Mountain Expedition Guide Dies in Fall into Crevasse on Mt. McKinley -- Alaska

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bledsoe, Gary ; Middaugh, John
• Corporate Authors:
  Alaska Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (Alaska FACE) ; Alaska. Division of Public Health. Section of Epidemiology. Occupational Injury Prevention Program
• Description:
  On May 21, 1992, a 41-year-old mountain expedition guide disappeared into a crevasse on Mt. McKinley and is presumed dead. The lip of the large crevasse collapsed while he was inspecting the edge to determine a safe bypass route for a party of 2 other climbers. The surviving expedition members attempted to locate the victim but were unsuccessful. The National Park Service decided that an attempt to recover the victim's body was too hazardous. Because the victim's body was not recovered, the exact cause of death could not be determined. However, it is presumed that the victim was either crushed under tons of compressed ice or fell an estimated 85 feet to the bottom of the crevasse. The victim was guiding an expedition down from a summit attempt of Mt. McKinley. The fatality occurred at approximately 2:00 P.M. on the South Buttress of the mountain. Another member of the expedition suffered frostbite injuries while near Mt. McKinley's summit and was hospitalized. He was released and returned to his home in another state. The "AKFACE" investigator concluded that, in order to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. ensure that standard safety practices used in mountaineering are strictly followed 2. ensure that other expedition members are aware of mountain escape routes in the event that the expedition leader is incapacitated 3. ensure that expeditions have a back-up radio communications system in the event that the expedition leader and/or their critical equipment is lost.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards OSHA Region 10 Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-practices Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-environment Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Falls
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE92AK017
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026867
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2012-109004
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 92AK017, 1992 May ; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Performing Organization:
  Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  71 - Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d4791a052c3aa9407120f1eaee5781b318d57f4f33c7b0b6540e8953dd6a61e8c71f3c38064564f912969af3ba17446cadf593fdf53ddfd43092f569acb9e7b0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169132/cdc_169132_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 20.67 KB ]