Exum Guide Dies On Grand Today

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Messages 1 - 78 of total 78 in this topic
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 23, 2016 - 09:35pm PT
Per Jackson Hole News and Guide:

Gary Falk, 42, was guiding a group of clients down from a successful ascent of the park's highest pea when he fell about 2,400 feet from the top of the Owen-Spalding rappell into Valhalla Canyon near the Black Ice Couloir.

Teton Interagency Dispatch received a call at about 10:30 a.m. that someone had fallen and was believed to be seriously or fatally injured. Grand Teton National Park's helicopter flew two rangers into a point nearby, and they hiked to the scene, where they determined a recovery effort should be initiated. Falk's body was recovered via helicopter long line and Teton County Coroner Brent Blue declared Falk deceased this afternoon.

Another Exum guide assisted the clients with their descent.

Ouray, Colorado, native Falk has been working for Exum for 12 years. He has a wife and two young sons.

Exum President and co-owner Nat Patridge said the guiding community was "devasted" by his loss.

“Gary was a diligent guide, always the consummate professional," Patridge said. "Exum is grieving from this news and struggling to comprehend the situation. ... Our love goes out to Kate and their sons."

All planned Exum operations were ceased for Sunday in honor of Falk.
phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
Jul 23, 2016 - 10:31pm PT
Thank you for the report, Peter.

Awful accident.
BLUEBLOCR

Social climber
joshua tree
Jul 23, 2016 - 11:46pm PT
Terrible.

My sincere condolences to Gary's wife and boys.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Jul 24, 2016 - 04:03am PT
Very sad
norm larson

climber
wilson, wyoming
Jul 24, 2016 - 04:16am PT
Terrible news. Condolences to all who knew Gary.
johntp

Trad climber
socal
Jul 24, 2016 - 06:30am PT
Condolences to his wife and children and friends.
Fritz

Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
Jul 24, 2016 - 06:46am PT
A tragic occurance. My condolences to family & friends.
crankster

Trad climber
No. Tahoe
Jul 24, 2016 - 07:15am PT
Terrible news. Thoughts and prayers to family and friends.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
Jul 24, 2016 - 07:16am PT
Sad, I am so sorry for his wife and kids.
God speed.
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Jul 24, 2016 - 07:48am PT

My sincere condolences to all of Gary's family and friends.
Sad.
Brokedownclimber

Trad climber
Douglas, WY
Jul 24, 2016 - 07:55am PT
My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Jul 24, 2016 - 08:03am PT
Couldn't have said it better Cragman. My sincere condolences to the friends and family.
Happy Cowboy

Social climber
Boz MT
Jul 24, 2016 - 08:10am PT
Horrible news, so sad. That area is hard on guides. I reminisce the mid to late 70's when two of my best friend/guides suffered severe accidents in the Garnet arena. Tom Raymer while descending from Upper Saddle, and Glenn Milner killed on Tepee Pillar.

My deepest condolences go out to Gary's family and friends.
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Jul 24, 2016 - 10:59am PT
Very sad.

Kim Schmitz was almost killed there guiding as well, right?
Bad Climber

Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
Jul 24, 2016 - 11:32am PT
So sad. Sincere condolences to the family and friends. This can happen to any of us, moving around unroped on easy terrain. We all do it. I was unroped at that very spot myself. One false step.

BAd
bluering

Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
Jul 24, 2016 - 12:09pm PT
God bless him.

Really sucks though.
Fossil climber

Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
Jul 24, 2016 - 01:28pm PT
Terribly sorry to hear this - especially for family. Makes you realize again how ephemeral life can be.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Jul 24, 2016 - 01:34pm PT
Terribly sad and scary.
Anxious Melancholy

Mountain climber
Between the Depths of Despair & Heights of Folly
Jul 24, 2016 - 03:03pm PT
Stunned.

I just slunk out of the Winds this morning and I'm now camped in Gros Ventre. I'm looking up at the spectacular Grand, Owens, and Teewinot with fond memories, yet this tragic news casts deep shadows on my thoughts of past and future Teton adventures.

The mountains do, indeed, call me. And terrorize me. For all their sublime beauty and jagged eloquence, there lurks an unresting and lethal force. Yet how can I resist their temptations?

