FALL ON SNOW, CLIMBING UNROPED, FAILURE TO SELF-ARRESTColorado, Rocky Mountain National Park, Chaos CanyonO n August 16, 1991, W olfgang Schoch and T horstein H oh (18) w ere clim bing a 45- degree snowfield in Chaos Canyon, Rocky M ountain N ational Park. H oh lost his footing and slid 150 to 200 feet, struck rock, and slid another 50 feet. H oh suffered deep lacerations to the right posterior thigh and buttocks, and was unable to walk. Schoch hiked out to repo rt the incident to park rangers, who responded w ith a four m an tech nical clim bing rescue team . T he rescuers raised H oh up 300 feet o f technical terrain to the C ontinental D ivide, w here they w ere m et by the air am bulance helicopter.
AnalysisH oh, although equ ipped w ith an ice ax, was unskilled in the techniques o f self-arrest. W ithout proficiency in this technique, even an uncontrolled slide on an easy to m oderate angled slope may resu lt in injury or death. In clim bing w ith beginners on snow routes, it is im portan t to belay them until they have gained sufficient experience and proficiency w ith the clim bing and safety (including self-belay) techniques. (Source: Jim D etterline , Ranger, RM NP)