2002 Darwin Awards

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Rock Climbing Priorities 2002 Darwin Award Nominee -- Confirmed by Darwin DISQUALIFIED 28 March 2003 (26 July 2002, Alaska) Cell phones are a mixed blessing. Most drivers have seen the person ahead veer dangerously while attempting to steer and talk at the same time. Distraction can be deadly, but cell phones also save lives, especially in southeast Alaska where there are few roads and most of the land is wilderness. Help can be far away, especially without the ability to make emergency calls. So cell phones are both blessing and curse, and on Friday, a cell phone was an accessory to the death of a rock climber. Rock climbing is an inherently dangerous sport, and some of the most dangerous ascents lie in the mountains of the Coast Range dividing the Alaskan Panhandle from Canada. Just the act of surveying that rugged international border was a heroic calling at the turn of the century. Brave men ventured off the known map, climbed the mountains with glass-plate cameras, and invented "aerial photography" from the ground. One border point the surveyors never climbed was Devil's Thumb, northeast of the Norwegian fishing community of Petersburg. The mountain is aptly named, as it resembles a vertical thumb trying to hitch a ride in the sky. It is over 9000 feet high, and there is no easy ascent. It was first climbed in 1946, and while there have been 37 attempts since, only 14 have reached the summit. Part of the difficulty lies with the climate. The Alaskan Panhandle is a temperate rainforest with up to 162 inches of rainfall a year. In the mountains, that translates to dozens of feet of snow, and the inclement weather that goes along with incessant snowfall. The three tenets of rock climbing are teamwork, safety, and belaying. These are especially important on a mountain as difficult as Devil's Thumb, where weather, isolation, and terrain mean help can be days away, even with the instant communication offered by a cell phone. Yet Marc, 30, left his team behind and climbed solo because he wanted "to improve reception on his cell phone." Fifty feet up from the base camp at 7000 feet, Mark had his cell phone in his hand when he disturbed a rock, started a landslide, and was buried under 1500 feet of gravel and boulders. When his companions were told that it was impossible to retrieve his body, they agreed that it was a fitting burial place for the avid climber who died doing what he loved. It was not clear whether they referred to mountain climbing, or speaking on the cell phone. DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2005 Reference: Juneau Empire, Ketchikan Daily News, Alaska Public Radio DISQUALIFIED 28 March 2003: Due to poor weather, two of Marc's climbing companions had already been helicoptered off the mountain, but the helicopters were not able to return for another pickup due to worsening conditions. Marc was not trying to get better reception for a frivolous call, but rather, for a very serious emergency call to determine when he could expect to be rescued. Extreme sports enthusiasts know they are taking risks, but we do not give Darwin Awards to people simply for engaging in risky sports. Therefore this story does not qualify for a Darwin Award.

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