Dry-Tooling Disaster

Marc Beverly, Ouray, Colorado

The Hall of Justice is located on the Camp Bird Road, just a bit up the road from the well-known Skylight ice climbing area. I had helped develop this dry-tooling crag, and in January 2014 I was climbing on a relatively new route and heading for the chains when a small hold broke under my axe. My other ice tool was on a separate hold, but the shock load was too radical for me to maintain control. I lost my footing and let go of the tool that was still placed, taking a wild 20- to 30-foot swing through the air. Above me, my ice axe rocked back and forth a couple times on the hold until it came loose and followed me down.

Swinging at the end of the rope, I felt a blow to the head like a papaya-sized rock hitting me. But it also felt like someone or something was trying to pull my helmet off.

Swinging at the end of the rope, I felt a blow to the head, like a papaya-sized rock hitting me. But it also felt like my helmet was pulling forward in a strange direction, over my eyes, like someone or something was trying to pull my helmet off. I reached up with my arm and felt my ice axe handle out in space. I figured it out: My ice pick was stuck in my helmet. The only problem was I wasn’t sure if it was in my skull. Sometimes people get shot and don’t even know it. That’s how I felt. I wasn’t sure that if I moved my axe I’d be scrambling my brain at the same time.

Back on the ground, we care fully removed my helmet and assessed the damage. The Russian-made, high-strength steel Krukonogi ice pick had penetrated right through my helmet. Fortunately, it missed my skull by about 3mm (1/10 inch). Had I not been wearing the helmet, that steel pick likely would have penetrated my skull, resulting in an emergency rescue—or worse.