OT: Climbing Death in Sangres

I heard this story this morning, very sad; 18 year old Kevin Hayne died while climbing Little Bear. A helicopter crashed attempting to rescue him, but no one hurt there. Lots of info in the 14ers forum.
Had a Spot with him but it malfunctioned. He was not only a climber but a fellow photographer:
http://www.kahstudios.com/
Folks--be careful out there on your mountain treks this season!

Stan.... that's very sad news. It is heartbreaking to see all those images in his gallery now...

Stan, do you have any word on what happened?

You mean the specifics on the accident? If so, according to his partner on 14ers.com they were going up a standard couloir pretty high up but it was too icy, when they moved to the gully side to wait for the sun to melt some ice he somehow lost his footing/handhold and fell a few hundred feet.

Thanks.. very sad, and my thoughts go out to his family. I was just curious how it happened so I know what to be "careful" of.

I think there are always 'lessons' to be learned from stories like this. I found it quite ironic that this young man listed in his profile "accomplishments": "I climb mountains, without being killed (usually)..." and there was a prominent shot of the Maroon Bells "Deadly Bells" sign on his website. It's especially tragic when someone so young dies, but we are all vulnerable on the high peaks, especially if we are not careful to be constantly being super aware of safety considerations. I just felt this was a good reminder--if someone can take that extra minute or extra precaution.

So sad! Even though he was still in his teens, it appears he had plenty of experience, based on his numerous trip reports.

Very sad to hear about this. While reading this Stan, I couldn't help but think about my nephew. He does a lot of 14ers and he is only 19....I need to send this to him to remind him to be careful.

How sad I followed a link to a short documentary with Kevin, his family and a climbing buddy. Apparently he and his friend had a climbing accident last summer on the Bells.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/23917903/detail.html

This is very sad. What I find disturbing is that they both had SPOT personal locator beacons, and both of them failed to send a signal. I was going to buy one, but now have second thoughts.

A parent's worse nightmare. Very very sad.

Just saw this on the local news....this is sad....

Having climbed this peak via the same (standard) route, the couloir referenced to is problematic for several reasons. It's almost always icy or wet (and smooth), is filled with loose rock that shoots down on potentially unwary climbers, and everything funnels to it......not just the loose rock but the rain, snow, and unfortunately (and in this case esp. sadly since he was so young) a few careless climbers. And climbing the walls on either side is not a viable option, as they are steeper and very loose as well. A fellow climber with me tried deviating from the couloir and fell several feet before luckily catching a ledge.

There used to be a fixed anchor near the top of the couloir with a sling rappel setup. Most people don't rope up on the ascent as long as it's not running too much water, but on the descent it is almost imperative (though some people still free climb down).....esp. if it is very wet or icy.

At this point you just hope someone else can learn from the tragedy. Little Bear is a serious mountain with unforgiving characteristics. Mountains like this do not discriminate. Consequently, people have to be discriminating.....and that sometimes means turning around and waiting for better conditions on a different day. Experience is only as good as WHAT you learn (and then practice) from your experiences.

My thoughts are with the family.....and his obviously very caring climbing partner.

Very sad. Anyway here's the beta on the route (I think this is the correct route).

Be careful everyone. Even mountains that are not extremely steep can be deadly