Additional details have been released related to the rock climber that died at Colorado National Monument in western Colorado after a fall on Saturday, April 30.
The climber was identified as 67-year-old Andrew Whiteside of Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland.
Whiteside was climbing on Otto’s Route (5.8+) with two friends when the accident occurred. At the time of the accident, Whiteside was lead climbing the first pitch of the route.
Given that Whiteside was lead climbing, he presumably would have been responsible for setting up fall protection gear, which means climbing sections of the route above where the last protection piece was placed. It’s also important to note that Otto’s Route is a ‘trad-style’ route, which means Whiteside would have been setting up the entirety of the fall protection on the wall himself, opposed to clipping into pre-installed bolts as would be done in ‘sport’ climbing.
As Whiteside led the route and was out-of-sight of his friends, he fell approximately 30 feet and landed on a rocky ledge located halfway up the pitch.
Rescue crews hiked to the rockface and climbed to reach Whiteside, who was deceased when they arrived. His death was later determined to be due to multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
Authorities did mention that Whiteside was wearing a helmet at the time of his fall.
While the specific reason behind this big fall wasn’t released, a big fall can be a common risk of lead climbing, especially when there’s a lot of distance between protection points.
When a climber is leading on the wall and above their last protection, they risk falling the distance to their protection, plus how much the rope was above the protection, plus how much they fall before they are caught by a belayer, plus how much the dynamic nature of a climbing rope allows the rope to stretch. Even being just 10 feet above a protection clip might mean taking a hefty fall in some scenarios. While falling is a part of the sport that climbers train for and is fairly predictable on many rock faces, unique aspects of a route, such as ledges and overhangs, can pose additional risks.
Otto’s Route is a 5.8-plus rated (intermediate), five-pitch, trad-style route that reaches the top of 450-foot-tall Independence Monument. It was famously bolted by John Otto on July 4, 1911, making headlines each year when the Mesa County Technical Rescue Team climbs it to plant an American flag on top as a local tradition. It’s one of the most well-known routes in the area, attracting climbers from around the country and world.
Condolences go out to those impacted by Whiteside’s death.
Thanks goes out to those involved in responding to this mission, including Colorado National Monument rangers, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Mesa County Search and Rescue, and the Lower Valley Fire District.
Colorado National Monument is located near Grand Junction, Colorado, close to the western edge of the state.
<…….