On July 30, 2017, at 1:59 pm, Yosemite dispatch was notified via a 911 call that a climber had fallen while on the first pitches of Matthes Crest. The reporting party, Jeff (male 20s) said he had witnessed his climbing partner Matthew (male 20s) fall to the base of the route. Jeff told dispatch that Matthew had died in the fall.
SCENARIO
Notch at the base of Matthes Crest where the route begins.
Matthew and Jeff had met in person only a few days prior to their climb after striking up a friendship on the Online Climber’s forum “Sierra Mountaineers Club.” After about a month of back and forth online, they decided to get together for a climbing trip to Yosemite.
Saturday the two had climbed Tenaya peak together and developed a good climbing relationship. Jeff stated that they felt comfortable with each other and seemed to be “really in sync.” They had talked about also climbing “West Country” (5.7) on Stately Pleasure Dome that afternoon, but decided against it based on some information given online stating that it had tricky gear and could be runout.
On the morning of the 30th the two hiked in from the Cathedral Lakes trailhead. They arrived at the base sometime before noon and prepared for the climb.
Jeff and Matthew had a discussion as to what rope system to use. They had brought two Mammut 60 meter 8.5mm half ropes and they discussed the pros and cons of using both simultaneously (as per design) or using just one to simplify rope management. They were both under the impression that a single strand 8.5mm half rope could hold a leader fall safely, so they agreed to keep one rope in Matthew’s backpack and bring it out once they reached the rappels at the summit of the North Tower.
Overview of headwall. Green arrow indicates final resting place of Matthews body, behind boulder. Yellow arrow indicates belay station where Matthew began the second pitch. Red arrow indicates approximate location of his fall.
The team agreed to swing leads with Jeff leading the first pitch. Matthew belayed from the bottom of the route at the notch at the beginning of the headwall. As Jeff got further up the first pitch, Matthew told him that he was running short on rope, so he established a belay anchor and brought Matthew up.
Once Matthew got to the anchor, they prepared to swap leads and discussed strategy for the next pitch. The most frequently traveled route would have lead slightly climber’s left of the belay station, but involved an exposed step-across move that Matthew felt uncomfortable with. Another option was to the climber’s right of the belay station that consisted of seemingly easy face climbing but with few protection options. Jeff stated that Matthew was becoming increasingly nervous as they discussed options for the pitch, and that he had offered to lower Matthew down to find a better route or call off the climb. Matthew decided he would take the climber’s right option with the face climbing. Somewhere between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm Matthew started climbing.
After several moves he was able to place a piece of gear in the form of a horn slung with a runner. He then continued to climb up and right on the face. Jeff recalled saying “Don’t climb up anything you can’t climb back down”.
Matthew continued climbing and reached a point about 5-10 feet past his protection and out of Jeff’s line of site. Jeff heard Matthew yell and could tell that he was falling. Jeff held the brake on the belay device to catch his fall.
Looking up from the belay station along Matthews route. Green arrow indicates his last piece of protection (shown). Red arrow indicates the arête and possible location where he transitioned to the face climb.
Jeff felt a tug on the belay device and believed that he had successfully caught the fall. Within what he described as a second he felt the tension on the device release and saw Matthew falling to the base of the route. Jeff yelled, “you’re okay?” several times down to Matthew without any response.
After several moments he pulled the rope back and saw that it had been broken. Jeff established a rappel anchor and then rappelled on the remaining rope to the base of the climb. Jeff knew immediately upon reaching Matthew that he had died in the fall. He checked his pulse and felt nothing, Jeff also noticed a large gash on his head.
Jeff attempted to call 911 numerous times on a cell phone but was unable to get a call through. He decided to hike to the saddle at the north end of Matthes to try to call for help where he thought he would get better signal, which was about 1.5 miles away. Eventually Jeff was successful in making a 911 call at the north saddle. He then returned to Matthew’s location after being told rescue personnel would be en-route.
RESPONSE
Upon receiving the call, Tuolumne park rangers dispatched ground and air resources to the scene. Yosemite Park Helicopter located Jeff at the base of the south end of Matthes Crest at 2:53 pm. The helicopter returned to Tuolumne Meadows to pick up an investigator and a SAR team member who were then dropped off near Echo Lake and began hiking to the scene of the accident.
At approximately 5 pm, all SAR team members had arrived on scene at the base of Matthes Crest and confirmed that Matthew had been killed in the fall. One SAR team member and the investigator stayed on scene overnight. Park Helicopter arrived at approximately 7:45 am on July 31st and transferred his body to Tuolumne Meadows.
TAKE AWAYS
- Be conservative in alpine terrain – While the two climbers seemed to be within their physical capabilities, a route like Matthes Crest may have been inappropriate for the team based on their alpine rock climbing experience. Matthes Crest wanders among discontinuous cracks, circuitous ridge traversing and insecure down climbs demanding route finding experience. Before setting out on alpine routes, knowing that you have the ability to climb into and out of sections of varying difficulty is important. Hazards such as rock quality, weather, route finding, and remote location make climbing in the High Sierra backcountry a more committing pursuit and less ideal place to be at your limit.
- Know your equipment – It’s hard to know if this accident would have occurred had the party been using two ropes, or if they had been using a full strength single rope. High Sierra granite can be notoriously sharp, a thinner rope has more likelihood of being cut or damaged than a thicker rope. Although, technical investigators who surveyed the scene the day after stated that a larger rope may have also cut under the same circumstances. There may have been confusion as to the capabilities of this team’s rope. Twin and Half ropes are intended to be used with two strands in service. Read and understand your equipment’s user manual.