I'll comment later with my .02 but here you go:
11/7/2006
Crews rescue Massachusetts man with broken leg in Tuckerman Ravine
David Carkhuff
MOUNT WASHINGTON—A middle-aged man descending in Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington Saturday afternoon severely broke a leg when his crampon caught in the ice, rescuers reported.
The victim of the injury was a 50-year-old man from Gloucester, Mass., who was mountaineering and ice climbing alone, according to N.H. Fish and Game conservation officer Brian Abrams.
"He was traversing down into Tuckerman's, he came down onto the headwall, he slipped on some ice, and his crampon caught and he broke his (left tibula and fibula) just above his boot," Abrams said.
Abrams, Mark Hensel and Mark Ober responded for N.H. Fish and Game.
"The gentleman had been high up on Mount Washington, was glissading down and broke his leg," said Joe Lentini with EMS climbing school and Mountain Rescue Service.
Glissading, which is sliding down a slope on your posterior, can be dangerous; doing it wearing crampons, the spikes worn on boots for traction on ice, results in 10 to 20 injuries each winter on Mount Washington, Lentini estimated.
"You never do it with your crampons on, because if they catch, that's the low point of resistance, and that's how you break bones," he said.
Appalachian Mountain Club, Mountain Rescue Service and N.H. Fish and Game cooperated in the rescue. The victim was identified by the N.H. Union Leader as Douglas Millen.
Lentini said he was called at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and he and Mountain Rescue Service personnel, including Alain Comeau, Steve Larson, Chris Noonan, Tim Martel and Travis Piper, arrived in freezing, wintery conditions.
The victim of the broken leg apparently was alone but well equipped, carrying a sleeping bag, Lentini said.
"He was very well prepared, so even though he had this accident, he was able to keep himself warm," he said.
Still, a hiker that witnessed the accident reported that the break was dramatic.
"From more than 100 feet away, it sounded like a gunshot," Lentini said.
Rescuers lowered him over 900 feet and slid his litter all the way down to Pinkham Notch.
"We got him down to Pinkham by 12:30 at night," Lentini said.
The man was traveling by himself, but somebody saw him and alerted a couple of other hikers, urging the hikers to go down and call for rescue services, Lentini said.
Bartlett-Jackson Ambulance transported him to The Memorial Hospital in North Conway, Abrams reported.
"In the bowl, there was probably two feet of snow in areas," Abrams said.
"We are absolutely in early winter in the high mountains so don't plan on being able to follow summer trails safely," warned Brian Johnston, snow ranger with the White Mountain National Forest. "Trails going through ravines and gulfs are buried with snow in many areas and require winter gear, i.e. winter clothes, ice axe, crampons, avalanche beacons, shovels, and probes. Remember to never glissade with your crampons on. Another person broke their leg on Saturday due to this very common and very preventable mountain injury."
The summit received 6.3 inches of new snow from Nov. 1-5 accompanied by westerly winds that blew some of this snow around and into the ravines, according to the avalanche advisory for Tuckerman and Huntington ravines posted at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Tuckerman and Huntington ravines are located in the Cutler River Drainage on the southeast shoulder of Mount Washington. This area is extremely popular with skiers, climbers and hikers. Each year over 70,000 people will visit the ravines.
Ironically, on Saturday, the Mount Washington Observatory staff hosted the first winter trip from the Eastern Mountain Sports Climbing School.
11/7/2006
Crews rescue Massachusetts man with broken leg in Tuckerman Ravine
David Carkhuff
MOUNT WASHINGTON—A middle-aged man descending in Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington Saturday afternoon severely broke a leg when his crampon caught in the ice, rescuers reported.
The victim of the injury was a 50-year-old man from Gloucester, Mass., who was mountaineering and ice climbing alone, according to N.H. Fish and Game conservation officer Brian Abrams.
"He was traversing down into Tuckerman's, he came down onto the headwall, he slipped on some ice, and his crampon caught and he broke his (left tibula and fibula) just above his boot," Abrams said.
Abrams, Mark Hensel and Mark Ober responded for N.H. Fish and Game.
"The gentleman had been high up on Mount Washington, was glissading down and broke his leg," said Joe Lentini with EMS climbing school and Mountain Rescue Service.
Glissading, which is sliding down a slope on your posterior, can be dangerous; doing it wearing crampons, the spikes worn on boots for traction on ice, results in 10 to 20 injuries each winter on Mount Washington, Lentini estimated.
"You never do it with your crampons on, because if they catch, that's the low point of resistance, and that's how you break bones," he said.
Appalachian Mountain Club, Mountain Rescue Service and N.H. Fish and Game cooperated in the rescue. The victim was identified by the N.H. Union Leader as Douglas Millen.
Lentini said he was called at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and he and Mountain Rescue Service personnel, including Alain Comeau, Steve Larson, Chris Noonan, Tim Martel and Travis Piper, arrived in freezing, wintery conditions.
The victim of the broken leg apparently was alone but well equipped, carrying a sleeping bag, Lentini said.
"He was very well prepared, so even though he had this accident, he was able to keep himself warm," he said.
Still, a hiker that witnessed the accident reported that the break was dramatic.
"From more than 100 feet away, it sounded like a gunshot," Lentini said.
Rescuers lowered him over 900 feet and slid his litter all the way down to Pinkham Notch.
"We got him down to Pinkham by 12:30 at night," Lentini said.
The man was traveling by himself, but somebody saw him and alerted a couple of other hikers, urging the hikers to go down and call for rescue services, Lentini said.
Bartlett-Jackson Ambulance transported him to The Memorial Hospital in North Conway, Abrams reported.
"In the bowl, there was probably two feet of snow in areas," Abrams said.
"We are absolutely in early winter in the high mountains so don't plan on being able to follow summer trails safely," warned Brian Johnston, snow ranger with the White Mountain National Forest. "Trails going through ravines and gulfs are buried with snow in many areas and require winter gear, i.e. winter clothes, ice axe, crampons, avalanche beacons, shovels, and probes. Remember to never glissade with your crampons on. Another person broke their leg on Saturday due to this very common and very preventable mountain injury."
The summit received 6.3 inches of new snow from Nov. 1-5 accompanied by westerly winds that blew some of this snow around and into the ravines, according to the avalanche advisory for Tuckerman and Huntington ravines posted at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Tuckerman and Huntington ravines are located in the Cutler River Drainage on the southeast shoulder of Mount Washington. This area is extremely popular with skiers, climbers and hikers. Each year over 70,000 people will visit the ravines.
Ironically, on Saturday, the Mount Washington Observatory staff hosted the first winter trip from the Eastern Mountain Sports Climbing School.
I then yelled for him to roll over on his back and put his feet up... The pack helped slow him down enough...
