SCENARIO
On October 6, 2019 at 15:23, Yosemite Dispatch received a 911 call from a party whose leader had taken a fall on Cathedral Peak in Tuolumne Meadows. The leader suspected that both his ankles were broken and that he would be unable to walk out, but could continue self-rescuing to the base of Cathedral. YOSAR and Helicopter Rescue Team (HRT) members were dispatched, and the patient ultimately flown out from the base of Cathedral Peak.
BACKGROUND
John and Chris (30 year old males) were on their first climbing trip to Yosemite, and Cathedral was their first objective. John and Chris had climbed together frequently in the past, and had completed a three day multipitch trad course together in 2017. Since then they had accumulated a decent amount of trad and multipitch experience, and were comfortable leading 5.8 on gear.
They had arrived in Yosemite the evening before, and after a good nights sleep headed up to Tuolumne. They left from the trailhead in the late morning, and arrived at the base of Cathedral around noon. They could see four or five other parties on the route ahead of them – two parties down low and one higher up with three people. At this point their plan changed from aiming to climb the original route or whatever variations looked best, to taking any variations that would allow them to avoid other parties. They had been intending to simul climb the first couple pitches, and they continued with this plan with John leading the first block and Chris leading the second block which took them to the level of the chimney.
At this point one party was in the chimney with another party waiting at its base. Because of the crowds Chris chose to set up his anchor on the ledge about 30 feet to the left of the chimney and bring John up there. Their plan was to pitch out the climbing from this point since they were entering harder terrain, and although they originally intended to climb the chimney they now looked for an alternate route. According to the Supertopo topo that they had with them, the climbing to the left of the chimney went at 5.7 so they opted for that variation.
Chris had built his anchor in a left facing corner, and although the climbing looked easiest in that corner John opted to climb further left on the face in order to avoid climbing directly through the anchor. On the face was a finger sized crack (approximately BD Camalot .5) and John planned to use the crack and face holds for his initial climbing off the ledge. As John climbed off the ledge he got himself into an awkward position that didn’t feel 5.7, and with his feet approximately six to eight feet off the ledge, barndoored off. At this point he hadn’t placed any gear, and as he began to fall made the split second decision to try and land on the ledge rather than push off the wall and risk a factor 2 fall on the anchor.
John landed awkwardly on his feet and stumbled into a sitting position. He immediately knew that he had injured his legs, especially after trying to stand and feeling instability in his ankles. John and Chris sat on the ledge, assessing the damage and making a plan for retreat. John knew that he wouldn’t be able to continue climbing, and even if he could that he wouldn’t be able to hike down. Supertopo showed a bail option off the right side of Cathedral, but that would still involve hiking down to the base and moving through unfamiliar terrain. They decided that their best option would be to self-rescue to the base and receive further help from there.
THE RESCUE
Chris and John began rapping the route, leaving gear and slinging horns for anchors every 30 meters since they only had one rope. After the first rap at 15:23, which John semi-successfully accomplished by using one hand as the brake hand and the other to push himself away from the wall, he called 911. He was immediately connected to YOSAR, and ten minutes later two responders were dispatched on foot from Tuolumne Meadows and a helicopter was ordered. John and Chris continued rappelling for three raps total, and as Chris was setting up the fourth anchor (approximately 150 feet off the ground) they saw two soloists arrive at the base. The soloists happened to be ex-YOSAR members and medical professionals, and quickly realized something was wrong by the way John was rappelling. They came over to help with patient care, anchor building and rigging, and then lowered John down the final pitches with one of the responders, who at that point had arrived on scene.
At the base John was assessed and splinted, and at 18:13 was flown by helicopter to Ahwahnee Meadow. Ultimately John was flown to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, where he was diagnosed with breaks in both ankles, most significantly the talus bone of his right foot which required surgery.
Place Gear Early and Often – Placing gear in the available crack would probably have been the single easiest way to avoid this incident. Especially when climbing off the ground or above a ledge, taking extra consideration to place good gear where it will keep the leader off the deck is critical.
Overcrowding – Crowding on routes not only adds objective hazards such as rockfall from parties above, but also changes the entire mindset of parties who are feeling the pressure of crowds. Rather than focusing on climbing the best line, John and Chris opted for less desirable variations and were operating in a hastier mindset, which can affect decision making and risk analysis. A route like Cathedral often sees considerable crowding, and this is not the first accident where crowds were likely a contributing factor. The rock is not going anywhere – if there are too many people, another route or a different day might be a safer choice.
Medical Knowledge – Having some basic medical knowledge, whether a Wilderness First Responder or First Aid, can help immensely in a backcountry emergency. In this case the injuries were not critical enough to require immediate interventions, but in another scenario, having the skills to thoroughly assess the injury and provide basic interventions can be the difference between life and death.
Self Rescue – Self rescue skills on any climb, particularly in the backcountry, are a must. John and Chris’s ability to safely build anchors and rappel most of the route helped immensely to expedite the rescue. However some skills were rusty, such as how a rescuer can rappel with a patient, which would have helped speed up their descent and provided better patient care. Learn the skills and then practice them often, before they are needed.