(Photo:Stephanie Prezant, age 22.)
On Sunday something unthinkable happened.
A young woman full of life, just a few months away from college graduation, went outside climbing for the first time. She had no reason to think she was doing anything risky. She climbed an easy route,andbelieved the rope to which she was tied was secured to a massive tree on the ledge above her.
But when she weighted that rope the systemthat was supposed to protecther collapsed.Climbers who were nearby reported thatthe rope didn't catch her. Instead it (and the slings to whichit was attached) came tumbling down.With nothing holding her weight, the woman fellabout twenty feet to the ground.
Eyewitnesses said that rescue personnel came immediately, tending to her injuries and quickly getting her to an ambulance. Despite these efforts, they could not save her.
Young Stephanie Prezant died.
I never knew her, but as a member of the community of Gunks climbers, and as an ordinary human being, I feel such pain at this tragic loss. I can only guess at theanguish her family must be feeling.Being a parent myself, Ihave the barest inkling of the grief they must be dealing with. And as for the people who were with Stephanie when it happened, for them too this must be such a terrible time. I am so sorry.
I wish I'd been there. I wish I could have done something to prevent this horrible event before it all unfolded.
Whenever an accident like this happens, we climbers tend to come together and speculate about it on the internet. It may appear insensitive, but it is inevitable and probably cannot be prevented.
Part of this phenomenon, I think, is just the morbid curiosity we all share.But there is a more positive side to the internet postings.Thereis genuine concern in the communityfor the well-being of others. Another part of it is the worry we all feel as climbers. We trust our gear with our lives and when we hear of an accident wefear that our trust is misplaced and that we could be the next casualty. We want to know the details bothso that we mayavoid whatever mistakesmight have been made and also so that we can distance ourselves from the accident.If we canestablish that this accident was caused by one mistake or another, we can feel assured of our own safety because we would never make THAT mistake, whatever THAT mistake may be.
I am as guilty as anyone of participating in thisorgy ofcuriosity and speculation. When I heard there had been an accident I started a thread on Gunks.com seeking more information. Mostly I just wanted to hear that the young woman would be okay. But like everyone else I also wanted to analyze the event, to learn from whatever went wrong.
I guess I should have restrained myself. My own post on the accident was an example of how these internet feeding frenzies produce misinformation. I provided the few details I'd heard and one of them-- the name of the climb from which Stephanie fell--turned out to beincorrect. And then after some useful information surfaced, the thread devolved into the usual speculations and know-it-all prescriptive arguments, none of which were at all helpful to anyone. Another thread, on rockclimbing.com, followed a similarly depressingtrajectory.
I hope the Mohonk Preserve rangers who responded to the scene will eventually be able to make some determination of what really caused Stephanie's anchor to fail.
Here, on my blog, I do not wish to presume I know exactly what went wrong.Nor do I wantto make her climbing partners or family feel any worse.
Of course without knowing whatcaused the accident onecan offerno formula for avoiding this kind of disaster.
But the temptation to preach is irresistible.
I want to say:
Please, all you climbers out there, do not assume this accident was solely the result of inexperience.We don't know what level of experience these climbers had. Even if in this case it turns out they were all first-timers, we all know that experienced climbers toohave beeninjured and killed when they trusted faulty anchors. Whatever went wrong here, do not delude yourself: it could happen to you or me.
Be careful out there.
The systems we employas climbersare very simple. But inabriefmoment of complacency, or exhaustion, or distraction, it is all tooeasy to set upthese systems incorrectly. Here I am speaking not just of top rope anchors, but of all the systems we climbers use.And I speak from experience. We are all capable of failure. Eventhe best of us under some circumstanceswill fail to double back a harness, finish a knot, lock a carabiner, or attach ourselves properly to an anchor. Anyone can fail to ensure the ends of the rope are even or that both strands are through the rappel device. Anyone canload a GriGri backwards.
It can happen at any time.
Please remain vigilant. Double-check everything. And employ a partner check whenever you can. A fresh set of eyes is so often helpful. I have no idea whether it would have made any difference in this case. But it never hurts.
I have been fortunate. The times when I have screwed up, partners have been there watching for me. There have been no consequences. Others, obviously, havenot always been so lucky.
I like to think I have come through to the other side. ThatI have graduated from the screw-up years. But I know it only takes one lapse. When you trust your weight to your gear, it has to be right every time.
I want to do right by Stephanie. I want to honor her memory. I intend to do so by watching out, for myself and my partners. And for others. In the future Imay be less prone to walk away from situations that seem unsafe, and more prone to offer some friendly advice to strangers. It is allI can think to do.
I hope you will do the same.
These are 'Holy Mole' peppers - very hot little devils. These will belong to Philo ... not me!
Helen Keller said: "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." Our day started with a trip up to Mom's alma mater, Sonoma State University, where grandpeep, H, was competing in a Cheer competition. Here she is on top - woo hoo!
Since we were close to Crane Park, where Mama used to play frisbee golf (yeah... funny!) with some pals, Ma and Pa thought it would be a great parkie for some fun!
Unfortunately, the rules said that we had to be on leash - yuck! So we soldiered on, even though we caught these guys below with a pupper offleash!
If you haven't ever played frisbee golf, it is really cool! You have to have special disks and do they ever fly!
Some pix of the scenery on the way to Crane Park. The vineyards are in their fall majesty! Momzers and Dad decided that we would spend our special MOMENT at the Mt. Burdell Open Space Preserve, where we could go offleash and see precious views of the San Francisco Bay and beyond.
Pretty soon, it was approaching 4pm... for us, 11:00 pm GMT. Mom gathered us to her as best she could and we all thought about those we loved and missed as well as those we love and are in pain. We couldn't light a candle here, cause we didn't want to start a grass fire or anything. but we felt the power of thinking... with so many of you across the planet. It was very powerful.
Then, we had to go and play in the grasses, before it got dark. 
And before we had to go home.
And before we died of thirst... We spent today extremely grateful for what we have... life itself. 
Helen Keller got it right.
Autumn at Mount Rainier, especially in the alpine and subalpine zones, does not last long. In fact, some argue whether it exists at all. Camp Muir had beach-like weather last Thursday; by the next night there was 70 mph gusts slinging fresh snow into climber's tents. Summer conditions to winter conditions in less than 24 hours. 
Though the skiing hasn't become great, the climbing conditions have held out! The lower freezing levels have solidified the sketchier crevasse crossings and the feshly plastered snow has kept loose rock in place.
We continue the Hike a Day up to yet another Waterfall!
Mingus Mill
A Beatifull Sunset over the Mountains
