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Showing posts from August, 2022

Mount Smuts (2,938m), AB, Canada - solo scrambling, fall

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Catlin Hannah, 27, was found dead on Aug. 13 after he fell off Mount Smuts. On Aug. 11, Harold (Happy) Alfano and his friend Catlin Hannah pored over maps and made plans for Hannah's scrambling route the next day, when he would finally conquer Mount Smuts — one of the more challenging scrambling routes in Kananaskis. That was the last time Alfano ever spoke to his climbing partner. Alfano was supposed to join Hannah on Sunday, but instead he was outside of the province, in B.C., so Hannah went out alone.  "He never checked in on Sunday night when he was supposed to return," Alfano said. On Monday, Kananaskis Emergency Services sent out a search team. They found the 27-year-old male dead at the base of a 300-metre-high cliff, surrounded by his gear. Alfano said he was told by first responders it appeared as if his friend had stepped on some loose rocks and that's how he fell. "He's one of the guys who knew the risks and studied and trained daily for it. It'