An Exum camp sits in the foreground with the higher reaches of the Tetons looming beyond. Flickr Creative Commons photo.
MOOSE, Wyo. — New information indicates that 42-year-old Exum guide Gary Falk fell after unclipping from an anchor at the top of the Owen-Spalding rappel to free a piece of gear that had become stuck. The gear in question, a rappel device, was being raised to Falk when it became wedged.
Grand Teton National Park spokeswoman Denise Germann told the Jackson Hole News&Guide that after the rappel device became stuck, “Falk unclipped his tether from the anchor to reposition himself. … It appears that Falk fell as he was trying to free the wedged rappel device.”
After the accident, a call was placed to Teton Interagency Dispatch at approximately 10:30 a.m., triggering a search and rescue response.
RELATED: Exum Mountain Guide Falls, Dies In Grand Teton National Park
Reports indicate another Exum guide assisted the remaining clients down from the mountain.
A family man, Falk had been an Exum guide for 12 years, spending his summers in Jackson Hole and his winters in the San Juans in Southwest Colorado. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
Exum co-owner Cyndi Hargis reinforced that this is a rare and significant blow to the North American mountaineering family.
“Everyone is devastated,” she said. “It’s a very tight-knit community. It’s hard to lose one of us. … He was a great guy. He was the father of two young boys, loved by everyone and will be greatly missed.”
According to Hargis, it’s been a decade since an Exum guide perished while working in the Tetons. To honor the fallen, the company gave its entire staff the day off Sunday to pay their respects and come to terms with their colleague and friend’s death. All trips scheduled for the day were canceled.
“Everyone is kind of regrouping,” Hargis said. “We will go back tomorrow.”
About The Author
stash member Sam Morse
TGR Editor-at-Large. author of The Ski Town Fairytale and creative behind The Bumion. Lover of steep-and-deep lines, long trails—and hot springs waiting in the distance.
kailas
July 30th, 2016
Sad. I think of him as a San Juan Mountain guide. Story says ‘rare’ thing to happen. Not true, SJMG has lost three guides in three years. Why were they sharing belay devices?