May Gary's family and friend's hold each other tightly with love. May fond memories help them weather this storm. May mountain light shine brightly and cast the shadows from their path.
Matt's

climber
Jul 24, 2016 - 08:34pm PT
Did the grand the day before (Friday), and descended the OS route. I was thinking about how, for such a non technical route, the guide and client were exposed to a lot of objective risk (mostly shitty rock and changing weather).

Rip.

Matt
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Jul 24, 2016 - 08:45pm PT
hey there say, peter... oh my, :(
very awful, and sad news... :(

my condolences to his family and loved ones...
and sincere prayers as they have to move on, without him, now...

:(


thank you for letting folks know, in case there is some way
that others may help the family, etc...
BLUEBLOCR

Social climber
joshua tree
Jul 24, 2016 - 08:55pm PT
hey Anxious. Bravo!
Hoots

climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
Jul 25, 2016 - 06:39am PT
Just stunned. Just hiked out last night to read this and saw it all over my FB feed. Gary was THE nicest guy, and one of the most professional guides I have met. He taught my Level 2 Avy course in Ouray and was able to get to know him while guiding in the San Juans and while taking AMGA programs in the Tetons.

A good to day to contemplate the risks we all take out there in the hills, especially those who do it for a living and are exposed to the sometimes low danger but for a long time.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 25, 2016 - 09:14am PT
More detail on this disaster:

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/cops_courts/climbers-mourn-after-exum-guide-dies-in-fall/article_72a7965d-96ea-5c95-9bee-debee7e12d2c.html
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Jul 25, 2016 - 09:36am PT
A good to day to contemplate the risks we all take out there in the hills, especially those who do it for a living and are exposed to the sometimes low danger but for a long time.

So very well said.
Matt's

climber
Jul 25, 2016 - 09:44am PT
confused about the accident report-- they didn't bring enough belay devices for everyone, so they have to re-send them back up the rope after a rappel?
overwatch

climber
Arizona
Jul 25, 2016 - 09:46am PT
28 posts was the answer to my musing. Might be a Supertopo record. Condolences to family and friends while I am here
Scole

Trad climber
Zapopan
Jul 25, 2016 - 10:20am PT
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of another Teton Guide. Guiding in the Tetons is a risky business, much different than most US climbing areas. Every trip up the grand exposes the guide, and clients,to considerable objective hazard.

The Sierra Nevada is known as the "Range of Light" During my years as a Teton Guide I called the Tetons the "Range of Rubble". I have lost many friends, guides and partners, in the Tetons. They are beautiful to look at, but are mountains to climb once and move on. Not a good idea to linger.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 25, 2016 - 10:53am PT
Matt, yes; what they were doing was hauling the descender back up for each of the climbers to then descend. A group of guided clients, as usual. And of course the device got stuck in the bogus rock they were on. And Gary took it upon himself to get it unstuck so they could keep going with this routine. He did this leaving his anchor or tie-in apparently. I knew him too.

Scole, definitely. From afar this tiny 45 mile-long range looks stupendous but is actually mostly junk. As rock formations sometimes turn out to be.
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
Jul 25, 2016 - 10:57am PT
While I hate to see the tragic the news, I remain grateful to you, Peter, for providing it. My deepest sympathy goes out to all who knew him, but particularly to his family and his fellow guides.

John
guyman

Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
Jul 25, 2016 - 11:03am PT
My sincere condolences to the Friends and Family of Gary.

RIP
Matt's

climber
Jul 25, 2016 - 11:09am PT
I'm curious-- is it normal guiding technique to not bring enough rappel devices for all clients? Or did someone drop their device? Am i missing something?

As far as I could tell-- The guiding companies have big storage bins at the col, where they keep the technical climbing equipment needed for the grand teton routes. So, weight is not a huge consideration here...
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Jul 25, 2016 - 11:15am PT
I'm curious-- is it normal guiding technique to not bring enough rappel devices for all clients? Or did someone drop their device? Am i missing something?

As far as I could tell-- The guiding companies have big storage bins at the col, where they keep the technical climbing equipment needed for the grand teton routes. So, weight is not a huge consideration here...

Probably just forgot to bring it or a client dropped one, as I did a couple weeks ago.
labrat

Trad climber
Erik O. Auburn, CA
Jul 25, 2016 - 12:15pm PT
Very say to hear. Good thoughts to family, friends, and coworkers.

