[pct-l] stream crossing death

[Stephen]

Mr Happy inverts
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <kmurray at pol.net>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 11:17 PM
Subject: [pct-l] stream crossing death


> Yeah, keep your pack straps tight.  Have you ever practiced getting out?
> Do you know what your bodies' physiologic response is when suddenly
> immersed in near freezing water?  You die if you are wrong, you are not
> going to practice this, and guess?  Good luck!
>
> Picture of backpacker crossing the stream that killed him:
>
> http://www.climber.org/TripReports/images/1400/1432-DelOnAnotherDifficultRockHoppingCrossing.jpg
>
> Accident Report Form submitted to Accidents in North American 
> Mountaineering
>
> Report submitted by Ed Lulofs, 1195-4 W Calle De Las Estrellas, Azusa, CA
> 91702, elulofs at yahoo.com. I was there.
>
> Date of Accident: July 16, 2004
>
> Geographic Location: Rundle glacier outwash stream, Owl River, Baffin
> Island, Auyuittuq National Park, Canada's Nunavut.
>
> Names (or use a number) and ages of person directly involved:
> Del Hildebrand Age: 61
> Ed Lulofs Age: 51
>
> Total Number of Persons in Party or Class: 2
>
> Details of the Accident: Lost footing crossing fast icy stream with heavy
> pack. Failed to discard pack in the water. Dragged through 1/2 km of
> rapids. CPR failed to revive. Probable drowning, possible concussion or
> broken neck.
>
> Experience Level: [ ] none or little ( 1st year) [X] moderate (1-3 years)
> [ ] experienced [ ] other
>
> Narrative Description of Accident (use extra sheet if necessary):
> It started to rain about 4AM. Del woke at 5AM and saw that the group near
> us had crossed the stream. He liked to hike in the rain. He had finished,
> the day before, the paperback book that he had brought and so had nothing
> to do or read while waiting. He was the trip leader and decided to try to
> cross. I hurriedly packed up. There were smaller stream crossing of 1/2 km
> before we reached the main stream, and as always, he was several hundred
> meters ahead of me. Not a good idea. He was pacing up and down the main
> channel looking for the best place to cross for the 5 minutes that it took
> me to catch up to him. Finally he picked a spot. He HAD his pack
> unbuckled. After he was a few steps out into the stream and I could see
> that it was difficult for him and that there was a good chance of him
> falling, I took off my pack and put it down on the gravel bar. He had one
> foot on the other shore-I thought that he had made it, then he fell in and
> was washed the 10 meters downstream and back to my side of the stream. I
> helped him get up. Water was dripping from his pack. I suggested that we
> camp and dry out. He didn't want to spend a third night at this site. Del
> had only brought one hiking pole. I handed him one of mine and told him to
> throw it back to me after he crossed. This had worked for me in the Yukon.
> He was concerned about losing it and handed it back to me. He violated
> another rule and went back to the same place to try to cross again. Now my
> memories become less clear as things started happening fast. I think that
> he only made it halfway across this second time. He fell down, was washed
> the 10 meters back to near where I was, got a grip on the river bed while
> on his hands and knees. He was only there for seconds and then he was
> carried downstream again. I remember him looking very surprised. He was
> only carried 10 meters when he started tumbling head over heals backwards.
>
> With two poles and without my pack, I was just barely able to cross. Not
> crossing was not an option as all of the little streams that we had just
> previously crossed had merged into an obviously uncrossable stream just
> downstream from our position on the gravel bar. I hurried downstream as
> fast as I could watching for him - hoping he was clinging to a rock. After
> 1/2 km-it must have taken me 10 minutes to get there, I saw his pack,
> praying that he wasn't with it. I was near panic now. I recall ignoring
> rapids and stepping in chest deep holes in the stream to reach him.
>
> I found him in about six inches of water. The current had stripped off
> most of his clothes. He still had one arm through his pack strap! I don't
> specifically have a memory of his face in the water, but it must have been
> as I wanted to get him out of the water. I grabbed his arm and started
> pulling him toward shallow water. But with the pack still attached, the
> current pulled him out of my grasp and he was going downstream again. I
> decided that I couldn't get him out of the water by myself. Later I
> calculated that his pack could weight 200 pounds filled with water, and he
> was 6 foot tall and so almost 200 pounds. I couldn't do anything with
> 300-400 pounds in the water. Couldn't even roll him over because of his
> pack.
>
> There was an emergency shelter with a radio nearby, so I ran the 200
> meters over to it. I saw three packs in front and started calling for
> help. Ian, Dene, & Jordon who had crossed earlier were inside. Ian put
> Jordon on the radio and sat phone to call for help. Ian, Dene, & I ran
> back to help Del. Del had always carried his boots tied together over his
> neck when we were wearing our water sandals. The boots were twisted about
> his neck. My knife was in my pack 1/2 km upstream. Ian cut the boots off.
> We separated Del from his pack. Ian wanted to start CPR there in the 6
> inch flowing icy water, I wanted him taken to shore. We compromised and
> carried him to the gravel bar. This is the first time that I looked at my
> watch and it was 7:04AM. I instructed Ian and Dene to assist me with CPR
> for 40-50 minutes while we were kneeling on gravel with water trickling
> through. My knees are still healing from being rubbed raw while kneeling
> on the gravel. Then we carried Del to the stream bank where Ian and I
> worked for about 30 minutes until I was becoming hypothermic. We then all
> stayed in the emergency shelter until the helicopter evacuated us.
>
> What we didn't know until after the accident was that the other group,
> Ian, Dene, and Jordon, had crossed went at 4AM, nearly 3 hours before we
> attempted it, and crossed together as a group whereas Del attempted to
> cross by himself.
>
>
> Analysis of Accident: What knowledge and techniques will help prevent
> future accidents?
> Before stepping into the water: practice several times: pretend that I am
> falling in the water and discard my pack.
>
> When someone falls in the stream, shout: drop your pack.
>
> Don't hurry in the wilderness; patience, think!
>
> Follow the known rules for stream crossing.
>
> Don't carry your boots around your neck.
>
> Look for crossings away from a long rapids.
>
>
> Additional Comments:
> Del was an intelligent, experienced backpacker in excellent condition.
> Impatience and not discarding his pack caused his death. Icy water should
> have helped the CPR to revive him. I suspect he also had a concussion
> and/or broken neck.
>
>
>
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