Accident report for Coleman HW death last season?

Was there ever an accident report written up for the fall that killed Keith Hardy last summer on the Coleman Headwall? I was curious to learn what happened and maybe take something away from the event, but it seemed like after the initial news reports there wasn't any public follow up.

The 2013 edition of Accidents in North American Mountaineering (ANAM) is available online at the following location:

americanalpineclub.org/p/anam

Note: You need to be an AAC member with an account to download the digital edition.

I just looked and did not find any mention of the Coleman Headwall accident in the 2013 ANAM. I'm a little surprised by this. ANAM is the journal of record for this sort of thing.

My guess is that either a) the recovery was handled by an organization like the county sheriffs department that does not regularly correspond with ANAM, or b) the accident report was withheld at the request of someone who knew the victim.

The 2013 edition of Accidents in North American Mountaineering (ANAM) is available online at the following location:

americanalpineclub.org/p/anam

Note: You need to be an AAC member with an account to download the digital edition.

I just looked and did not find any mention of the Coleman Headwall accident in the 2013 ANAM. I'm a little surprised by this. ANAM is the journal of record for this sort of thing.

My guess is that either a) the recovery was handled by an organization like the county sheriffs department that does not regularly correspond with ANAM, or b) the accident report was withheld at the request of someone who knew the victim.

Thanks Lowell. I'm pretty sure that the rescue was handled, at least in part, by Bellingham mountain rescue, so maybe it's the latter.

It's my understanding that ANAM includes a selection of reports which have been chosen to be most instructive to the community, it does not include all reports submitted that could be published or otherwise distributed. They may have a report you could get your hands on if you contact the AAC or ACC.

Was there ever an accident report written up for the fall that killed Keith Hardy last summer on the Coleman Headwall? I was curious to learn what happened and maybe take something away from the event, but it seemed like after the initial news reports there wasn't any public follow up.

He fell at the top of the headwall and ended up at the bottom of the face. Not trying to be glib about it but that pretty much sums it up. Conditions were icy with a strong wind preserving dangerous skiing conditions. (I was not there but a friend met the party on the summit and warned them about the wind).

Bellingham Mountain Rescue successfully retrieved the body several weeks later.

He fell at the top of the headwall and ended up at the bottom of the face.  Not trying to be glib about it but that pretty much sums it up.  Conditions were icy with a strong wind preserving dangerous skiing conditions.  (I was not there but a friend met the party on the summit and warned them about the wind).

Bellingham Mountain Rescue successfully retrieved the body several weeks later.

I realize that it could boil down to something at simple as an unbalanced turn or unsharpened edges but I guess I was more curious to get into what led an otherwise extremely smart guy to ignore warning signs and commit. When skiers die in avalanches there is often a deep analysis of the thought process, lack of communication and heuristic traps that lead to the accident, my thought was that a similar analysis might be instructive here. We don't readily accept "unlucky" as an explanation for other accidents so it seems odd to do it for this one. Accident reports, even for fairly routine accidents, usually delve into the entire process from the planning of the victims trip, to the events of the day, to the execution of the rescue. Maybe it's just clutching at straws but it was my sincere hope to learn something from this and right now all I can really take away is "don't fall in a no-fall zone".

Anyway, I guess it's not really that big a deal, but if there was a report out there I was hoping to read it, hence the original post.

ANAM includes a category for skiing. Near the end of the 2013 ANAM, there is a footnote about it:

This category was set up originally for ski mountaineering. Some extreme-ski incidents qualify. Backcountry ski touring or snowshoeing incidents—even if avalanched—are not in the data.

The 2012 ANAM has a report about a steep skiing fall (non-fatal) in the Tetons. Pretty interesting. I haven't looked for other reports.

It would be interesting to talk to somebody associated with ANAM about the reports they publish. I suspect that free-solo climbing and steep skiing accidents don't get written up very often.

My guess would be that since the danger is so obvious, people are reluctant to analyze it afterward. It's like, if you succeed you're a hero. If you fall, you should have known better.

I've heard of several instances where the surviving partners of those who fell didn't want to talk about it.