Pure speculation.....
I did a climb (Baxter's Pinnacle) with Exum many years ago. When we got to the top the guide had me place a second rope on my harness for the rappel and he gave me a belayed back up from the top. Then he rappelled down. I don't remember for sure if this was company policy.

It would not surprise me if doing something like this is part of what happened in this accident. He would be bring up the rope and belay device between clients.

Again. This is speculation on my part.
JLP

Social climber
The internet
Jul 25, 2016 - 05:15pm PT
So, weight is not a huge consideration here...
Seems even if it were, hauling the ropes back up would be more energy and time overall, so it couldn't be justified in any way I can conceive of.

These guys are pro and every detail of that climb is well worn and wired into all of the guides - therefore, seems to me, if I had to make an assumption, I'm thinking someone probably dropped a device.

Also seems the fall line into Valhalla is off to the side of the rap anchor. Therefore I would also guess he was probably off to the side by some distance trying to get the device free - possibly off the worn and safer terrain? It's a horrible scenario - to have your rap line stuck like that and someone left with no device - the guide either raps and free-solos back up, or has to down-solo to get it - either way... Maybe the "best" thing here would have been to make a carabiner or munter brake for himself and give up his device to the client...?
norm larson

climber
wilson, wyoming
Jul 25, 2016 - 05:24pm PT
The "what ifs" in a day of guiding in the Tetons are innumerable. The constant exposure to high consequence risk is something that is always there. I did it for ten years. I live here but I don't even pretend to like climbing there anymore. Too many friends or associates have ended their lives there. That said I don't think Gary did anything that any other guide would not have done. Just really bad luck. Very, very sad to lose another fine person.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 25, 2016 - 05:41pm PT
A very sad bit of news; condolences to Gary's family.




The comment that the Exum guides hadn't had a fatality "for decades" is almost true. Allan Bard died guiding the OS 18 years ago, in icy conditions at the Owen Chimney. (Correction: Jim Donini has pointed out that Allan Bard was not an Exum guide; he worked for JHMG.)

The OS can be icy at any time of year, and there is loose rock on the ledges near the rappel that could trip a person up. The top of the rappel in dry conditions looks like this:



(Source: http://wyomingwhiskey.blogspot.com/ )

Since the guides belay every client down the rappel, it makes sense that they would use just a single device and haul it back up, as the rope has to be pulled up anyway. The rappel is mostly overhanging and so the chances of anything hanging up are minimal (but sadly not zero).
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Jul 25, 2016 - 05:56pm PT
I was in the Tetons when it happened. I didn't know Gary but people I know at Exum thought that he was one of the most technically sound guides they had. A very tragic accident....the slightest misstep in the vertical realm can lead to the gravest consequences. My heart goes out to his wife and two young children.

I was on the Grand when Allan Bard had his accident. I rappelled down from the same rap point that Gary fell from and encountered a couple of stunned clients who said their guide had just fallen. Allan was not guiding for Exum, he was working for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides.
Matt's

climber
Jul 25, 2016 - 06:02pm PT
Since the guides belay every client down the rappel, it makes sense that they would use just a single device and haul it back up, as the rope has to be pulled up anyway. The rappel is mostly overhanging and so the chances of anything hanging up are minimal (but sadly not zero).

The use of a belayed rappel is to allow clients to go up and down the OS who have never rappelled before (is that correct)? Or is it so that the client can rappel without having to rig a prussik-based back-up to the rappel?

Relying on hauling up the belay device on the backup rope seems like an often risky proposition, in terms of getting the rope+ device stuck in the rock...
wbw

Trad climber
'cross the great divide
Jul 25, 2016 - 08:21pm PT
What makes the Tetons a dangerous place to guide in is that it is mountain guiding; which is different than rock guiding. The Grand is a fairly big peak, and it is simply not possible to belay anyone up every single inch of it. There are many places between high camp and the summit which are easy and comfortable for most climbers, but that have serous consequence in the event of a fall. It is left to the judgement of the guide to decide (or at least it was when I guided there twenty years ago) exactly when and where to belay, sometimes without an anchor. I remember going up to the Upper Saddle with a couple of clients and watching Bridwell guide clients down quickly with a remarkable series of quick short roping and lowering of clients, all without an anchor. That is what mountain guiding is. Add to that the other objective dangers such as weather and crappy rock falling down, and one concludes that above high camp the guide is almost always at risk.

