[pct-l] stream crossing death

[kmurray at pol.net]

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.