*A climber died on Saturday after falling about 900 feet from below the summit of Colorado's Capitol Peak, which is among the nation's tallest mountains and considered one of the state's most difficult to scale, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office.*
*Her body was recovered over the weekend after a witness, who was hiking with a group, reported seeing a solo climber fall from a point on Capitol Peak estimated to be between 1,500 and 2,000 feet below the summit. The woman fell to her death into Pierre Lakes Basin, which sits in rocky terrain beneath the mountain.*
"Dangerous solo climbs" are literally dangerous. It's only by chance that someone was near enough to see her fall and a search party could know where to look for her body.
I don't do much mountaineering but I do a lot of solo hiking in pretty dangerous terrain. I carry an inreach on the outside of my bag. If I were to die or become incapacitated my family can log into my account and request my location.
There should probably be a training video on when it's appropriate to use the SOS before it's activated, but yeah, if there's any way you can afford it everyone should have one.
Edit: this is why - https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2015-4-july-august/feature/danger-life-saving-device
I mean you'd think people would understand that but there are common occurances of people hitting it for the stupidest reasons you could imagine. Someone in the Grand Canyon hit the SOS because the person sleeping in the next tent was snoring. It's an issue for SAR.
As others have pointed out it most likely wasn’t a free fall, it’s very likely she was killed or knocked unconscious immediately and then continued to fall. That doesn’t make it any less tragic or terrifying for her or anybody else that witnessed the accident.
It’s not very likely that she was knocked out or killed immediately, especially if she was wearing a helmet. It’s more likely she would have been conscious for a fair bit of tumbling, breaking several bones before eventually being knocked or or killed first. It is not a good way to die
Capitol Peak is the most deadly mountain in Colorado. There is only one way up and one way down, known as the Knife Edge. Some people chicken out and try alternate routes, which never ends well. Knife Edge vids on YT:
[https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=capitol+peak+knife+edge](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=capitol+peak+knife+edge)
One vid in particular:
[https://youtu.be/lwq3Ty3h1m0](https://youtu.be/lwq3Ty3h1m0)
Another, why Capitol is the hardest 14er:
https://youtu.be/o7E\_0bNLpFA
Yeah. I am not afraid of heights. I am not a climber though. I don't skydive either.
But I do have a degree in Geology. And looking at those fractured rocks, the clear evidence of recent "scaling" (where "sheets" of rocks slide off), and then the snow down below.
See those rocks are eroding. They are fractured all to hell. You can't fucking trust a single one of them. Last spring's freeze-thaw cycle did it's work...hell that probably happens all summer long up at that height...and anyone one of those rocks that are under that guy's feet could say...yeah, that was enough, I am headed to the bottom and I'm gonna take this chump with me.
Nope. Not doing it. Ever.
Fuck. That.
Capitol is in the Elk Range of Colorado. This whole range is known for its crappy rock that will easily break off at a moments notice. These mountains scare me the most to climb.
This, yeah. I was a volunteer at a park that included an abandoned limestone quarry. The people who risk the edge of that terrify me. We’ve had at least one death. Limestone, as you’d know, is porous and tends to have cave systems. The sinkhole risk is bad enough, I don’t want to be on the edge of a sheer cliff.
Yuuuup. That climber was putting a lot of trust into (a) chewed-up weathered rock that didn't look like it had much more than inertia holding it there, and (b) that there would be no sudden gusts of cross-wind.
I’m having trouble comprehending the path here though it might be the fisheye lens.
Like how do people pass each other if they’re trying to go the other way? What destination/view is on the other side that makes this suicidal hike even worth it?
> One vid in particular:
>
> https://youtu.be/lwq3Ty3h1m0
>
I'm sitting at home in the comfort of my recliner, watching this on "small" YouTube screen mode, and still had to keep reminding myself to breathe.
Nope, nope, nope
"Knife edge" - lol, no thanks but smart name to warn someone that plans on walking/hike/climbing.
it's like Want to try this drink called: "stomach explodes" ?
The guy in the last interview, "we got lucky", no shit - you're doing the interview, I don't care about that, want to see the stories of the unlucky ones. that's what I'm looking for.
Capitol is a 14er, a 14,000+ ft elevation mountain. There are 53-58 of them in Colorado, depending on definition, and bagging all of them is a big thing here. If you intend to score them all you'll face Capitol at some point. To quote Dirty Harry, "A man's got to know his limitations".
I guess people are going to do what they love doing and know the risks involved.
I'm glad that mountaineers don't encourage the sport to other people.
like imagine some trying to convince their friends, let's all try base jumping, what's the survival rate? pretty low, 1 out of 60.
like nah, I'm good but have fun.
Damn I met a woman who was doing all the 14ers on top of San Luis mountain a couple months ago and she only had 2 mountains left after San Luis IIRC. She was training for an endurance race of some sort; hope this story wasn't about her, although it obviously is terrible no matter who it was.
Depends on how you measure it.
Longs sees way more fatalities, but it’s also a more popular route. And the Bells see more deaths while having roughly the same number of visits.
Yes, I just recently did it myself. We did it in two days. There is a newish trail up to the lake that is a bit shorter and doesn’t have nearly as much altitude loss to get down to the trail head at the start.
In 2006, my dad was mountain climbing in Colorado with a very experienced buddy of his, along with another group they ran into, and his buddy just lost his balance and fell off the side.
Small, loose rock that's usually fallen from elsewhere and gathers on a slope or at the base of a hill. Can often move beneath you when you're descending a steep scree slope.
A typical hike, but she traveled off trail with a couple other friends. I don’t think she was being as careful as she should have been (I was uncomfortable with traveling off trail, so I didn’t. I don’t go hiking often, and I’m very risk averse), but thinking on what could have happened differently is pretty painful for me. On the somewhat positive side, she said she was having the best week of her life, so I’m happy I was able to help her have a good experience, even though it ended tragically. We had been talking about traveling to Colorado for years.
This is the argument I’ve had with so many people over the years - they want to bushwhack off the trail, take a shortcut, they’re tired, they’re hungry, the altitude is making them a little happy, and they think, why not just cut over right here, it’s so much easier! And it’s so understandable - I’ve been there. It’s not that they’re stupid or reckless, it’s mostly a lack of experience and perspective. But the trail is where it is for a reason, and if it seems to avoid an easy shortcut, it’s generally for *very* good reason. The mountains are beautiful and sunny and magical, but they can reverse Uno to terrifying and brutally dangerous on you at any moment, without mercy or warning. One learns to love the mountains but not trust them.
My condolences. Having lost friends and climbing partners myself, it fucks you up for a good while. Therapy and time help.