Sincere condolences to the friends and family of Gary.

Edit: In my 5 seasons of guiding on the Grand, I don't remember ever pulling up rappel devices after each rappel. There may be a good reason to do this, although I don't know what it is.

Also, the place that used to worry me as a guide was getting clients up the headwall to the Lower Saddle. . always in the dark, almost always dripping wet, sometimes iced up, long upward traverse to the left. NBD for a climber, but many clients on the Grand are total and absolute beginners in the mountains.
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Jul 25, 2016 - 08:37pm PT
Sad day. We were at the Climbers' Ranch when word came in on Saturday. Cast a bit of a pall over our scene. Didn't help to get home on Sunday and hear of another fatality in Maple Canyon. Heavy sigh...

I was on the Grand when Allan Bard had his accident. I rappelled down from the same rap point that Gary fell from and encountered a couple of stunned clients who said their guide had just fallen. Allan was not guiding for Exum, he was working for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides.

We'd climbed the Grand via the Stettner-to-Ford the day before and were hanging out in the Moraine Camp. Conditions were pretty snowy/icy. Ugh.

http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13199807400/Fall-on-Rock-Inadequate-Belay-and-Protection-Wyoming-Grand-Teton-National-Park-Grand-Teton-Owen-Spaulding

This climbing thing can be unforgiving on the simplest of mistakes.

Condolences to friends and family.

Let's take care out there, folks.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 25, 2016 - 09:21pm PT
I can think offhand of eight times when I came within a hair of having an accident like Gary's.

1. While soloing the Jensen Ridge, my left handhold broke, causing my left foot to blow off its hold. With right hand and right leg still on, I pivoted out almost to the point of total release, and then managed to pivot back in again.

2. Similar experience guiding in the Gunks. Not enough pro to prevent a groundfall. I stood up on a foothold that looked as if it could break, but I had tested and used it the week before and it was fine then. This time it broke and the other foot went too. Stopped myself on fingertip handholds. Yay for Gunks horizontals.

3. Walking at the edge of a huge cliff at the top of No Escape Buttress, a stone rolled under my foot. I ended up sitting on the lip with one leg hanging over in space.

4. Leading a climb in the Custer SD Needles, I had passed the crux and was embarking on the all-to-usual groundfall runout. I arrived at a spot for a piton, but the climbing was moderate and I felt fine without it. For some reason, I changed my mind and put the piton in. Two steps higher a crystal broke and I had an inconsequential fall onto the piton, but it would have been a death groundfall otherwise.

5. I failed to tie in once, just had the rope passed through my swami with no knot. In a way fortunately, the rope fell off when I was half way up the pitch (fortunate because I didn't fall or try to weight the rope). I soloed the rest of the route to the top.

6. I fell up to my armpits in a crevasse underneath the West Face of Snowpatch spire. Unroped. Legs kicking around free. Somehow managed to get roped up and then wiggle out.

7. There have been two times when I assumed I was tied in but discovered that I was not attached in any way to the anchor on a ledge.

After 59 years of climbing, these few moments constitute the tiniest fraction of the total experience. I can't say they've conferred any real wisdom, other than the amazingly slow realization that we may think we are more in control than we are, and that frequent reflecting on this fact is probably a very good idea.

The difference between between many of us and Gary is that we have so far been lucky and his luck ran out. We have all worshipped at the altar. We have all drunk the waters. We have followed Muir to the good tidings the mountains offer, and yes, Nature's peace flowed into us as sunshine flows into trees. The moment of inattention, the ill-considered step, the rock that crumbled, the storm that raged, the stones that fell, the sling that snapped, these have been part of the fine print of the contract, the one we signed---as usual without really reading the whole thing.

Whether or not we actually knew Gary, we somehow understand what happened, and we grieve for him and the family he left behind, surely for their own sakes, but also because we are him, and he is us.
fear

Ice climber
hartford, ct
Jul 26, 2016 - 06:26am PT
Also, the place that used to worry me as a guide was getting clients up the headwall to the Lower Saddle. . always in the dark, almost always dripping wet, sometimes iced up, long upward traverse to the left. NBD for a climber, but many clients on the Grand are total and absolute beginners in the mountains.

Yep, and once just pausing at the start of that headwall we were literally rained on by softball sized rocks at terminal velocity exploding all around. Nobody was hit which was good since nobody had
helmets on and it likely wouldn't have mattered.



