Heroes, Wilderness Medicine, and a Heartfelt Requiem

It is a funny thing how our perceptions are oftentimes influenced as we move through life’s journey. People that may seem totally alien to you become friends, mentors, and/or heroes. Exposure to a diverse society makes for a smorgasbord of opportunity and enlivens our journey. In hindsight, I know now that this was why my parents allowed me to choose to attend an inner-city high school.

socio-economic school district, I chose to attend Central High school. There was really no allure to encourage students to attend Central High. This was before the era of Magnet Schools and the athletic programs were average. In fact this was in a time when racial tensions were at an all time high in our community (school days were missed due to race riots) and most families were trying to get out of the CHS district. Great academicians or athletes never moved into the CHS school district. This was indeed a diverse, novel, and foreign setting to me. At Central High a high academic intellect was not the norm. The dropout rate was quite high. Based upon my freshman to senior class matriculation, I would estimate 30% failed to graduate. In a good year, 10% of the student body might have enrolled in college right out of high school. Why, one might ask, would a relatively intelligent (future professor) make such a choice? For me there was never any doubt and the reasoning was simple: I wanted to play football for my foremost hero, the head football coach at CHS: my father.

Marie Antoinette reference took a while for me to understand, after all, my family was not rich as my parents were both teachers. However, as my friends put it, I had moved from the “rich” side of town and my parents both had jobs. Indeed, this was a different educational setting.

might best be described as “living in a fishbowl”. I literally could do nothing without my father knowing about it… whether he wanted to or not. For all of the seemingly negative things previously stated, I would not change my choice. The diverse culture allowed me to meet and befriend some great folks and share in numerous experiences that shaped me into what I am and made me mentally tougher. However, my mental toughness was nothing compared to one of my heroes that I met through athletics. This story is really about his survival.

exposure it was obviously the same. One meets and befriends students, teachers, and coaches that all help shape what you become. I look on these people who have impacted my life as mentors or strong influencing factors as heroes. While this might not be a dictionary definition of hero, it works for me. It defines a high school friend that influenced me and has followed an amazing journey as he continues to influence and be successful in virtually every area of his life. His life is a hero’s journey.

friends who evolved into one of my heroes. Mike came from a relatively solid home life by CHS standards. His parents were still together and they had five children. Mike and his two brothers shared a bedroom in a two bedroom apartment with one sister sleeping in the hall, and I believe the other sister was out of the home.

Mike was probably the toughest person, both physically and mentally I have ever met. That is saying quite a lot. You had to be tough to make it in an inner city school in the early 70’s. During my lifetime, I had the pleasure of coaching football for 12 years in programs that sent over 20 football players to the professional ranks and not one of them has ever impressed me with their intestinal fortitude as did Mike. Please allow a few examples.

separated one evening when Mike met up with a girlfriend. As good friends, the rest of us faded into the sunset so Mike might be alone. The next morning, parents of some of the other group members arrived and asked us where Mike was. We did not know and assumed he had… well, you know what we assumed. It turned out Mike had been in a powerboat wreck. His girlfriend was severely injured, suffering brain damage and Mike had his nose torn off of his face. He still managed to maintain consciousness and aid the rescue of his girlfriend from the sinking boat as well as two other people in the boat. This was four weeks prior to the start of the football season. Mike required extensive plastic surgery to rebuild his face. He recovered and played in the first game, six weeks later! He was a good enough athlete to start on both offense and defense for CHS. However, during the first half of this game, he broke his leg. This was but a minor setback for Mike. Five games later, he had recovered and was able to play the remainder the season. To my knowledge, that was the only injury he ever received in organized athletics.

wrestler CHS ever had. While in the Navy he represented his brigade and eventually captained his University wrestling team while doing exceptionally well academically. He continued to build his professional resume and completed an MBA at the University of Colorado. Approximately 25 years later, Mike broke his back while snow skiing in whiteout conditions. Of course he healed

up in time to ski before all of the snow had melted. I make reference to Mike’s experiences while “making a long story longer” to illustrate the fact that this guy is no mere mortal. He was ultra tough, both physically and mentally and this same toughness probably saved his life. Does that peak your curiosity to read further?