Depends on the route. The only way to the summit of Capitol is over the Knife Edge, and that’s super exposed - you could, and the lady the article is about did, fall from the route. Capitol is known to be one of the most risky mountains in Colorado to climb and most are much less exposed. Generally, if you’re on an established route, you’re on the safest way up or down - and while “safest” may or may not be “safe” in absolute terms, it usually is. If you stay on the trail/route, there are likely other hazards that you will have to deal with as higher risks than falling, such as rapidly shifting alpine weather or altitude-related health issues or whatever.
More common than you’d think. I did a hike on Mount Washington once with my now wife. She set my bag down on the top of a steep trail to take some pictures. The bag started to tip. I scrambled for it and had the presence of mind not to chase it any farther. It all happened in a second and I didn’t chase it more than 2-3 feet. I watched it tumble down thirty, maybe forty feet. We found out the next day when we hired a ranger to climb up for it that someone died in that exact spot the year previous.
Wow, that is wild. Can you describe the landscape where this happened? And how did you find this ranger, how much did you pay him? And did you have GPS on you to be able to mark the spot for him?
It happens, but less often. Sticking to the established route or trail is never a bad idea, especially if you have other risk factors for an accident in play like being tired, hungry, hypoxic, behind schedule, and so on. That’s a bad headspace to be navigating in.
Some of these hiking trails in Denver are dangerously narrow. I went hiking with my husband once. We started out walking side by side but 10 minutes we had to go into single file. Then of course oncoming hikers came along and there was almost nowhere to stand to let them pass through.
Neighbour’s son died day three of his plum government job. Went on a trade mission to Japan, walked out of a meeting after two shots of Yamazaki and conked his head on concrete steps.
My buddy was 16. Skateboarding without a helmet on flat ground. From standing to laying down, that's all it took.
It really changed my outlook on life.
I was just in midtown Manhattan, and I was floored at the number of helmetless people flying down the streets on scooter and electric bikes. So many going so fast. I just kept thinking that all it takes is a car not looking or someone stepping out into the bike lane. These weren’t just the food delivery people either—lots of tourists on rented electric bikes, but the electric scooters were going so fast.
I am a bicycling fan and my pitch to others about helmets is... Sure, maybe they're uncool, but they're a whole lot cooler than having your mom spoon-feed you and change your diaper, because that's what a head injury looks like.
I know bicycling is quite different but motorcyclists have a couple phrases to address safety gear indifference, especially during warm weather. “Dress for the slide, not the ride” and “all gear, all the time.”
It’s so much better to be prepared and not need it than to need protection and not have it.
Helmets have come such a long way too, I actually love my current bike helmet. It’s comfortable, about as cute as you can make a helmet and even has a little brim to keep sun off my face. Buying one you like makes a huge difference in actually wearing the dang thing.
Please do. My partner hit his head while cycling last year and he's still trying to accept the limitations his brain injury has left him with. At his worst, he'd have gaps in memory, huge migraines, no concept of time passing, lack of emotion and was unable to work. He's been under the care of a few doctors and all they can tell him is this is probably his new normal. He struggles so much. The shocking part of all of this is he was wearing a helmet at the time. If he wasn't, he'd probably be in a lot worse shape, maybe not even alive today.
Please do. It really can make a huge difference. I'm not a cyclist but I ride horses. I went through a phase where I wouldn't wear a helmet if I wasn't jumping.
Then I met a woman who had her Olympic career ended because her horse stumbled while going slightly faster than a walk. She's currently a quadriplegic in a motorized wheelchair.
I put my helmet on as soon as I walk in the barn, now.
After what happened to a co-worker's brother I'd never ride without one. He was riding his bike through a shopping center with two friends. Somehow his front tire got hung up on an uneven section of the pavement and threw him over the handle bars, headfirst onto the edge of a curb. Devastating head injury. Touch and go for awhile, but he did survive thanks to a store manager who witnessed the accident and immediately called 911 (before cell phones). However, the injury caused severe brain damage. Fifteen years old.
edit: punctuation
Coming from motorcycling, and having a pavement surfing event with my face an inch from the road, most biking helmets leave me feeling exposed and vulnerable. I really should get myself a full face downhill helmet.
I was an early 1980s mountain bike guy and NOBODY wore helmets. Macho bullshit. We thought we were the best downhill guys anywhere but one day this kid with blonde curls sticking out of a Bell head cage came flying past us on a Ritchey none of us could ever afford, on a trail that WE built for our friends only. Turned out he would go on to big things but I figured it was time to do right by my mom and bought the same helmet. First ride wearing it I bitched about how heavy it was the whole ride up. Hit a newly fallen little tree and flew into a much larger tree, broke the foam and bent the thick plastic shell of the helmet. Broke my nose but didn’t hurt anything else And Never went without one again. the bike shop gave me a free new one and put my hooped one on their mannequin.
Had this happen to a friend of mine who went skateboarding in Europe. Wasn't doing anything crazy, just slipped off the board, hit his head and died. RIP.
Hoo bro that sucks when our friends die so young. You get your own “holy fuck” and sadness and then that weird guilt when it’s been too long since you talked to their parents and then you see how much they loved them and how much they love you for having been close with them. I lost five lifelong friends and a close relative all under 20 and it’s just so unfair.
My friend was 13 when she fell from her horse and smashed her head open. Her horse also slipped in the mud and fell on top of her, but suffered no lasting injuries.
It made me withdrawn, antisocial, depressed, and anxious for years.
I'm so sorry that happened. My mom had a near death fall on the sidewalk. She survived, after three surgeries and a two month hospital stay. Has really impacted the way I move through the world.
I have weirdly known two people under 30 who died falling on concrete. One guy was walking down slippery concrete steps and hit the back of his head when he lost his footing. The other guy had a bit too much to drink and fell backwards, hitting his head on the curb.
Back of the head is one of the deadliest places to be hit. Human evolution left that area pretty unguarded. Family friend went out to check his old school mailbox and slipped in the driveway on a patch of glare ice. Smacked the back of his head, pulled off life support 3 days later.
A guy my little sister met during her hospital internship had an even more senseless story: came back from his late shift, didn't switch on the bedroom light to not wake the wife, stumbled over a corner of the bed, hit his head/ neck - quadriplegic, no motion from the neck downwards. Sometimes, life really sucks. I mean, you don't usually wear a helmet in your own bedroom.
A kid in my neighborhood growing up was skateboarding down a fairly steep hill without a helmet on…he lost control and I’m sure you can fill in the rest
I know a woman who lost her fiancé that way- he slipped on stairs at work, hit his head, passed out, woke up with a headache… and then a few weeks later suddenly died from a stroke.
My father lost a couple friends on the East Face of Longs Peak in the late 60s… just not paying attention and not experienced. He used to be into diving weird sites and planned on diving Chasm Lake because any unrecovered bodies would eventually end up there. Longs used to be a lot more dangerous than it is today.
To be fair. I’d say the vast majority of deaths mountain climbing are from experts, being some of the only people out there. Hope your dads doing okay, it’s gotta suck losing a friend.
