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The primary purpose of these experience reports and the published Annual Report of Accidents in North American Mountaineering is to aid in the prevention of accidents.
Narrative Description of Accident:
On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, Samuel Wilson, age 18, and his friend, age 17, both from the
state of Washington, called 911 at 6:30 pm. They had been climbing routes all
day at Smith Rock State Park and had become stranded about 100 feet below a
popular feature known as Monkey Face and about 250 feet above an access trail.
Their rope had become stuck and they were exhausted and stranded on a ledge.
Twenty seven Members of the Deschutes County Search and Rescue Unit assembled and set up a Command Post.
Six members of the SAR Mountain Rescue Unit established a position in an area known as the "Springboard" and lowered a member of their Team to assess the young climber's situation on the ledge. The two climbers were then attached to a rescue rope system and lowered approximately 250 feet to the trail below.
The climbers were met at this location and treated at the scene. They were then escorted down the trail and transported by raft across the Crooked River to the Command Post.
The Deschutes County rescue took approximately six hours.
Analysis of Accident: What knowledge and techniques will help prevent future accidents?
Local climbers guiding at Smith Rock State Park suggest the young climbers
study traditional self rescue techniques. The climbers had become exhausted and
de-hydrated on a very warm day in the Central Oregon desert. Their chosen route
was in the direct sun; Smith Rock regulars often pick their sport routes of the
day with sun or shade in mind.
Report filed by Robert Speik for the 63rd edition of ANAM to be published in 2010
Copyright© 2009-2010 by Robert Speik. All Rights Reserved.
What can be learned from this event?
The primary purpose of our TraditionalMountaineering experience reports (and the purpose of the American Alpine Club's sixty-two published Annual Reports of Accidents in North American Mountaineering) is to "aid in the prevention of accidents".
Our Report to the American Alpine Club for the 2010 edition of
Accidents in North American Mountaineering is based on interviews with witnesses,
expert rock climbers and on a
the Mission description released by the Deschutes County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.
--Robert Speik
Local news report of this event
2 climbers stranded at Smith Rock are rescued overnight
By Inka Bajandas, The Bulletin
July 16. 2009
Members of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team spent
six hours Tuesday night rescuing two young climbers who got stranded on a ledge
about 350 feet up a rock face at Smith Rock State Park, officials said.
The two climbers, Samuel Wilson, 18, and a 17-year-old male whose name police
wouldn’t release because he is minor, both of Washington, were repelling down a
rock face close to the popular climbing rock known as Monkey Face when their
equipment failed, leaving them stuck on the ledge, unable to ascend or descend
around 5:30 pm Tuesday, said Sgt. Scott Shelton, Search and Rescue coordinator
for the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.
The climbers, who had been climbing at Smith Rock since Tuesday morning, got
about 100 feet down the side of the rock before their rope system got stuck.
Wilson used his cell phone to call 911 around 6:30 p.m. after the two of them
tried unsuccessfully to get to the ground.
Almost 30 members of the Search and Rescue team responded. Because the young men
had been climbing all day, Shelton said, they had run out of water and were
dehydrated. A two-person team from Search and Rescue lowered food and water to
the climbers on the ledge. Later, a rescue climber attached the stranded young
men to a rope system and lowered them 250 feet to the trail below. A Search and
Rescue medical unit treated the climbers, but they were in good condition,
Shelton said.
“It really wasn’t that long of a process when you think about it,” Shelton said
of the six-hour rescue effort.
Working in the dark slowed the process down a bit, he said, although rescuers
used a portable light tower to illuminate the side of the rock face. Mostly, he
said, they just wanted to be careful.
“That’s one reason it takes a lot of time,” he said. “We always have a rescue
plan for the rescuers.”
Both climbers had several years of climbing experience and had climbed at Smith
Rock before.
Search and Rescue returned the climbers to their campsite around 1 am, Shelton
said. They told rescuers they planned to stay in the area and continue to hike
around for several days.
http://bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090716/NEWS01/907160403
Read more . . .
American Alpine Club
Oregon Section of the AAC
Accidents in North American Mountaineering
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SMITH ROCK PHOTOS
American Alpine Club's 2007 Annual Meeting in Bend Oregon
Smith Rock Detour Bouldering Contest and Reel Rock Tour
Redmond Fire Department rescues a senior hiker at Smith Rock
Smith Rock Spring Thing in 2006
Smith Rock Spring Thing 2006 volunteer's party at the Barn
HERA climb for life fundraiser at Smith Rock
HERA climb4life party at the Smith Rock Barn
American Alpine Club and Traditional Mountaineering build another rescue cache at Smith Rock
Smith Rock Spring Thing Improvements
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Smith Rock hiking in the spring
Smith Rock from above the Burma Road
Smith Rock rescue cache by AAC/ORS and TraditionalMountaineering
Smith Rock weekend
Smith Rock Monkey Face practice
