I Fell 500 Feet Down the Maroon Bells Traverse and Lived. Here Is My Outlook on Risk.
Hiker Brandon Hinkle had just completed the technical traverse between Colorado’s Maroon Bells on August 16 when he lost his footing and fell. Hinkle, 28, tumbled 500 feet down a steep, rocky slope, before coming to rest in a boulder field. He suffered a long list of serious injuries, from broken bones in his face, to the rupturing of the tendons in his left knee. But he lived. Hinkle told Outside about his accident and how it has shaped his perspective on taking risks in the outdoors.
We were having a blast. The Maroon Bells Traverse is one of four classic traverses between Colorado 14ers. You’re climbing on loose rock. It’s Class 5 scrambling, which is not common on the state’s 14ers. You have to be extremely focused the entire time because the exposure is significant.
The peaks themselves are insanely beautiful. You approach in the dark, do the climb, and then you don’t see the full beauty of the mountains until you walk down to the lake and then turn around. And there they are, one of the most photographed places in the entire state.
We had just rallied across the traverse from Maroon Peak to North Maroon Peak. We shared our snacks, snapped photos, and were getting ready to descend. There is a cliff band just below the summit. I remember approaching it, but that’s it. I don’t have any specific memories after that until I woke up in a hospital a week and a half later.
I have since watched some videos of us up there, which brought back some vague recollections of the fall and the aftermath. I recall having the desire to stop falling. Like, God, I wish I wasn’t falling anymore. And I remember hearing the beats of the rescue helicopters and wishing it would pick me up.
I have also seen photos taken of me after I had stopped falling. I’m all bloodied and gory and beat up. I thought, Wow, I did not know my body could produce that much blood.
Helping a Friend Complete the 14ers
I’ve been up the Maroon Bells before, and have done the traverse as well. On August 16 I was accompanying a friend who was finishing his quest to climb all 54 Colorado 14ers. I finished last year, and he had helped me hike a few of them. So when he asked, I was like Dude, no sweat. The weather looked great.
I climbed my first 14er in October of 2016 after I moved to Golden to start college at the Colorado School of Mines. It was Castle Peak, right across from the Maroon Bells, so the area feels serendipitous to me. It took me nine years to finish the 14ers, and I fell in love with the mountains while doing them. You spend time with friends. There’s always an experience you take away from each one.
On August 16 I remember watching the sunrise, putting our helmets on at the parking lot, and getting out on the trail. There were three in our group when we left the trailhead. We met two others on our way to the summit of Maroon Peak, and they followed us across the traverse. I think there were 11 people total on the summit—all of them were involved in my rescue in some way.
A Mystery Fall Followed by a Fight to Live
Despite all of the people on the summit, nobody had a clear view of my fall. I could have slipped off a handhold, or maybe a rock broke. No matter what happened, I fell 500 feet.
After I fell, several hikers in our group climbed down to where I was. Two guys made it over to me and kept me company. I’ve spoken to both of them on the phone. They told me they got to me and just thought Jesus Christ, this dude is still awake. I looked bad. My face was covered with blood. Bones were popping out of my knee and my elbow. My other knee was so torn up that the lower part of my leg was only attached to the upper part by the skin. I had a really serious concussion. But thankfully I wasn’t bleeding out, so the guys didn’t have to fix a tourniquet to keep me alive.
The guys who got to me did some initial trauma care. Then, they just kept asking me questions to try and keep me awake. Someone called Search and Rescue, but we had a long wait. It was four hours between when I fell and the pickup. The helicopter got there so quickly that it had to circle us for a while to burn off enough fuel so that it could pick me up.
From what I understand, the rescuers got my head and neck stabilized, and my leg stabilized, and then they got me out of there and took me to the hospital.
Surgeries and a New Perspective on Risk
I was awake in the hospital for a few days, but I have no memory of this time. Since then I’ve been getting used to moving again and occupying a body that is not the one I left.
All of the tendons in my left knee were ruptured, so I’m going to have a series of surgeries to repair them. I’ve had one surgery to repair my patellar tendon, and I have a few more to go. How my body reacts to these surgeries will impact my future. Right now, hiking and running are still on the table. Biking should be available to me as well. But I haven’t had the long-term prognosis conversation yet.
The most vivid memories I have from the hospital are of people and friends coming to visit me, to say hello, and to help. I’m so thankful to everyone who has done that. I know I’ve benefitted from a lot of people coming together to help me. It would have been a lot different had I been up on the Maroon Traverse alone.
There’s something really dissociative about being the guy who fell down a mountain. It has taken a while to realize that no, this isn’t something that happened to someone else. This happened to me. It’s hard to predict how this will impact my future in the mountains. My physical ability will be the limiting factor. But I don’t think this is going to change my willingness to go out and have fun in the mountains, even if there is risk involved.
I’ve always been of the mindset that we accept objective hazard in our daily life, and in our recreation. I don’t think this fall is going to change my tune. I would encourage people to continue to get out there in whatever way feels safe to them. Don’t hold yourself back.
You only read news stories about the person who falls, which in this case is me. But you don’t read about the hundreds of people who make it successfully and have a great time.
Hinkle’s friends have organized a GoFundMe to help cover his medical costs. As told to Frederick Dreier. Edited for space and clarity.
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