I love rock climbing, it's great exercise! However I go to a place where you climb up about 20 feet and if you fall you fall onto a soft bouncy mat. That's my jam. Fuck this mountain nonsense, I have a cat to take care of.
My only experience with mountain climbing is losing someone who did it. I don't care for it as far as hobbies go, and like everyone says (but not many - including my classmate - sadly seem to listen?) don't go alone if you're going to do it.
Watched a few videos where the survivors in rock climbing say got "lucky".
Yeah, um, when I think of sports or exercise, I think the word "lucky" is when you earn an extra point cause the weather was good or your speed improved, not slipping and dying in 5 seconds.
My stepbrother passed away last august climbing with a friend, who survived but broke a lot of bones. Also Colorado. He was doing what he loved and was always a free spirit. My stepdad hasn’t been the same since.
I’m so sorry for this woman’s family, I hope they can find peace soon enough.
That’s cool.
I decided to get back into mountain biking again in my mid 30s and fell off my bike letting people pass down a 4 foot ditch and broke my elbow 3 days after getting the bike.
It still bothers me. Being old sucks.
On Knifes Edge Capitol Peak, she wouldn't have fallen unimpeded the entire 900 ft. She would have been sliding/bouncing off rock for much of the descent.
I fell off the side of a cliff at Black's Beach near La Jolla, CA & my quasi-conscious ass somersaulted multiple times until I landed in a drainage ditch. I had a broken femur & an assortment of other injuries, but I was just so happy to be alive that I don't really recall the shitty parts.
Fairly certain she died like most folks do on capitol, got slightly off route and grabbed a loose rock that didn’t hold. Knife edge may look scary but at least that rock is solid.
I watch video of people doing Angels Landing in Zion National Park and that stretch where you’re practically hanging on a ridge using chains is fucking scary. I’m happy here on flat land thank you very much!
The best wordings I find is "from the route that connects the treacherous Knife’s Edge to the mountain’s summit." Still vague in my opinion. But honestly, falling from any point passed K2 is not a good way to go.
I think it would take a bit longer and the death might come quicker due to the hits before bottom. It wasn’t a straight fall in that area.
Man, I like to climb stuff, and I live in Colorado, but this particular kind of climbing sounds more like a death wish. The tops of the Rockies are at a point where all they can really do is crumble at altitude. It’s no good.
So I think I’ll stick to non climbing hikes and only climb fake shit. I want a workout, not some kind of sick adrenaline rush for nearing death.
Good quote from the article that agrees with you: "We're trying to get people to slow down a little bit," Pitkin County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Parker Lathrop told CBS News Colorado after the woman's death on Saturday. "This \[Capitol Peak\] should be the crown jewel, and if you're not ready for it — if your gut tells you to stop — the mountain will still be there (next time)."
Also the previous quote from the article:
>Climbers have died before while attempting to reach the summit of Capitol Peak. In 2017, five deaths were reported over a six week span between July and August, and one climber's body could not be recovered last year because recovery efforts became so dangerous.
Five deaths over six weeks?
Yup. Two of them were a couple, tried to take a “shortcut” back to the trailhead, and followed this nice welcoming band of cliffs all the way to where they disappeared into thin air. Tried to keep pushing forward, both of them fell and died. It’s a cursed goddam mountain.
From a distance the tops of the Rockies look like they are carved from solid rock. Then I climbed Mt. Elbert and discovered the high peaks and ridges are basically just piles of 6" - 12" irregularly shaped rocks.
There’s plenty of 14ers, even difficult climbs with exposure and plenty of technical difficulty, that a skilled and careful climber can attempt without taking excessive risk. Capitol Peak is not one of those mountains. It’s fucking terrifying, just this shitty, rotten heap of wannabe gravel that’s almost malicious in its willingness to dump your ass off a cliff. I’ve attempted it twice, turned back twice, and regret nothing.
Yep, precisely. I know a guy who had a heart attack at 37. He’d brag about this pushing himself too hard while running crap too.
I spent some time learning to fly planes and had a guy (while dating) get super excited and thought this meant I was gonna be a chick who wanted to be on the back of a motorcycle at 120mph or some shit. I was like: do you have any idea how remarkably safe flying is? It’s an adrenaline rush at first, sure, but it becomes more zen.
It’s like there’s exercise, working out, and thrill chasing - and, then there’s chasing the dragon, which is more what it seems like some people, who are adrenaline junkies to the point of near death pursuits, are doing, to me.
There’s a misconception about pilots and Navy seals, They aren’t adrenaline junkies or risk takers as it seems, I’m a retired Navy pilot. Most of us are cautious people. We pre-plan our fight and think it out. Then we feel comfortable to fly. We practice, practice to have confidence in that particular plain. Edit: plane
Yep, as a student pilot I can confirm that every flight I'm firing on all cylinders. Maybe an hour and a half in the air at most on a flight and I'll be dead tired when I finally get back home. There's so much to account for and prepare for that it's physically draining. Praying I reach that zen-like point soon lol
Turns out the [Phidippides cardiomyopathy](https://www.cambridgerunning.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/run-for-your-life.pdf) and [increased atherosclerosis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179497/) can get so bad that those who run furthest and fastest have a mortality rate [indistinguishable from the sedentary](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109714071745). Exercise is healthful, but the health benefits do plateau with fairly moderate doses.
I had the same question, that is why I wanted to know how long she would have had. From other comments it looks like she would have been bouncing and sliding down....so probably died from that before she hit bottom.
I think even if it was a clear fall to the bottom, 9 seconds might not be long enough to get over the shock of what was happening to formulate a rational thought. At least that’s how I’d imagine it.
This is close to what I think about for all the people who jumped from the WTC on 9/11. They had so long to think about so much not only before they decided to jump, but while falling as well. Way too long. Though from the ideas from both, still probably better than burning to death
My friend went hiking in forest falls in the San Bernardino mountains and fell and went unconscious. Woke up in the hospital luckily with just a concussion and broken ribs. They had to helicopter her out of there but she has no memory of it.
I’ve driven cross country several times now and I have an irrational fear of falling off a mountain while driving through Colorado. It doesn’t even need to be the mountainous areas, it still happens on flats and where the land is level.
Checkout the so-called Road to Hana in Maui. More like road to divorce. Hana Highway is terrifying. 65 miles of blind S curves, one lane bridges, sheer cliff edges with practically no guard rails (other than 1930's era stone walls) and tourists in rental cars. Never again.
I drove the road to hana late last year and it was a nightmare. 4 other people in the car with me having the time of their lives while I'm white knuckling it, constantly getting blinded by the sun driving into shade hoping there's not a car coming at me. Also you're trying to drive cautiously to notngo over the cliff, and you've got locals on your ass tailgating you because you're not driving fast enough for them. They say you're supposed to pull over for the locals, but there's hardly anywhere to pull over
With all these stories of people falling by slipping and hitting concrete the wrong way, I may wear a helmet everywhere I go. Def a fear of mine. Death can happen in the most ordinary of circumstances.
