January 20, 2005

Hi Folks,

When I was a kid, my mother used to say I'd used up one of my nine-lives when I took a particularly nasty spill on our bikes. My grandmother, the Hospers family "Madame Queen", said I'd used up a couple that time I tried to fly my homemade biplane off the top of the house in Macon, Georgia. My wife said the exactly same thing when she heard about the ice climber who fell off Chia on Saturday and walked out of the hospital under his own power later that day!

I must say that it was a bad weekend for winter sports up here in the North Country. First, climber Gerald Prutsman fell while attempting to place a screw in a very thin Chia at Frankenstein on Saturday. Reportedly he fell somewhere between 35 and 40 feet, onto his back, striking his head with enough force to break his helmet and knock him unconcious for several minutes. Fortunately there were many climbers in the immediate area who all responded, including a local doctor. The carry-out was managed by local guide Marc Chauvin. Prutsman was taken to Memorial Hospital in North Conway, where he was examined and subsequently released. That was certainly worth a life.

Another serious accident occurred at Lake Willoughby on Saturday. A Boston climber, Dennis Maher, took a significant fall while leading the left side of Left Tablet. Reportedly, in the process he pulled two screws that were placed in mediocre ice and fell a long ways. Apparently he broke somewhere around 18 bones, including ribs, pelvis, sacrum, and lumbar vertebrae. There is no cell service and no rescue cache in the vicinity. This prompted the 8 climbers who rushed to his aid to do a manual carry-out, down a very steep and icy slope, with no litter, placing him in a car and driving him to the hospital in St. Johnsbury. I can only imagine how painful that must have been! Word has it that he will recover fully, tho surely not in time for any more climbing this season. With the definite possibility of having compounded the injury during a rough carry-out I would say that this one is worth 2 lives. Dennis is very fortunate not to be in a chair blinking his eyes for the rest of his life!

NOTE - There is a thread on NEClimbs discussing the possibility of placing some rescue caches in strategic areas up along the cliff at Willoughby. If this becomes a real possibility I'll probably be putting up some method of asking you all for donations, so be prepared.

A ski-mountineering accident reportedly occurred in Huntington Ravine on Sunday when 2 unnamed individuals attempted to ski down Central Gully. The first was successful, skiing the gully, navigating the fan and continuing down the trail to Pinkham. The second was not as fortunate, managing the gully but falling in the fan. Apparently he struck one or more rocks, causing himself severe injury. Fortunately there were climbers in the area who called for help and assisted in the rescue. It's just lucky that there were people around, as his partner was long-gone! I don't have any more info on this one. I figure this is worth at least one life, maybe two.

So what does this tell us? Is it that ice climbing & ski mountaineering are too dangerous and that we should quit? NAAAAAH! Should we be more careful? Well sure, when we can. Basically we all know the risks for these things and we take them of our own volition. I guess for me the thought is that s**t happens. Just be careful out there and know when NOT to climb.

Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,