tough, self-centered attitude and focus on getting ahead seemed very anti-social. He seemed to live by the conceited credo: “If it did not benefit him it was unimportant”. In hindsight, I know I was quick to form opinions and this was one impression that has proved through time to be a poor assessment. Mike’s background and our school community influences shaped him just as they shaped me. His upbringing forced him to be mentally tough and this same mental toughness that drove him to succeed was probably misinterpreted by me. This toughness was not common to his brothers who have struggled with life’s challenges. Throughout his life this drive to succeed and mental toughness has served him well.

company and commands a significant salary. An interesting sidelight he shared with me about his success and the people he has hired illustrates his firm belief in mental toughness and how he perceived it is shaped. He searches for employees that have participated in extracurricular activities like intercollegiate athletics as a shaper of mental toughness. Mike looks for and gives preference to college graduates who have had experiences and challenges when hiring. A vast number of his employees competed in intercollegiate athletics and he usually gives those extra curricular experiences greater consideration when hiring. His justification for this stance is that employees who competed in college athletics have been knocked around, chewed out, won, lost, and got back up to continue the pursuit of success. While this opinion is not shared by all, I would expect nothing less from Mike.

Outdoor Leadership Experiences provide an excellent laboratory to shape leaders through challenge and the development of mature judgment. The evolving field can be traced through Outward Bound (OB), National Outdoor School (NOLS), and the Wilderness Education Association (WEA) as the leading associations providing this training. The Wilderness Education Association (WEA) certifies and trains outdoor professionals in higher education. The WEA follows a standardized curriculum for training and education of students desiring careers in Outdoor Leadership. This program focuses on the hows and whys of teaching in outdoor settings and is Experiential Education at its finest. A similar provider of outdoor learning with more of a commercial focus is the National Outdoor School (NOLS). Programs with NOLS are not focused so much on teaching but on skill development. Outward Bound, the oldest of the three organizations, focuses on participant teamwork in problem solving for the overall success of the group.

All three organizations (NOLS, OB, WEA) require and provide for nationally recognized Wilderness Medicine courses for their instructors. The primary course is the Wilderness First Responder (WFR). This is a nationally standardized curriculum that focuses on backcountry medicine. The Wilderness First Responder is provided for people who may be employed in outdoor settings where the Golden Hour associated with normal emergency care may become a Golden Day due to the remoteness of location. Leadership positions in outdoor adventure programming activities like backpacking, canoeing, climbing, etc. all require current professionals to have this training. Training is intense and involves multiple scenarios and is truly experiential education.

will partner with a national wilderness (backcountry) medicine provider for courses. These wilderness medicine providers are nationally recognized entities like Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities (SOLO) and Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA). Another national provider, presented in the final segment of this document is the Wilderness Medical Institute (WMI) associated with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).

the times and research into the expanding field. Backcountry medicine primarily involves minor problems like blisters, poison ivy and sunburn. However, when an emergency occurs, WFR trained students are able to respond and provide aid when needed. In the story that follows, Mike’s son Nick had recently completed the WFR training.

At this point you might ask, “How does all of the above tie together?" It is an eclectic mix and I think the best way to clarify this is illustrated by the letter below from Mike. Mike shared this letter with the author and gave permission for its use, while not really knowing how it would be utilized. After pondering the best way to present his letter, the present document resulted. I felt this was necessary to help the reader understand that this was not “just another climbing story”.

Do you ever wonder how many of the skills that get taught in a NOLS course get put into practical use? Well in our case the “payback” was quick.

But first, thank you for your August 18 letter about my son Nick. It was gratifying to hear that he excelled in the NOLS 16 and 17 year old Rock Climbing in the Wind Rivers course. He came back really excited about the course, the staff, fellow climbers and even the food. He had the time of his life and said he would go back in a minute.