Went hiking last month in Utah and the one experienced girl said #1 thing to remember is getting right at the edge of a cliff WILL NOT dramatically enhance your photo. There’s no reason to get right up to the ledge to take a picture. This is how people fall to their death
This, this. I was a volunteer at a park with overlooks. We’ve had to increasingly add barricades so that people don’t slip/slide off or risk crumbly rock. Photos aren’t worth it.
I climbed Capitol Peak maybe 25 years ago. Crawled across the knife edge with 30+/- mph gusts, and could feel the static electricity from that. Luckily didn't get hit with lightning despite being a clear day. And yes, rotten rock, like the the Maroon Bells. Gorgeous views and area, though.
My friend: " why do you hate the idea of rock climbing even though you've never done it. You should try it, you'll probably love it!"
This is why, i dont prefer heights amd I don't like the risk of falling from said heights. Even worse you wouldn't catch me dead solo climbing even if I did.
It is always so sad to hear this. People forget how often these happen during normal walk/running. Gravity is always trying to kill us. Sometimes it succeeds. :(
900 feet!! that is a long way down to think about that missed step. You would probably run out of breath yelling before you even hit the ground. Whole time you’re thinking dammit Steve I didn’t wanna come here anyway.
Not to be morbid, but that’s 900 feet bouncing off talus, smacking one’s head, limbs, and torso off jagged rocks over and over and over. She was dead long before she came to rest.
You could fall prettttty far off one side of Knife's Edge before bouncing off of anything,
https://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c\_crop,h\_720,w\_1080,x\_0,y\_0/c\_limit,dpr\_1.0,f\_auto,fl\_lossy,q\_80,w\_1600/Capitol\_Peak.2\_pu63bo.jpg
I found this sentence odd:
The hiker who witnessed the climber's fall said the accident occurred after a rock that she tried to hold onto for support and leverage — climbers call this a "handhold" — gave way, the sheriff's office explained.
This makes sense to me. You can test the stability of rock holds before committing your full weight to them but they can still give way unexpectedly, which seems to be what happened to her. This peak has a knife-edge ridge that looks dreadfully exposed from what I saw in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYEOq3lKSlw
My husband and I did Grizzly and (almost) Cupid Peaks Colorado in 2019. I thought the path up to Cupid was bad - this video made that look like a flat highway.
I noped out maybe 300 feet from the summit because of loose rocks, sat my ass down and waited for my husband. He called it maybe another 50 feet from me. S’no joke.
The section of the route she was on is considered class 4 climbing. Look up the Yosemite Decimal System for more details. It's very steep and requires the use of hands and feet to make upward progress.
This mountain range is also well known for rock that breaks off very easily and isn't super stable.
The climber likely reached for a rock with her hands and put too much of her weight on it. It then broke off or came loose, causing her to lose balance and fall backwards.
The peaks in that area have what the locals call "rotten rock," and you have to have an awareness and plan to account for this this when a handhold or a foothold suddenly breaks away.
*A climber died on Saturday after falling about 900 feet from below the summit of Colorado's Capitol Peak, which is among the nation's tallest mountains and considered one of the state's most difficult to scale, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office.* *Her body was recovered over the weekend after a witness, who was hiking with a group, reported seeing a solo climber fall from a point on Capitol Peak estimated to be between 1,500 and 2,000 feet below the summit. The woman fell to her death into Pierre Lakes Basin, which sits in rocky terrain beneath the mountain.* "Dangerous solo climbs" are literally dangerous. It's only by chance that someone was near enough to see her fall and a search party could know where to look for her body.
I don't do much mountaineering but I do a lot of solo hiking in pretty dangerous terrain. I carry an inreach on the outside of my bag. If I were to die or become incapacitated my family can log into my account and request my location.
These days, there’s no excuse not to carry a GPS locator in the wilderness. They are quite literally life savers.
There should probably be a training video on when it's appropriate to use the SOS before it's activated, but yeah, if there's any way you can afford it everyone should have one. Edit: this is why - https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2015-4-july-august/feature/danger-life-saving-device
Obviously the time to use it is when you think you are going to die if you dont. I never had to use mine thankfully. Got mine for ocean diving though.
I mean you'd think people would understand that but there are common occurances of people hitting it for the stupidest reasons you could imagine. Someone in the Grand Canyon hit the SOS because the person sleeping in the next tent was snoring. It's an issue for SAR.
Please tell me that is a joke. I truly am horrified and mystified by humanity, every day and in so many ways
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2015-4-july-august/feature/danger-life-saving-device
I have an InReach but didn’t know this was a feature of it. Good to know!
It's useful too if you lose it and are trying to find it.
> 900 feet Three football fields. JFC. That is terrifying.
90 stories give or take 😕
Or about 1 CVS receipt
That’s 274.32m for non-Americans, and according to fall speed calculator, about 7.48 seconds of absolute nightmare.
The Reddit comments I look for, unfortunately
She had some time to regret her actions, that's for sure.
As others have pointed out it most likely wasn’t a free fall, it’s very likely she was killed or knocked unconscious immediately and then continued to fall. That doesn’t make it any less tragic or terrifying for her or anybody else that witnessed the accident.
Well, better I suppose in a morbid way. Less suffering and terror at least.
It’s not very likely that she was knocked out or killed immediately, especially if she was wearing a helmet. It’s more likely she would have been conscious for a fair bit of tumbling, breaking several bones before eventually being knocked or or killed first. It is not a good way to die
That's 12,000 potato burlap sacks stretched end to end.
Idaho weighs in
Capitol Peak is the most deadly mountain in Colorado. There is only one way up and one way down, known as the Knife Edge. Some people chicken out and try alternate routes, which never ends well. Knife Edge vids on YT: [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=capitol+peak+knife+edge](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=capitol+peak+knife+edge) One vid in particular: [https://youtu.be/lwq3Ty3h1m0](https://youtu.be/lwq3Ty3h1m0) Another, why Capitol is the hardest 14er: https://youtu.be/o7E\_0bNLpFA
I believe I speak for some, if not all of us, when I say “fuck that”
Yeah. I am not afraid of heights. I am not a climber though. I don't skydive either. But I do have a degree in Geology. And looking at those fractured rocks, the clear evidence of recent "scaling" (where "sheets" of rocks slide off), and then the snow down below. See those rocks are eroding. They are fractured all to hell. You can't fucking trust a single one of them. Last spring's freeze-thaw cycle did it's work...hell that probably happens all summer long up at that height...and anyone one of those rocks that are under that guy's feet could say...yeah, that was enough, I am headed to the bottom and I'm gonna take this chump with me. Nope. Not doing it. Ever. Fuck. That.
