www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=157&sid=10917089

Seems the wall they were on broke free and collapsed


Mike

Wow, I had to read that twice. I had heard it on the news and I only heard the Grand Canyon part and didn't hear the Yellowstone.
I have never heard of anyone climbing frozen waterfalls, but it does sound inherently risky, just because of the nature of the structure. I'm not certain there is much that one could do to prevent such tragedies, the risk of the adventure itself had to be the appeal. Still, very sad that two young people lost their lives.

Last I looked, it was May, almost June outside. Yes, it's colder there than where I am at, altitude and such, but come on now.

It's freaking May. Who in their right minds would trust ice this late in the season. There are reasons ice climbers climb in the winter months. This is one of them.

That was exactly what I was thinking. Why on earth were they climbing ice in May. A quick look at the parks web cams shows a lack of snow in those places, while the weather reports for the area show highs in the 50s-60s with lows in the 20s-30s. Sad that they died, but not really unexpected.

Here's an article with some more info:
article

I spent the summer of 1982 working at Canyon Lodge in Yellowstone. It's a cold place. It snowed on the 4th of July that year. I don't even think most of the facilities were open until early June or late May because it might take until then to get the road through the passes cleared. They closed the place for the winter after Labor day.

That there is climbable ice on the south (mostly sun free) side of a deep canyon -- even in June -- would not surprise me.

According to the NPS report of this incident, climbing, ice or otherwise, is not allowed in that area. This may have been a factor influencing their choices and decisions.