead fall at the top of an ice step, maybe 12 feet tall. I fell onto a steep snow slope, where I sustained fractures to my right tibia and fibula. I continued sliding in a scary fashion before the rope came taut from the belay. Bye bye, Alaska. Bye bye, Mt. Hunter. Ham'n'Eggs was ancillary compared to Hunter for me. I would not even set up camp at the Kahiltna on this trip, unfortunately. That said, I made it home in one piece - something for which to be thankful. It could have been much, much worse. Also, despite the outcome, I continue to believe that Kevin and I approached this trip and these climbs with an appropriate amount of humility and respect.

A quick summary of the details is here. The terrain we were on was technically moderate, and I felt very comfortable climbing. Near the top of the ice step, my ice tools were plunged into neve atop what felt like a good layer of ice, adhering to underlying rock. When weighted (to allow me to move my feet up), the snow and ice suddenly came loose from the rock, and I fell backwards onto the snowfield, sliding down despite desperate attempts to arrest, eventually plunging over the cliff at the bottom before being stopped by the rope coming taut from the belay (thankfully with me free hanging instead of spattered on rocks further down). The ice in the step was thin and I didn't place a screw; it was also extremely moderate and I felt comfortable on it. The only crack in the rock that was ice - free was flaring and I couldn't get a cam in, either. There was probably 30 feet of rope out, and I took a complete, real deal factor 2 fall onto the anchor. We chose to leave pickets behind for this climb, and one placed at the bottom of the ice step wouldn't have prevented my injury, but it could have prevented me from sliding over the edge of the cliff. An alternate description of it is written here, with maybe a little more discussion of technical details of the fall.

Other teams were retreating from higher on the route due to challenging weather conditions (high winds, lots of spindrift coming down the couloir). About the time that I got back to Kevin at the belay anchor, these other teams arrived on their way down. They generously assisted in my evacuation, making it more orderly and less stressful. A party below on the Root Canal glacier witnessed my fall and me being assisted on rappel, and met us at the base of the rappel line with a sled to assist in evacuating me to the nearby glacier airstrip. From here, I was able to take a great photo of this beautiful line. What little climbing we did was aesthetic, and it appeared to only improve as one went higher. I will likely never know, however.

The weather cleared, and I was able to get on a glacier flight out to Talkeetna. A quick shuttle ride to Providence hospital in Anchorage followed, and with the help of some area climbers I was able to get to the airport in time to catch a red-eye flight home, 25 hours after I woke up to begin the route.

I am grateful to everyone who helped out - Sarah Fritz and Irena of Boulder, Jason Butrick and Galen of Anchorage / Talkeetna, and Ryan and ?? of Anchorage (I forget Ryan's partner's name, but will try to recover it from Talkeetna Air). Most importantly, thanks to Kevin for being a great expedition partner (if only briefly), and for catching my fall!

I am also grateful to all my friends and family who have reached out and been supportive. I go in for surgery on Thursday to put some bionic plates on my leg bones. I will be in an air boot / cast for about 12 weeks before I can begin to select my own activities. It is hard to say what role climbing will play in my life when I am healthy; for now I am concentrating on making a good recovery and staying positive during this challenging time.