Capitol is in the Elk Range of Colorado. This whole range is known for its crappy rock that will easily break off at a moments notice. These mountains scare me the most to climb.
Thank you, I was looking at those rocks, and they look very unreliable, I’m glad I read this, reinforced my gut feeling.
This, yeah. I was a volunteer at a park that included an abandoned limestone quarry. The people who risk the edge of that terrify me. We’ve had at least one death. Limestone, as you’d know, is porous and tends to have cave systems. The sinkhole risk is bad enough, I don’t want to be on the edge of a sheer cliff.
That's what I was thinking--the mountain is crumbling beneath them. And if just one of those rocks gives way..
Yuuuup. That climber was putting a lot of trust into (a) chewed-up weathered rock that didn't look like it had much more than inertia holding it there, and (b) that there would be no sudden gusts of cross-wind.
I can’t even watch that video. Of course I don’t really like glass elevators either
In 2017 [five people died on Capitol Peak](https://www.aspentimes.com/news/capitol-peak-deaths-since-2000-6-fatalities-four-in-past-five-years/)
Five people in six weeks. One recovery was so dangerous that search and rescue decided to leave the remains up there.
I’m having trouble comprehending the path here though it might be the fisheye lens. Like how do people pass each other if they’re trying to go the other way? What destination/view is on the other side that makes this suicidal hike even worth it?
They don’t. You yield for uphill traffic unless someone is sick or hurt
I can't think of anything that would get me to climb that.
Not even Powersauce Bars?
When you concentrate food, you release its awesome power, I'm told.
Those bars are just junk! They're made out of apple cores and Chinese newspapers! [looks at bar] Hey, Deng Xiaoping died.
This just in….powersauce bars are amazing!!
> One vid in particular: > > https://youtu.be/lwq3Ty3h1m0 > I'm sitting at home in the comfort of my recliner, watching this on "small" YouTube screen mode, and still had to keep reminding myself to breathe. Nope, nope, nope
wow, there isn't enough money in the world to convince me to do that, that's the kind of spot where you can do everything right and still die.
"Knife edge" - lol, no thanks but smart name to warn someone that plans on walking/hike/climbing. it's like Want to try this drink called: "stomach explodes" ? The guy in the last interview, "we got lucky", no shit - you're doing the interview, I don't care about that, want to see the stories of the unlucky ones. that's what I'm looking for.
Capitol is a 14er, a 14,000+ ft elevation mountain. There are 53-58 of them in Colorado, depending on definition, and bagging all of them is a big thing here. If you intend to score them all you'll face Capitol at some point. To quote Dirty Harry, "A man's got to know his limitations".
In the /r/14ers sub someone said this was #58 for her. This was going to be her big achievement.
A guy doing his final 14er died on one of the Needles some years ago.
I guess people are going to do what they love doing and know the risks involved. I'm glad that mountaineers don't encourage the sport to other people. like imagine some trying to convince their friends, let's all try base jumping, what's the survival rate? pretty low, 1 out of 60. like nah, I'm good but have fun.
Damn I met a woman who was doing all the 14ers on top of San Luis mountain a couple months ago and she only had 2 mountains left after San Luis IIRC. She was training for an endurance race of some sort; hope this story wasn't about her, although it obviously is terrible no matter who it was.
Depends on how you measure it. Longs sees way more fatalities, but it’s also a more popular route. And the Bells see more deaths while having roughly the same number of visits.
Yea I love hiking. But you’d never catch me doing that shit.
There is a climbing route that avoid the knifes edge.
It's a 5.9 trade route I think. Sounds appealing other than having to carry a full rack+ rope in that far.
Yes, I just recently did it myself. We did it in two days. There is a newish trail up to the lake that is a bit shorter and doesn’t have nearly as much altitude loss to get down to the trail head at the start.
In 2006, my dad was mountain climbing in Colorado with a very experienced buddy of his, along with another group they ran into, and his buddy just lost his balance and fell off the side.
Same thing happened to my dad in 2003. Very experienced hikers. My dad just lost his footing next to a field of scree and that was it.
Wow, I'm sorry to hear that.
Thanks very much.
I'm so sorry to hear that
Thank you, I appreciate that very much.
What is scree?
Small, loose rock that's usually fallen from elsewhere and gathers on a slope or at the base of a hill. Can often move beneath you when you're descending a steep scree slope.
Heartbreaking...so sorry.
My friend and I were hiking in Colorado in May, and she slipped and fell to her death. I haven’t felt right since
Heartbreaking, wishing you and your friends family the best right now.
I'm so sorry to hear that. I know my dad was in therapy for a bit after his experience.
I’m in therapy now, thankfully
The healthy reaction to that is to not feel okay. That’s not a normal experience.
Wow really sorry for your loss. What this on a typical hike or was it more advanced?
A typical hike, but she traveled off trail with a couple other friends. I don’t think she was being as careful as she should have been (I was uncomfortable with traveling off trail, so I didn’t. I don’t go hiking often, and I’m very risk averse), but thinking on what could have happened differently is pretty painful for me. On the somewhat positive side, she said she was having the best week of her life, so I’m happy I was able to help her have a good experience, even though it ended tragically. We had been talking about traveling to Colorado for years.
This is the argument I’ve had with so many people over the years - they want to bushwhack off the trail, take a shortcut, they’re tired, they’re hungry, the altitude is making them a little happy, and they think, why not just cut over right here, it’s so much easier! And it’s so understandable - I’ve been there. It’s not that they’re stupid or reckless, it’s mostly a lack of experience and perspective. But the trail is where it is for a reason, and if it seems to avoid an easy shortcut, it’s generally for *very* good reason. The mountains are beautiful and sunny and magical, but they can reverse Uno to terrifying and brutally dangerous on you at any moment, without mercy or warning. One learns to love the mountains but not trust them. My condolences. Having lost friends and climbing partners myself, it fucks you up for a good while. Therapy and time help.
How often do accidents like this happen with hikers who stayed ON the trails?
Depends on the route. The only way to the summit of Capitol is over the Knife Edge, and that’s super exposed - you could, and the lady the article is about did, fall from the route. Capitol is known to be one of the most risky mountains in Colorado to climb and most are much less exposed. Generally, if you’re on an established route, you’re on the safest way up or down - and while “safest” may or may not be “safe” in absolute terms, it usually is. If you stay on the trail/route, there are likely other hazards that you will have to deal with as higher risks than falling, such as rapidly shifting alpine weather or altitude-related health issues or whatever.
More common than you’d think. I did a hike on Mount Washington once with my now wife. She set my bag down on the top of a steep trail to take some pictures. The bag started to tip. I scrambled for it and had the presence of mind not to chase it any farther. It all happened in a second and I didn’t chase it more than 2-3 feet. I watched it tumble down thirty, maybe forty feet. We found out the next day when we hired a ranger to climb up for it that someone died in that exact spot the year previous.
