Mountain climber with no rope plunges 1,000 feet in Alaska national park, officials say

[soothsayer]

Link to tweet

?s=21

Snip

Climbers were 17,200 feet high Monday when they saw another climber without a rope tumble, Alaska officials said.

The 31-year-old climber plunged nearly 1,000 feet in Denali National Park and Preserve. He was on Denali Pass, which has an elevation of at least 18,200 feet, according to the National Park Service.

Park officials rushed to the injured climber’s rescue, making it to him in under 30 minutes. A helicopter was already at a nearby basecamp surveying glaciers when officials received reports of the fall....

Ambulance paramedics gave Rawski “life-saving” medical care until a life flight helicopter could take him to a hospital in Anchorage. He was in critical condition, according to park officials.

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nation-world/national/article251692343.html

[samnsara]

1. "I told you so!" says his wife......

[GregariousGroundhog]

2. The climber survived a 1000 foot fall?

There's a map showing the start point and end point of the fall here:
nps.gov/dena/learn/news/may25fall.htm

It's amazing the climber survived that.

[soothsayer]

3. Maybe he bounced a lot?

[Effete Snob]

9. .

[SoonerPride]

21. hahahaha

well played

[Effete Snob]

8. The first 990 feet are easy

But once you get down to around 10 feet or so, you can jump from there.

[sir pball]

10. That's a different fall

4 climbers from May 25th...2011.

[Demovictory9]

14. that's like falling from 100 floor building

[LiberatedUSA]

4. I don't know how anyone could free climb for fun.

No matter how skilled. I would freeze up at the thought of falling and would be unable to move. I wouldn’t do it with the safety equipment either. Would not do that or skydive.

That one tightrope walker that went between the towers had to have been crazy. Just watching that movie made me cringe.

[3catwoman3]

11. Neither do I. I definitely do not have...

...the thrill seeking gene.

[MissB]

12. One of my kids climbs

He was on El Capitan recently. It is a multi-day climb for him, so he and his friend spent two nights on the rock face.

He sent me a picture of the gear dangling. It included a portable ledge, which looks like simple cot or stretcher. It gets linked to the rope at night to create a horizontal ledge on the rock face that they strap into to sleep at night.

So many nopes for me.

On edit: not free climbing at all- they’re roped in for the climb.

[Duppers]

16. Holy Cow!! Wow!

My climbing nephew would like to meet him!

That's scary as heck for those of us who are uncomfortable on a ladder.

[tinrobot]

13. I'm with you in not wanting to free climb, but there's a reason people do this.

Fear is always about the future. These sports are all about being present and in the moment.

When we stand on a precipice, we fear falling at some point in the future. That's what is scary - the thought of the future, not the precipice. But in that moment, you are just standing, you're not falling.

People take these sorts of risks as a way to force themselves to be present. A lot of adventure sports people use it as a form of therapy. It makes them feel better, more connected, less turbulent. Overcoming fear is a way of not thinking about the future too much.

[Duppers]

18. So very true.

Insightful & well said.

[Crunchy Frog]

20. And sometimes they end up not having a future to worry about.

But as long as they're okay with it, I'm okay with it on their behalf.

[LuvLoogie]

15. This is the craziest ever....

The documentary won the Academy Award

&ab_channel=OneLifeOneLife

[tblue37]

25. Now, that triggers my acrophobia!

[Duppers]

17. Skydiving is safer imo.

I've done that. As they say, it's the landing that gets you.

[Wounded Bear]

23. Yeah, and if your chute fails...

you can take it back and swap it for a new one.

[Duppers]

24. 😂

Yep, gotta a point there.

I knew the guy who packed my chute - he was also my instructor & had done 1,000s of jumps, so I had a load of confidence in him...trusted him with my life, literally.

Was then in my late 20s ...would never jump now...unless it were a "randem jump." But perhaps it'd stress my ticker too much?

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. This doesn't seem, however, to have been free climbing

It wasn't up a rock face, but from Denali Pass - the ridge between two peaks. It is the same as the link given in reply #2 (though that was specifically about an incident 10 years ago). It was mountaineering; it looks like a relatively shallow gradient, with steep falls either side. At the detailed level, you may or may not be going over steep rocks. And people may decide they feel it's better to be able to move fast without ropes connecting members of a party (if all you do is connect the party, you're relying on the others being able to stop a sudden fall without getting pulled off themselves; if you use 'protection' with chocks and slings around features, it takes time to place it, and then for the last to remove it. It's all a trade-off).

[Ilsa]

5. I don't get why he was without a safety rope.

I hope he makes it.

[jobendorfer]

6. Not a lot of detail there

Denali Pass is a saddle between the mountain's two summits. The article is a little bit unclear, but this *sounds* like the climber might have fallen descending the headwall that connects Denali pass to the basin that contains Camp 14 on the west buttress (the most common route.) Falls on the headwall are common, in spite of the fact that fixed lines are usually used there. I hope this guy recovers ...

J.

[nolabear]

7. Who saw that coming?

🙋🏼

It’s amazing he’s alive. Hope he makes it.

[EX500rider]

22. Was he named Homer?