Bldrjac

Ice climber
Boulder
Jul 26, 2016 - 07:44am PT
So very sorry. Condolences to his family and friends. Ugh...
sowr

Trad climber
CA
Jul 26, 2016 - 02:49pm PT
Tragic accident and my condolences to his friends and family. I'm sure he understood that the risk went way up when he unclipped from the anchor. I soloed the OS route with a friend in the 90's - well, as far as the Double Chimney, the exposure was staggering and it really got to me, so I suggested we rope up - which felt a lot better. To be un-anchored in such a location is to accept that the consequences of an error will be violently fatal.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 26, 2016 - 05:48pm PT
Gary left a wife and two young sons.

A gofundme site has been set up to help them navigate the financial tough times ahead. http://www.gofundme.com/2g5jqkk
BLUEBLOCR

Social climber
joshua tree
Jul 26, 2016 - 06:30pm PT
Thanks rGold :)
Charlie D.

Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
Jul 26, 2016 - 07:36pm PT
Heart breaking, my sincerest condolences to family and friends.
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Jul 26, 2016 - 09:10pm PT
It's at best silly to speculate on this. There are any number of ways this could happen on this terrain, when everything was done "right."

If it's a single guide with multiple clients, the standard is likely to be a belayed rappell, as opposed to a fireman scenario, various details of the situation would determine this decision in a give situation on a particular day. If it is a belayed rap, you're going to be pulling up the rap line every time between rapells. Forget about whether they are hauling a device each time, ( though that's an additional complication) that's irrelevant right now, the fact is even a bare rope could potentially get hung up each time, get it? If the only way a guide can unf*#k the rope is to be untied, there is going to be risk. I imagine he had done similar things other times ( you can't completely eliminate the need) and this was the time that caught up with him.
Condolences to a fellow guide whose got caught up in the odds.

Every one of us takes risks like this every day of our lives, sometimes it's just crossing the street, or passing a slow car. Chance and entropy are always over our shoulder.
Play for keeps! But don't the afraid to live!
Spanky

Social climber
boulder co
Jul 27, 2016 - 07:06am PT
This one hits me really hard as it could have been me. I have a 2 year old and another on the way and it breaks my heart to see his little ones who won't remember their dad. I have been guiding in RMNP for 12 years and from what it sounds like Gary was using the standard industry set-up for getting multiple clients down a rap situation like the OS. If you have clients you don't know or who are inexperienced a belayed rappel from above gives the guide the most control over the situation like a couple posters mentioned above. One thing I don't think I saw mentioned that is an advantage of this system is that you fix the rappel line with a Munter mule knot so if the client makes a mistake then you can release the rappel line and transfer the to just lowering the client on the belay line. Obviously if every client had a device which is what I always try to do would have helped but that isn't always the situation you're in. (client drops device etc.)

Regardless it's a tragedy and my heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends. RIP brother.
golsen

Social climber
kennewick, wa
Jul 27, 2016 - 05:42pm PT
I totally agree that the speculation may be silly, but I am still confused and I think this is important.

If it is a belayed rap, you're going to be pulling up the rap line every time between rapells.

If it is a belayed rapp, would you not be hauling up the belay rope each time and not the rapp rope? I would rather have two ropes, they rapp one and I belay on the other. Rapp rope always stays in place. Each client has their own device and they get down to safety and I take them off belay and they untie the knot. Guide pulls only the BELAY rope up as each climber has their own device.

Please let me know if I am missing something obvious here and I mean no disrespect for the fallen. On the contrary, I feel very sorry for the family. All of us know it can happen in an instant.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 27, 2016 - 07:35pm PT
I'm pretty sure Jaybro meant the belay line, not the rap line.
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Jul 28, 2016 - 05:09am PT
Correct! I misspoke and meant belay line.
Bad Climber

Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
Jul 28, 2016 - 05:48am PT
Rgold nailed it:
The difference between between many of us and Gary is that we have so far been lucky and his luck ran out. We have all worshipped at the altar. We have all drunk the waters. We have followed Muir to the good tidings the mountains offer, and yes, Nature's peace flowed into us as sunshine flows into trees. The moment of inattention, the ill-considered step, the rock that crumbled, the storm that raged, the stones that fell, the sling that snapped, these have been part of the fine print of the contract, the one we signed---as usual without really reading the whole thing.