We encouraged Nick to attend the course for several reasons. We had always heard good feedback about NOLS and the positive impact a NOLS course can have on a young person’s life. We were most interested in Nick maturing and expanding his teamwork and leadership ability. I was also interested in Nick developing safe climbing skills. I am 53 and have been a recreational climber for over 25 years and in the last few years I have found true joy in being able to go out and climb with my son. Even though my skills have diminished over the years, being out on the rock is still a unique and rewarding experience. It was clear to me that Nick would soon be a much stronger and more aggressive climber then me, and that he needed good instruction in order to remain a safe climber.

What I didn’t anticipate was that the skills he learned in his climbing course would save my life less then 2 weeks after Nick returned from Lander.

Shortly after Nick returned we planned a Sunday morning outing in Eldorado Canyon. We arrived early at Eldo on August 10^th wanting to get ahead of the weekend crowds and the threatening weather. Our goal was to climb an old favorite, The Bastille Crack, then if the weather held bag another classic. Because we were early we had the crack to ourselves but we were concerned about the dark clouds building to the west. Nick led the first 60 foot pitch and we decided to stop there and set a top rope and practice on a harder route, the Northcutt Start (10d), just to the East of the Bastille Crack while we assessed the weather. We each took a couple of turns top roping on The Northcutt then decided to climb the Bastille Crack despite the still unsettled weather. Nick was climbing better then I had ever seen and he was excited to climb a classic Boulder traditional route.

Nick took the first lead and as planned strung the first two pitches, about 165 feet, of the Bastille Crack together stopping at the 2^nd belay station where there is a good ledge to stand on and an old but solid fixed protection location to belay from. As always, I had “butterflies” in my stomach watching Nick lead. There has always been an internal debate for me about teaching my son to climb...do the many positive aspects of climbing outweigh the risks? Despite the slight reservation I loved to see him gracefully move up the steep classic crack. He looked down a couple of times with that big climber grin we get when every move is clicking and we feel invincible. “Yeah, I own this pitch”.

As I followed his lead I was pleased that Nick’s protection was well placed and had all stayed where he positioned it. I could tell the NOLS training had improved his protection placement skills. When I got to the belay point I was also satisfied to find Nick had clipped into the fixed protection but had also backed up the piton with a solid nut on one side, a solid cam on the other side and equalized all three with a cordellete. The belay anchor looked good and I complimented Nick on a job well done. He looked relaxed and confident.

We discussed whether I would lead the next pitch or let Nick continue to lead. I remember feeling tired and thinking maybe I should just let Nick carry on leading. Maybe I was tired from the top roping or just generally not in good shape. I hadn’t been climbing or training much that summer. But, I remember thinking this is only 5.7 and I had climbed this route many times so it shouldn’t be a problem even if I wasn’t in good form. Also I am sure in the back of my mind I didn’t want my 16 year old son to think the old man was losing his “mojo”. Anyway after a little good natured father son banter he passed me the rack and put me on belay.

I started up the next pitch and got a good piece of protection in about 6 or 8 feet above Nick. Then I moved up the vertical crack another 6 or 8 feet and put a small tri-cam in a horizontal crack. I remember thinking I didn’t like the way the piece looked but I already had my eye on another better placement another few feet up so I didn’t take the time to readjust, replace or backup the piece. I climbed another short section of the crack struggling a little but still focused on getting a good piece in since I was now 15 to 20 feet above Nick. As I was trying to place the new piece I was struggling to keep my left foot sticking on a good sized but down sloping ledge. I thought to myself be careful here that last piece wasn’t very good…”you can’t fall,” I told myself.