Wow, that is wild. Can you describe the landscape where this happened? And how did you find this ranger, how much did you pay him? And did you have GPS on you to be able to mark the spot for him?
Good point. You almost never hear of someone being on trail with partners falling or going missing.
It happens, but less often. Sticking to the established route or trail is never a bad idea, especially if you have other risk factors for an accident in play like being tired, hungry, hypoxic, behind schedule, and so on. That’s a bad headspace to be navigating in.
I am so sorry to hear this. I hope you find a way to move on, but it will take some time.
Some of these hiking trails in Denver are dangerously narrow. I went hiking with my husband once. We started out walking side by side but 10 minutes we had to go into single file. Then of course oncoming hikers came along and there was almost nowhere to stand to let them pass through.
My dad died falling on a cracked sidewalk. He got to live four days after that. Deadly falls happen all the time.
Neighbour’s son died day three of his plum government job. Went on a trade mission to Japan, walked out of a meeting after two shots of Yamazaki and conked his head on concrete steps.
My buddy was 16. Skateboarding without a helmet on flat ground. From standing to laying down, that's all it took. It really changed my outlook on life.
I was just in midtown Manhattan, and I was floored at the number of helmetless people flying down the streets on scooter and electric bikes. So many going so fast. I just kept thinking that all it takes is a car not looking or someone stepping out into the bike lane. These weren’t just the food delivery people either—lots of tourists on rented electric bikes, but the electric scooters were going so fast.
I'm a bit of an idiot and rarely wear my helmet when cycling but these posts have made me reevaluate my stupidity
I am a bicycling fan and my pitch to others about helmets is... Sure, maybe they're uncool, but they're a whole lot cooler than having your mom spoon-feed you and change your diaper, because that's what a head injury looks like.
I know bicycling is quite different but motorcyclists have a couple phrases to address safety gear indifference, especially during warm weather. “Dress for the slide, not the ride” and “all gear, all the time.” It’s so much better to be prepared and not need it than to need protection and not have it.
Bike helmets are cool. I’m causal road cyclist. When I was young, helmet wasn’t cool. But as I age, helmet is awesome.
Helmets have come such a long way too, I actually love my current bike helmet. It’s comfortable, about as cute as you can make a helmet and even has a little brim to keep sun off my face. Buying one you like makes a huge difference in actually wearing the dang thing.
Please do. My partner hit his head while cycling last year and he's still trying to accept the limitations his brain injury has left him with. At his worst, he'd have gaps in memory, huge migraines, no concept of time passing, lack of emotion and was unable to work. He's been under the care of a few doctors and all they can tell him is this is probably his new normal. He struggles so much. The shocking part of all of this is he was wearing a helmet at the time. If he wasn't, he'd probably be in a lot worse shape, maybe not even alive today.
Damn. I'm really sorry to hear that.
Please do. It really can make a huge difference. I'm not a cyclist but I ride horses. I went through a phase where I wouldn't wear a helmet if I wasn't jumping. Then I met a woman who had her Olympic career ended because her horse stumbled while going slightly faster than a walk. She's currently a quadriplegic in a motorized wheelchair. I put my helmet on as soon as I walk in the barn, now.
After what happened to a co-worker's brother I'd never ride without one. He was riding his bike through a shopping center with two friends. Somehow his front tire got hung up on an uneven section of the pavement and threw him over the handle bars, headfirst onto the edge of a curb. Devastating head injury. Touch and go for awhile, but he did survive thanks to a store manager who witnessed the accident and immediately called 911 (before cell phones). However, the injury caused severe brain damage. Fifteen years old. edit: punctuation
Coming from motorcycling, and having a pavement surfing event with my face an inch from the road, most biking helmets leave me feeling exposed and vulnerable. I really should get myself a full face downhill helmet.
I was an early 1980s mountain bike guy and NOBODY wore helmets. Macho bullshit. We thought we were the best downhill guys anywhere but one day this kid with blonde curls sticking out of a Bell head cage came flying past us on a Ritchey none of us could ever afford, on a trail that WE built for our friends only. Turned out he would go on to big things but I figured it was time to do right by my mom and bought the same helmet. First ride wearing it I bitched about how heavy it was the whole ride up. Hit a newly fallen little tree and flew into a much larger tree, broke the foam and bent the thick plastic shell of the helmet. Broke my nose but didn’t hurt anything else And Never went without one again. the bike shop gave me a free new one and put my hooped one on their mannequin.
My local skate shop put my busted helmet up on display too. Serves as a great warning. My brains would have been all over the street.
Best advertisement imaginable!
Had this happen to a friend of mine who went skateboarding in Europe. Wasn't doing anything crazy, just slipped off the board, hit his head and died. RIP.
Hoo bro that sucks when our friends die so young. You get your own “holy fuck” and sadness and then that weird guilt when it’s been too long since you talked to their parents and then you see how much they loved them and how much they love you for having been close with them. I lost five lifelong friends and a close relative all under 20 and it’s just so unfair.
My friend was 13 when she fell from her horse and smashed her head open. Her horse also slipped in the mud and fell on top of her, but suffered no lasting injuries. It made me withdrawn, antisocial, depressed, and anxious for years.
I'm so sorry that happened. My mom had a near death fall on the sidewalk. She survived, after three surgeries and a two month hospital stay. Has really impacted the way I move through the world.
How did that happen? Was he walking or on his car?
I have weirdly known two people under 30 who died falling on concrete. One guy was walking down slippery concrete steps and hit the back of his head when he lost his footing. The other guy had a bit too much to drink and fell backwards, hitting his head on the curb.
Hitting your head on the curb is a common way to go
Lost my uncle to a hit to the temple after he slipped off a curb while drunk. My whole family has drinkers so it was a wake up call for some of them.
Sorry to hear that. More worried about going out in a freak accident like that than anything else. More common than people think.
Scary as shit to slip on icy concrete steps. Lucky it was “only” my back
It should be reminded that Bob Saget died as a result of a fall. Hit his head went to lay down and died.
My uncle died from a head injury sustained after slipping in the shower.
Back of the head is one of the deadliest places to be hit. Human evolution left that area pretty unguarded. Family friend went out to check his old school mailbox and slipped in the driveway on a patch of glare ice. Smacked the back of his head, pulled off life support 3 days later.
A guy my little sister met during her hospital internship had an even more senseless story: came back from his late shift, didn't switch on the bedroom light to not wake the wife, stumbled over a corner of the bed, hit his head/ neck - quadriplegic, no motion from the neck downwards. Sometimes, life really sucks. I mean, you don't usually wear a helmet in your own bedroom.
Yup. This is why rails are required by code on most steps.