Yep.

BAd
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 28, 2016 - 04:20pm PT
Some further notes:

Gary Falk Memorial Page: https://www.facebook.com/rememberinggaryfalk/?fref=ts




Rock and Ice article: http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-news/gary-falk-ifmga-guide-falls-to-death-on-grand-teton?mc_cid=570a5295fd&mc_eid=668ae3e896




Jackson Hole News and Guide follow-up: http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/environmental/last-moment-before-plunge-is-a-mystery/article_19eebc35-7829-55f9-b31d-0d0d03df1226.html.
BruceHildenbrand

Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
Jul 28, 2016 - 09:33pm PT
The difference between between many of us and Gary is that we have so far been lucky and his luck ran out.

Rich,

I understand what you are trying to say, but I don't necessarily agree. I believe that the guidelines I practice while climbing are intended to make me as safe as possible. Believing that luck plays a major factor goes against this idea.

What could Gary have done better? He could have clipped himself into the rope that didn't have the stuck belay device with a prussik/autoblock as he went down.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 28, 2016 - 10:11pm PT
Perhaps you don't really understand my point Bruce. After the fact, we can all think of ways this particular accident could have been prevented. (I should add that we don't know exactly what happened, nor do we know what precautions Gary might have thought were in place.) In any case, in a mountain environment, especially a technically easy mountain environment, you can't protect every step (and manage to leave base camp). Whether guiding or just climbing on our own, we have to continually make judgements about whether our skills constitute our protection, or whether we have to supplement those skills with the protection from gear.

You can be right 999,999 times and wrong once---and you're dead. And when that happens, the outcome would always have been preventable by doing something else. I think we are all subject to these odds. For some the odds are better than for others, either because of choice of objectives or inherent skills or both, but there is always a chance that something will not work the way we thought it would. In that chance, small as it might be, lies the cruel reality of tragedies such as this one, a cruel reality that is all of ours to share, and which for me allows for grief and demands compassion, with both of these emotions unmitigated by ex post facto judgements.
ormondo

climber
Utahrdia
Jul 28, 2016 - 11:13pm PT
Gary was one of my best friends, climbing partners, and colleagues. We started at Exum together, took our final guide exam for our IFMGA licensce together, and climbed many awesome routes in between and after those two points. While I am not in Jackson this summer (in Zermatt, guiding), I can give a few more details:

Usually, there are enough belay devices for every client. The group was short one device, any number of reasons why, but easy to deal with. The last client down clipped the device onto the belay rope to be pulled back up. It jammed, which can happen since the rap transitions from just under vertical to overhanging. We typically tie clients into the belay rope for the rap with a bowline, so that when they untie, there is no possibility for a knot that could jam to be left in the rope.

Gary was clipped into the rap anchor. When the rope jammed, he unclipped to get a better position for flipping the rope out of the crack below. This was witnessed by three clients, who were waiting to rap. There was one guide with the clients, but he did not have eyes on Gary. The clients were minors, some with previous experience and some without. Their understanding of technical systems would be limited, but they all confirmed he was clipped in originally, and then unclipped.

Why he fell, no one knows. He could have slipped, caught his foot on an edge, who knows. A possibility I've considered is that he could have intended to grab the fixed rap line to lean out on, but instead accidentally grabbed the slack side of the belay rope, and when he leaned out there was nothing holding him back. Maybe something distracted him, or this was just enough of a distraction in a situation he had been in so many times (150+) that something didn't click like it should have.

Why unclip at all? Why not rap down on a munter or carabiner brake, or at least clip into a clove hitch or figure eight on a bight with some slack to reposition? We'll never know. He was probably thinking this was just a minor distraction and should be easy to deal with, just need to get a better angle on the rope. It was a momentary lapse in the constant guard we have up when guiding, and that was all it took. All climbers, but guides in particular, are exposed to hazards on such a constant basis. We evaluate and weigh consequences throughout the day, so many decisions to be making, and none of us are infallible. Gary was careful and considerate in his guiding, and I will wonder for the rest of my life what his thoughts on unclipping were.

