Tuckerman Ice Axe Impalement Pic?

dave.m · Apr 28, 2004

Several years ago, there was a jpeg floating around of a guy who had managed to run himself through with his ice axe during an incident in Tuckerman Ravine (I believe). The guy survived, or so I believe.

In any event, the pic was great for showing folks the dangers of ice axes. Anyboy have a link to that pic?

eddie · Apr 28, 2004

There's got to be better entertainment than that picture.

How about a picture of a leg cut off to see the dangers of chainsaws?

Take this to another website.

dave.m · Apr 28, 2004

eddie said:
There's got to be better entertainment than that picture.

"Entertainment"? My inquiry has nothing to do with entertainment.

I've found lots of my younger friends with gear lust in their eyes don't fully get the dangers involved.

The picture is not that gory, btw. The axe went just under the skin of his belly at an angle and didn't hit anything major. Or at least, that was the story when it was first posted.

woodstrider · Apr 28, 2004

impaled

Yeah, I heard a story about a guy who was at winter mountaineering school (AMC/ADK) and impaled himself during a practice self-arrest. I never saw a picture, but the story was making the rounds. (PS-I never signed up for any winter mountaineering courses either)

Jack Waldron · Apr 29, 2004

I don't have any pictures but the incident in question happened in the Gulf of Slides. The hiker/skier walked back to Pinkham with the ice axe still embedded in his abdomen. He was taken to a hospital where it was removed. The axe had managed to miss all abdominal organs.

afka_bob · Apr 30, 2004

eddie said:
There's got to be better entertainment than that picture.

C'mon, eddie, admit it: if we left that picture face up on the table and walked out of the room, you'd look at it! I bet we all would.

Grumpy · Apr 30, 2004

Just curious . . .

. . . about the rationale for moving this to the "Trips & Events" forum. The incident might be attributable to "tripping" and was, no doubt, an "event" for the victim and his companions . . . but beyond that??????

G.

darren · Apr 30, 2004

I dont have the picture, but I do remember it happening. I remember that the guy hiked out to 16 and flagged down a guy in a truck and the guy in the truck drove him to the hospital. The guy driving the truck was a reader of this site. I remember talking to him in person at a trailhead about it. I cant remember who he is though.

You are right. The picture is worth a thousand words. It goes a long way in showing why you need to respect and ice axe and not just use one without proper training. I beleive the guy that was impaled was glissading without taking his crampons off. His crampon caught up and he flipped.

- darren

ps: I moved this back to Q&A.

afka_bob · Apr 30, 2004

darren said:
... I beleive the guy that was impaled was glissading without taking his crampons off. His crampon caught up and he flipped.

Ooooh, that hits too close. I did that once off shining rock (crampon-on glissade), but before I slid, I threw my axe down into some really deep snow. Heel point caught and tore my shell pants and fleece, but just scratched my calf. Only took about half-an-hour to find my axe in the snow. Dave M. was there, just shaking his head in disbelief.

Talk about dumb luck. Kids, dont try this at home (or on the trail)!

Dave, you looking for that picture for me?

MichaelJ · Apr 30, 2004

You glissaded off Shining Rock?!?

(whoops, sorry, shoulda made that a PM)

afka_bob · Apr 30, 2004

[whispering:]

A little coner of it. I hope I'm smarter now.

dave.m · Apr 30, 2004

afka_bob said:
I hope I'm smarter now.

Dave M. is still here, just shaking his head in disbelief. ;^)

What, you expected me to just leave that softball alone?

David Metsky · Apr 30, 2004

dave.m said:
Dave M. is still here, just shaking his head in disbelief. ;^)

Both of us.

-dave-

dave.m · Apr 30, 2004

Dave Metsky, I was sorta hoping you had that gem tucked away on your dartmouth site somewhere? Any chance?

BrentD22 · May 1, 2004

javiline

Not sure if I'm spelling "Javaline/Javiline" correctly, but I think you know what I mean.

I saw a pic of a distance judge with one just to the side of his stomach. The crazy part was the guy was fine, he commented for the news paper before the EMT's took him away. I think he said something like "I wasn't paying attention". I bet that guy pays attention to everything now!

doc99 · May 2, 2004

Hi,

My uncle was one of the EMTs who treated that guy, and took the picture.

I believe that it used to be posted here or at the Dartmouth site during the winter months when there was a photo gallery.

I'll e-mail my uncle to see if he still has the pic and if he'll re-post it...

Jeff Smith

Steve-O-former · May 3, 2004

javelin

I threw javelin at the collegiate level and my throwing coach kept a copy of the video of the judge being impaled. He only showed it once a year to the newbies as a warning to keep their heads up during practice. Javelin impalements happen infrequently, but the fear that they could happen has caused many states to eliminate the event at the high school level.

Personally, I think using an ice axe is a greater danger than being hit by a javelin because the axe is kept on your person. With a javelin you can get out of the way IF you see it coming; if you take a spill with an ice axe there's no telling where it'll end up.

WalksWithBlackflies · May 3, 2004

Ahhhh... so the javelin and ice axe may go the way of the Jart.

dave.m · May 3, 2004

doc99 said:
I'll e-mail my uncle to see if he still has the pic and if he'll re-post it...

Jeff,

Many thanks.

Tuckerman Ice Axe Impalement Pic?

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