On the drive up to Boulder we were talking about the NOLS course Nick had just taken and I asked him what they said about taking a leader fall. He explained, they told him to fall “like a cat”. The last thing I remember before falling was yelling down to Nick to “watch me”. He responded back “don’t worry, I’ve got you dad”. Apparently I didn’t fall like a cat; but I still don’t remember anything about the fall. I must have come off the rock very awkwardly because the next thing I remember is regaining consciousness while lying upside down on the slab 10 feet below the belay ledge. I was looking straight down so the ground 160 feet below looked a long way down. I thought, “So this is what it is like to take a long leader fall”. The top piece did not hold but the first piece held, so I fell past Nick on the belay ledge and hit the deck after a 25-30 foot drop. Nick told me that he had yanked in a handful of rope and braced himself, when I fell, according to his NOLS instruction.

I heard Nick asking if I was alright and as soon as I had caught my breath and got some semblance of a clear head I started working to get myself right side up. My left arm and leg were not cooperating but I managed to hook the rope with my right arm and get myself upright. With help from Nick winching on the rope I got back up to the belay ledge.

Despite being rocked by catching my fall and nervous at seeing me hanging upside down, unconscious and bleeding from my head and arm wounds, Nick didn’t panic. He kept himself safe, and then he helped me get upright and safely back to the belay ledge where he tied me in securely. Step 1 was complete but we were still a long way from the ground and I was obviously injured.

We were discussing our rescue options when a local climber arrived to help. This was very useful because I had dropped the rack in my semi-conscience state, making gear limited. Nick administered some basic first aid. We knew that my arm was broken and I had been unconscious but we felt I was lucid enough to rappel down using the assisting climber’s rope with a back up belay on our rope. I put a good effort into the repel using my uninjured right hand but effectively Nick lowered me 165 feet to a waiting ambulance.

To say I am proud of Nick would be an understatement. His calmness, training and determination saved the day (and our lives). It should also be noted that despite this being planned as an easy outing we did have appropriate safety gear and were both wearing helmets (during the fall my helmet took a hard impact that certainly would have been devastating to me without a helmet). The outcome would have been much worse if Nick had not remembered his training, set up his belay properly and braced himself for the impact. Without Nick it would have been a fatal accident. He was a hero that day but credit also goes to Boulder climbing guide, Jack Roberts who had helped train Nick, his NOLS instructors and other climbers who have taught us safety and technique.

I had surgery that Sunday night at Avista Hospital in Boulder to repair an open fracture on my left arm. Monday afternoon I was transported to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver which has a world class orthopedic trauma unit. On Wednesday evening I had a 3 hour operation to repair multiple fractures of my pelvis (acetabulum). The operation installed a plate and 8 screws in the front of my pelvis and seems to have been a success. The following morning I was sitting up and eating breakfast.

However during the procedure surgeons detected another crack in the back of the pelvis that was inaccessible from the front side incision so I had to undergo another surgery Saturday morning to repair that fracture. In a CT scan post op it was discovered that there was a problem with the 2^nd pelvis repair so on Sunday night August 17 they reopened the rear incision to do a third surgery and installed a second and hopefully more solid plate.

So 4 surgeries under general anesthetic in 7 days is a new record for me, which I hope none of you will ever challenge. I expect a full recovery from all injuries and will be skiing this winter and doing some easy climbing next summer.

I hope this story is encouraging to the organizational leadership and course leaders of NOLS. I believe your training made a big difference on that day and will serve Nick well in the future. He later commented that more emphasis on rescue would be a good addition to the course. Please contact me if you would like additional information.

Just to clarify: As a result of the fall, Mike suffered a concussion and was unconscious for over five minutes. He suffered a compound lower arm fracture. He also had suffered multiple fractures to his pelvis (which eventually had to be rebuilt through the numerous surgeries). Upon regaining consciousness, he repelled 165 feet down a cliff face. One month after his surgeries, Mike suffered through a staff infection which set back his recovery. The fall happened in August of 2008. Mike was snow skiing again before years end, less than five months after the fall. Mike’s mental toughness undoubtedly helped him to survive and continues to be an inspiration. However, his son Nick’s training with both the Wilderness First Responder course and his experiential leadership training with NOLS probably saved his father’s life.

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