Miss ya, brother.

nah000

climber
no/w/here
Jul 28, 2016 - 11:28pm PT
^^^^

thanks to the previous two posters.

and condolences to family and friends...
BruceHildenbrand

Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
Jul 29, 2016 - 12:28am PT
You can be right 999,999 times and wrong once---and you're dead. And when that happens, the outcome would always have been preventable by doing something else. I think we are all subject to these odds. For some the odds are better than for others, either because of choice of objectives or inherent skills or both, but there is always a chance that something will not work the way we thought it would. In that chance, small as it might be, lies the cruel reality of tragedies such as this one, a cruel reality that is all of ours to share, and which for me allows for grief and demands compassion, with both of these emotions unmitigated by ex post facto judgements.

Rich,

I agree that being wrong once and you can be dead. If somebody makes a bad decision and gets hurt or dies, you might think it is bad luck, but I think that is a bad decision.

Yes, luck can keep a bad decision from having serious consequences, but the root of the problem is that it was a bad decision. And yes, as you pointed out with your own personal examples, we have all made bad decisions in our climbing careers.
JLP

Social climber
The internet
Jul 29, 2016 - 09:47am PT
There are those who understand and accept the human element in the risks we take - and those who don't.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 31, 2016 - 12:48pm PT
Some extra information via Mountain Project http://www.mountainproject.com/v/guide-dies-on-grand-teton/112020540__2 .

A couple of details about the rappel devices: they had brought enough for each climber to have an ATC, but one client turned around early, and the other guide who returned with them had 3, not 2, devices in his pack. So one was lacking. He was offered devices by other guides, plus there were several other ropes available to put in place of the stuck one. We think he tried some other type of mitigation (arm wraps, ???) which obviously failed.

As someone above stated, it's a good lesson that, if Gary could make a mistake in this terrain, in this situation, with his customary diligence, then any of us can do so. I was just up there with clients, and it gave me the creeps to be at the top of the rappel, and I was very consciously on top of my game all day.

We miss him something fierce. He leaves a big hole in the fabric of the world, and of his Exum family.
johntp

Trad climber
socal
Jul 31, 2016 - 01:25pm PT
Wow Bruce-

Have you no compassion?

We have all been on the edge.
matlinb

Trad climber
Fort Collins, CO
Jul 31, 2016 - 02:37pm PT
Bruce, your posts do come off harsh,
I believe that the guidelines I practice while climbing are intended to make me as safe as possible. Believing that luck plays a major factor goes against this idea.
struck a negative nerve with me. Then to come back and counter argue
If somebody makes a bad decision and gets hurt or dies, you might think it is bad luck, but I think that is a bad decision.

Why can't you show some empathy even if you are correct.

bluering

Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
Jul 31, 2016 - 03:19pm PT
I have been 'lucky' more than a couple of times climbing. Make a stupid mistake or get distracted. It can happen. Usually totally unexpectedly.

That's what make them accidents. Dangerous sport. Bruce may be in-delicate in his opinions, but he does make some good points.

Prayers to the guide and family though. Rest in peace, brother. Say 'Hi' to Bachar and Woody for me.
WBraun

climber
Jul 31, 2016 - 04:58pm PT
This is what we do as those of us that have been in the "business" for years and years.

We do things according to time and circumstance that may or may not seem "correct" when viewed in the armchair later.

We are NOT robots, and only human.

My good friend here knew him and climbed with him.

He said he was a real good guy.

Condolences to family and friends...
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Jul 31, 2016 - 08:41pm PT
Bruce is being candid. Bad decisions aren't akin to bad luck.

Bad decisions may not be "akin to bad luck," but that isn't the point. I think Bruce is making a semantic distinction that makes most outcomes the result of of a person's choices, even if those choices are "bad decisions."

So call it a bad decision if you want, but once you realize that everyone is going to make a certain number of bad decisions, it becomes a matter of luck whether those decisions provide a useful lesson or a funeral. That being the case, it is luck, which is to say the random nature of natural events, that ultimately determines the outcome.

Some of us, I suspect most of us who have climbed for many years, have made our share of bad decisions. We surely try not to, but making some is an inevitable consequence of being human and so fallible. We're still here to talk about those bad decisions because we were lucky. That was and is my original point, the reason why I said that we "understand" what happened, even though in some other sense we don't, because, after the fact, we can see how the consequences could have been avoided.

I think the 700+ people who have so far raised $100,000+ dollars in six days for Gary's wife and children (https://www.gofundme.com/2g5jqkk ) understand what happened in the first sense I described, and from the perspective of that understanding, the question about the decision being good or bad is neither relevant nor consequential.

