Exum Guide Dies On Grand Today

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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.
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