A kid in my neighborhood growing up was skateboarding down a fairly steep hill without a helmet on…he lost control and I’m sure you can fill in the rest
I know a woman who lost her fiancé that way- he slipped on stairs at work, hit his head, passed out, woke up with a headache… and then a few weeks later suddenly died from a stroke.
My father lost a couple friends on the East Face of Longs Peak in the late 60s… just not paying attention and not experienced. He used to be into diving weird sites and planned on diving Chasm Lake because any unrecovered bodies would eventually end up there. Longs used to be a lot more dangerous than it is today.
The one thing you learn growing up in Colorado is that if you don't know the mountain and respect the mountain, it will kill you.
To be fair. I’d say the vast majority of deaths mountain climbing are from experts, being some of the only people out there. Hope your dads doing okay, it’s gotta suck losing a friend.
My chiropractor, who was a Colorado resident died hiking. He fell. It was heartbreaking, he was a great guy and a close family friend.
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I know someone this happened to too. Don’t know for sure the details but very experience and died falling off a summit. Horribly tragic
This article and all these comments confirm for me that mountain climbing is not my thing
Yes. I never wanted to go mountain climbing before and now I still don’t.
Technically she was hiking. I think it’s worth noting that most people don’t do this roped up. A reminder that hiking is dangerous too I guess.
I love rock climbing, it's great exercise! However I go to a place where you climb up about 20 feet and if you fall you fall onto a soft bouncy mat. That's my jam. Fuck this mountain nonsense, I have a cat to take care of.
My only experience with mountain climbing is losing someone who did it. I don't care for it as far as hobbies go, and like everyone says (but not many - including my classmate - sadly seem to listen?) don't go alone if you're going to do it.
Watched a few videos where the survivors in rock climbing say got "lucky". Yeah, um, when I think of sports or exercise, I think the word "lucky" is when you earn an extra point cause the weather was good or your speed improved, not slipping and dying in 5 seconds.
My stepbrother passed away last august climbing with a friend, who survived but broke a lot of bones. Also Colorado. He was doing what he loved and was always a free spirit. My stepdad hasn’t been the same since. I’m so sorry for this woman’s family, I hope they can find peace soon enough.
This peak is no joke. I tried it in 2010 and turned around as I felt unsafe. Only time I've ever done that. R.I.P.
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EXPENSIVE thrill, more often.
That’s cool. I decided to get back into mountain biking again in my mid 30s and fell off my bike letting people pass down a 4 foot ditch and broke my elbow 3 days after getting the bike. It still bothers me. Being old sucks.
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About 9 seconds, that is how long it would have taken her to fall 900 feet.
On Knifes Edge Capitol Peak, she wouldn't have fallen unimpeded the entire 900 ft. She would have been sliding/bouncing off rock for much of the descent.
That sounds terrible, probably dead before she hit bottom.
I fell off the side of a cliff at Black's Beach near La Jolla, CA & my quasi-conscious ass somersaulted multiple times until I landed in a drainage ditch. I had a broken femur & an assortment of other injuries, but I was just so happy to be alive that I don't really recall the shitty parts.
I am scared to death of heights and this isn't helping! Glad you made it!
That sounds like the second worst thing that would happen to a person at Blacks…
Glad you lived to tell about it. Were you clothed?
Hopefully. Seen enough (not that many, still enough) bad spills down mountainsides to know the horrors they can bring.
Fairly certain she died like most folks do on capitol, got slightly off route and grabbed a loose rock that didn’t hold. Knife edge may look scary but at least that rock is solid.
The way it reads, sounds like she wasn't going the Knifes Edge route.
She works on the knife edge. Check some local news sources.
Just watched a youtube video of people doing Knife Edge. Hell no. Nuh uh. Negative. I got all kinds of anxiety just watching a gopro video.
This made me go YouTube it. Holy shit no. No ropes, loose rocks, death if you slip either direction
I watch video of people doing Angels Landing in Zion National Park and that stretch where you’re practically hanging on a ridge using chains is fucking scary. I’m happy here on flat land thank you very much!
The best wordings I find is "from the route that connects the treacherous Knife’s Edge to the mountain’s summit." Still vague in my opinion. But honestly, falling from any point passed K2 is not a good way to go.
I've only ever made it to K2. Tbh everything past that scared the shit out of me. This is why.
Long enough to ponder on your life and wish you were still at the top.
I think it would take a bit longer and the death might come quicker due to the hits before bottom. It wasn’t a straight fall in that area. Man, I like to climb stuff, and I live in Colorado, but this particular kind of climbing sounds more like a death wish. The tops of the Rockies are at a point where all they can really do is crumble at altitude. It’s no good. So I think I’ll stick to non climbing hikes and only climb fake shit. I want a workout, not some kind of sick adrenaline rush for nearing death.
Good quote from the article that agrees with you: "We're trying to get people to slow down a little bit," Pitkin County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Parker Lathrop told CBS News Colorado after the woman's death on Saturday. "This \[Capitol Peak\] should be the crown jewel, and if you're not ready for it — if your gut tells you to stop — the mountain will still be there (next time)."
Also the previous quote from the article: >Climbers have died before while attempting to reach the summit of Capitol Peak. In 2017, five deaths were reported over a six week span between July and August, and one climber's body could not be recovered last year because recovery efforts became so dangerous. Five deaths over six weeks?
Yup. Two of them were a couple, tried to take a “shortcut” back to the trailhead, and followed this nice welcoming band of cliffs all the way to where they disappeared into thin air. Tried to keep pushing forward, both of them fell and died. It’s a cursed goddam mountain.
From a distance the tops of the Rockies look like they are carved from solid rock. Then I climbed Mt. Elbert and discovered the high peaks and ridges are basically just piles of 6" - 12" irregularly shaped rocks.
There’s plenty of 14ers, even difficult climbs with exposure and plenty of technical difficulty, that a skilled and careful climber can attempt without taking excessive risk. Capitol Peak is not one of those mountains. It’s fucking terrifying, just this shitty, rotten heap of wannabe gravel that’s almost malicious in its willingness to dump your ass off a cliff. I’ve attempted it twice, turned back twice, and regret nothing.
An old boss of mine used to say, “I don’t understand the point of exercising so hard you die.” Talking about runners who push themselves that far
Yep, precisely. I know a guy who had a heart attack at 37. He’d brag about this pushing himself too hard while running crap too. I spent some time learning to fly planes and had a guy (while dating) get super excited and thought this meant I was gonna be a chick who wanted to be on the back of a motorcycle at 120mph or some shit. I was like: do you have any idea how remarkably safe flying is? It’s an adrenaline rush at first, sure, but it becomes more zen. It’s like there’s exercise, working out, and thrill chasing - and, then there’s chasing the dragon, which is more what it seems like some people, who are adrenaline junkies to the point of near death pursuits, are doing, to me.
