An experienced mountaineer died while solo climbing in the Tonquin Valley earlier this month.
Richard Lewis Gebert of Maine was on Mount Redoubt, a seldom climbed peak in the Rampart Range, when he succumbed to injuries following a long fall, Aug. 14.
Jasper National Park safety specialists, who found the 50-year-old climber on the B.C. side of the mountain two days later, believe he was attempting to rappel a short distance when his anchor failed, causing him to fall several hundred metres.
鈥淲hat looked like had happened was he was rappelling, and that was evident because the rope was still feeding through his rappel device, and our guess is and this is only a guess, his anchor failed,鈥� said Rupert Wedgwood, visitor safety specialist for JNP.
鈥淲e think he probably had the rope looped over a horn of rock and either the rock pulled away or it moved in some way to allow the rope to slip off it.鈥�
Gerbert was reported missing Aug. 15 after he didn鈥檛 make contact with his family the previous day. Up until that point, he had been calling home each evening using a satellite phone.
Gerbert, who visits the Canadian Rockies every couple of years, had travelled in the Tonquin Valley in the past. On this trip, he entered from the Astoria trailhead, near Mount Edith Cavell.
JNP safety specialists found his vehicle at that trailhead and with help from the RCMP opened it. Inside were maps and detailed route descriptions for mountains all over North America.
鈥淭hat led us to believe that he was very serious and competent and gave us confidence that he was in fact in this area,鈥� said Wedgwood, who, while in a helicopter, spotted Gerbert on the side of the northwest ridge of Mount Redoubt.
鈥淗e was located on the mountain hanging by his rope.
鈥淚 actually spotted him at 1:15 in the afternoon. We got lucky, the clouds lifted while we were searching this gully feature that didn鈥檛 have good enough visibility to look into previously and what caught my eye was his rope. I saw the straight line and you don鈥檛 often get straight lines in that environment and on closer inspection it was his rope.鈥�
The safety specialists then notified the BC Coroner鈥檚 Office, as well as the RCMP, and received permission to remove the body from the side of the mountain.
According to the accident report, the steep walls of the mountain wouldn鈥檛 allow the safety technicians to access the site. Instead, they were slung to a buttress close by and they then climbed the rest of the way to Gerbert. He was then packaged up and slung off the cliff face.
Before locating Gerbert, Parks did a great deal of background research, interviewing campers and outfitters in the Tonquin Valley, as well as Gerbert鈥檚 family. The location of his satellite phone calls was also taken into consideration.
鈥淭hen we put together a group of objectives based on what we know about the individual and try and find any sign of him on the mountain.
鈥淲hen we don鈥檛 have all the information on hand, the search can take longer. In this case, we were quite lucky with the search鈥攊t鈥檚 such a huge piece of terrain there that even if you鈥檙e certain that a person is on that terrain, it鈥檚 really hit and miss whether you locate them. There鈥檚 so many places that a person鈥檚 body can disappear.鈥�
As an example, Wedgwood noted that the first climbers to ascend Mount Redoubt in 1926 went missing and were never found.
To ensure your safety while travelling in the backcountry and to assist in a quick rescue, Wedgewood reminds recreationalists to stop by the Visitor Information Centre to fill out a registration form before heading out into the wilderness or alpine.
鈥淪afety registrations give us, the rescue agency, a lot of good information to enable us to activate a very rapid and effective search,鈥� he said, noting that it also doesn鈥檛 hurt to tell a friend or family member exactly where you鈥檙e going and when you expect to be back.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