(Trailing parens in link fixed.)
fear

Ice climber
hartford, ct
Jul 31, 2016 - 09:48pm PT
The gofundme link is:

https://www.gofundme.com/2g5jqkk

Rgold's above has a trialing )....

HighTraverse

Trad climber
Bay Area
Jul 31, 2016 - 10:43pm PT
I'm very sad to hear this. My heart goes out to Gary's wife and son. So many accidents occur in rappelling. And of course given the nature of rappelling, the outcomes are so often fatal. I'm also sad to hear of the young clients who saw this tragedy unfold. What a shock to them. I wish all the survivors all the best. The Exum guides will of course also be in shock. I know one of them and will be thinking of him.
josan

Boulder climber
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Aug 1, 2016 - 11:20am PT
Oh my... another our own was taken.

It was not too long ago that our beloved Allan Bard was lost in this same area. He is missed to this very day.

Palms joined with loving thoughts to his family and many friends.

May we all have long peaceful, loving lives.

Jo Sanders

North Caroiina Pine country...
Russ

Trad climber
Ventura, CA
Aug 1, 2016 - 11:41am PT
Such a tragedy. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Perk

Trad climber
Laguna Beach
Aug 1, 2016 - 01:02pm PT
My condolences go out to Gary and his family, along with the entire Exum family. While I did not know Gary, my wife Kelly and I had the pleasure of being guided by the Exum team and understand the risks and rewards that go with such an endeavor. I have no doubt Gary was one of their high caliber guides and will be sorely missed by many.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 27, 2016 - 01:44pm PT
http://m.jhnewsandguide.com/news/cops_courts/knot-slip-likely-killed-falk/article_3e912c8f-059b-5a84-ae95-3c4e13f8d23e.html?mode=jqm

Apparently a knot on a sling slid through.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Nov 27, 2016 - 02:18pm PT
...which casts the whole previous accident discussion in a different light.

But doesn't change the fact of a tragic loss.
couchmaster

climber
Nov 27, 2016 - 04:34pm PT

Are they suggesting he was tied in with an old school tied runner which became loose and untied as he leaned onto it?
rbord

Boulder climber
atlanta
Nov 27, 2016 - 04:41pm PT
My condolences to family and friends.

I'm not sure exactly how the assessment was made, but at first Bellini says that it's possible that the sling property changes were a result of a knot slippage, but then concludes that it's probably what caused the accident. Similarly, Patridge says that it's highly probable that a knot with an insufficient tail was the cause of the accident, while at the same time saying "he was really thorough."

If it's only possibly a sign of a knot slipping, why is it being used to explain that it was probable that it was the cause of the accident? If he was really throrough, how was he not thorough about having an adequate knot tail? In both cases, the original belief seems to have been modified to allow this explanation to make sense. Maybe for good reason? It's hard to tell.

Sometimes I think it's hard for us to resolve exactly what to believe, and if we need to shift it a little bit to our benefit, like believing that it was a bad day for him to go climbing, but today is a good day for us to go climbing, or that it happened to him, but it won't happen to me, then that's what we do.

I hope we're right, and sorry if he wasn't.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Nov 27, 2016 - 07:27pm PT
I'd say that having an open sling girth-hitched to the harness (but note that the report doesn't mention the attachment method) with overhand knot in one end and no knot in the other end makes it almost certain that a ring bend came undone, especially since ring bends in nylon webbing have been known to "eat" their tails under cyclic loading. (A ring bend in dyneema would, I think, be even more likely to unravel.)

If this is what happened, the attaching carabiner would have remained on the rappel anchor, unless the tether was threaded through the anchor and clipped back to itself or the harness belay loop for some reason.

Presumably, if the tether carabiner was still on the anchor after the accident, no one noticed it, otherwise the "unclipping from the anchor" narrative would never have gotten started.

We'll probably never know much more about this. I think my original comments still hold, perhaps more than before. RIP Gary.
rgold

Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
Feb 21, 2017 - 09:57am PT
Postscript: it seems more certain that Gary was tethered in when the accident occurred. He was using a tether made of 9/16" tubular webbing joined with a water knot, and the water knot came undone, causing the fall.

See http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/2948086/OSHA-fines-Exum-after-death-water-knot-probe

and http://www.wyofile.com/mountain-guide-death-leads-exum-fine/

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