Volunteer climbers rescued a man from New Hampshire’s Whitehorse Ledge on October 25, after he climbed roughly 500 feet without a rope ( urtesy) A 30-year-old climber named William Carron was free soloing a route called Sliding Board on New Hampshire’s Whitehorse Ledge on October 25 when he had to stop. Nearly 500 feet above the ground, he no longer felt comfortable climbing up or down. The incident sparked a dramatic rescue.
Nine volunteer climbers helped Carron get back to the ground, according to a Facebook post from New Hampshire Fish and Game’s Law Enforcement Division. Alex Lopashanski of the New Hampshire Fish and Game office told Outside. Mountain Project’s description of the route lists fixed bolts, belay anchors, and placements for removable protection.
Obviously, this turned out to be a mistake,” Lopashanski said. Whitehorse Ledge is known for its smooth, glacier-polished granite slabs, where obvious handholds can be hard to come by. Much of the climbing comes down to careful footwork and trusting your shoes to stick.
That slick stone has caught seasoned climbers before. According to an American Alpine Club accident report in October 2021, an experienced guide slipped while climbing Sliding Board and broke an arm and a finger before his partner helped him descend. Recognizing his limits on the unfamiliar rock, Carron climbed back down to a small, relatively level spot where he could stand and wait, Lopashanski said.
Fish and Game learned of his situation shortly after 8 A.M, according to its October 26 release. When Lopashanski called to assess the situation, Carron told him he could wait there for hours. But he was totally calm about it,” Lopashanski said.
Lopashanski called Mountain Rescue Service, a volunteer team of climbers and guides that handles technical mountain rescues. The cliff is near a golf course parking lot, and the team was based nearby, he said. A total of nine team members climbed to Carron, secured him, and fixed ropes back to the cliff’s base, according to Fish and Game.
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