Page 28 - 2002 AMA Winter

Comice on ENE ridge Ober Gablehorn.
my left fell away causing a further rock fall below As the rocks fell Sam and Simon watched helplessly We have all read accounts of infamous accidents in climbing books (and this is as close as I ever want to come to having one) but everything did slow down and for a split second everything was calm and surreal. Fortunately both Sam and Simon were on a long anchor and had freedom to move. Sam gained some cover under a slight protrusion directly below the main fall and Simon moved flat against the far wall of the corner. In a matter of seconded the fall ended. The kiosk-sized rock was gone and the corner was now a very noticeable breche across the whole ridge. The breche was now much different, much more open and more exposed. Sam, (shaken not stirred), was fortunately not injured. Simon however had his leg trapped under a lager boulder the size of a wide
Accident S ridge Pte de Zinal.
screen TV. An attempt by me to move proved that the face was still loose, but also that Rob still had me on a tight rope from above. He quickly lowered me the 3m to the unstable platform below.
Sam reacted quickly and I can confirm that he has a firm if matronly bedside manner. The rock was moved sufficiently for Simon to drag his leg free and Sam administered more first aide. (His bandaging, while highly effective did not score well for artistic merit). On closer inspection Simon had a perfect halfpenny side hole in the flesh above his shin and a number of scratches that were bleeding heavily. He was in a lot of pain and was quickly going into shock; we prescribed high power “ Duncans" chocolate, for a diagnosed a broken shin and cleverly assessed that he could not climb out. Fortunately the following partly had caught
up and were now looking down from the top of the abseil and asking if we required help. In true military fashion we were planning cunning hoists and clever pulleys, impro­ vised stretchers were high on the agenda and so was self-evacuation. However with true German effeciecy they suggested we call the mountain rescue. They were right. One short Teutonic phone call later and the helicopter was tasked. All we had to do was make ourselves safe and wait.
It took some minutes for the last of the rocks to stop echoing off the glacier below and it was only then that we realized the full potential for the disaster we had so narrowly missed. Attempts to recover the abseil rope buried in the rock were soon stopped when we realized that the jumble of boulders that we were stood on was far from consolidated. We backed up our rock protection, again.
a ARMY MDUHTAIHHH )