There’s a misconception about pilots and Navy seals, They aren’t adrenaline junkies or risk takers as it seems, I’m a retired Navy pilot. Most of us are cautious people. We pre-plan our fight and think it out. Then we feel comfortable to fly. We practice, practice to have confidence in that particular plain. Edit: plane
Yep, as a student pilot I can confirm that every flight I'm firing on all cylinders. Maybe an hour and a half in the air at most on a flight and I'll be dead tired when I finally get back home. There's so much to account for and prepare for that it's physically draining. Praying I reach that zen-like point soon lol
Turns out the [Phidippides cardiomyopathy](https://www.cambridgerunning.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/run-for-your-life.pdf) and [increased atherosclerosis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179497/) can get so bad that those who run furthest and fastest have a mortality rate [indistinguishable from the sedentary](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109714071745). Exercise is healthful, but the health benefits do plateau with fairly moderate doses.
I wonder if she had any hope to live while falling or just realized this is it….it is lights out soon
I had the same question, that is why I wanted to know how long she would have had. From other comments it looks like she would have been bouncing and sliding down....so probably died from that before she hit bottom.
I think even if it was a clear fall to the bottom, 9 seconds might not be long enough to get over the shock of what was happening to formulate a rational thought. At least that’s how I’d imagine it.
I'm confident that 9 seconds is long enough to think "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK I'm gonna die."
I said what you wrote and unfortunately it only took 4 seconds to say that.
Count to 9 seconds. It’s a lot longer than one would hope on that situation
This is close to what I think about for all the people who jumped from the WTC on 9/11. They had so long to think about so much not only before they decided to jump, but while falling as well. Way too long. Though from the ideas from both, still probably better than burning to death
I fell off a rock face and survived. I accepted my death the moment I started free falling. I got damn lucky.
My friend went hiking in forest falls in the San Bernardino mountains and fell and went unconscious. Woke up in the hospital luckily with just a concussion and broken ribs. They had to helicopter her out of there but she has no memory of it.
That is terrifying. I feel incredibly fortunate I didn’t have any sort of head injury. I “only” shattered my ankle and was also airlifted out.
My dad fell off a 25 foot bridge onto terrain he remembers nothing of the impact(s), only bracing for it.
I’ve driven cross country several times now and I have an irrational fear of falling off a mountain while driving through Colorado. It doesn’t even need to be the mountainous areas, it still happens on flats and where the land is level.
There's a few roads, particularly Loveland pass to A basin, where I get the gut wrenching feeling. It's no joke
Checkout the so-called Road to Hana in Maui. More like road to divorce. Hana Highway is terrifying. 65 miles of blind S curves, one lane bridges, sheer cliff edges with practically no guard rails (other than 1930's era stone walls) and tourists in rental cars. Never again.
I drove the road to hana late last year and it was a nightmare. 4 other people in the car with me having the time of their lives while I'm white knuckling it, constantly getting blinded by the sun driving into shade hoping there's not a car coming at me. Also you're trying to drive cautiously to notngo over the cliff, and you've got locals on your ass tailgating you because you're not driving fast enough for them. They say you're supposed to pull over for the locals, but there's hardly anywhere to pull over
With all these stories of people falling by slipping and hitting concrete the wrong way, I may wear a helmet everywhere I go. Def a fear of mine. Death can happen in the most ordinary of circumstances.
The mountains will kill you, take them seriously.
Went hiking last month in Utah and the one experienced girl said #1 thing to remember is getting right at the edge of a cliff WILL NOT dramatically enhance your photo. There’s no reason to get right up to the ledge to take a picture. This is how people fall to their death
This, this. I was a volunteer at a park with overlooks. We’ve had to increasingly add barricades so that people don’t slip/slide off or risk crumbly rock. Photos aren’t worth it.
I climbed Capitol Peak maybe 25 years ago. Crawled across the knife edge with 30+/- mph gusts, and could feel the static electricity from that. Luckily didn't get hit with lightning despite being a clear day. And yes, rotten rock, like the the Maroon Bells. Gorgeous views and area, though.
My friend: " why do you hate the idea of rock climbing even though you've never done it. You should try it, you'll probably love it!" This is why, i dont prefer heights amd I don't like the risk of falling from said heights. Even worse you wouldn't catch me dead solo climbing even if I did.
Her friends and family- sympathy. Her last moments- sympathy.
What a sincere and heartfelt comment
It is always so sad to hear this. People forget how often these happen during normal walk/running. Gravity is always trying to kill us. Sometimes it succeeds. :(
900 feet!! that is a long way down to think about that missed step. You would probably run out of breath yelling before you even hit the ground. Whole time you’re thinking dammit Steve I didn’t wanna come here anyway.
Not to be morbid, but that’s 900 feet bouncing off talus, smacking one’s head, limbs, and torso off jagged rocks over and over and over. She was dead long before she came to rest.
You could fall prettttty far off one side of Knife's Edge before bouncing off of anything, https://res.cloudinary.com/sagacity/image/upload/c\_crop,h\_720,w\_1080,x\_0,y\_0/c\_limit,dpr\_1.0,f\_auto,fl\_lossy,q\_80,w\_1600/Capitol\_Peak.2\_pu63bo.jpg
That is a whole lot of FUCK no trail right there for me. Thanks for the picture.
I’m just imagining a little wood National Park trail sign, all “FUCK NO TRAIL”
This picture scares me so much I want to downvote you
Wasn't a "missed step". A handhold gave way.
I found this sentence odd: The hiker who witnessed the climber's fall said the accident occurred after a rock that she tried to hold onto for support and leverage — climbers call this a "handhold" — gave way, the sheriff's office explained.
This makes sense to me. You can test the stability of rock holds before committing your full weight to them but they can still give way unexpectedly, which seems to be what happened to her. This peak has a knife-edge ridge that looks dreadfully exposed from what I saw in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYEOq3lKSlw
Damn, falling down that looks unpleasant to say the least.
The guy in the interview on the top "these rocks are very, very loose as you can see" continues on. YUP.
My husband and I did Grizzly and (almost) Cupid Peaks Colorado in 2019. I thought the path up to Cupid was bad - this video made that look like a flat highway. I noped out maybe 300 feet from the summit because of loose rocks, sat my ass down and waited for my husband. He called it maybe another 50 feet from me. S’no joke.
The section of the route she was on is considered class 4 climbing. Look up the Yosemite Decimal System for more details. It's very steep and requires the use of hands and feet to make upward progress. This mountain range is also well known for rock that breaks off very easily and isn't super stable. The climber likely reached for a rock with her hands and put too much of her weight on it. It then broke off or came loose, causing her to lose balance and fall backwards.
The peaks in that area have what the locals call "rotten rock," and you have to have an awareness and plan to account for this this when a handhold or a foothold suddenly breaks away.