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Climbing, Adventure, Gear & Choss
Shots Fired in Coal Creek
I got some disturbing news yesterday from my friend Duane about a shooting incident that occurred in Coal Creek on Saturday afternoon. Here is his account of what happened:
“I don’t know if you were still around, but mid-day, Saturday while Chris and I were working the new route by the cars, some idiot in a pickup roared up, jumped out and started shooting with a semi-automatic rifle. I didn’t get a good look at him and assumed he was shooting at something across the creek on the other side of the canyon. He hollered “that’ll teach you,” or some hillbilly/redneck yell like that, then tore out of there. He fired maybe 10-14 shots in quick succession.
We didn’t think much about it then, but yesterday we went back to the route and got to the anchors where we discovered that he had been shooting the big hanging icicle directly over our heads. The hanging tooth had a couple of bullet holes with powder burns around it, and was fractured from the hits. Another shot in the right place would have dropped a couple of tons of ice right on our heads. Clearly, he was trying to harm us in a big way, but stopped short of shooting us, if barely.”
As of now they don’t have much information about who the shooter might have been, but a report has been filed with the sherrif, and we are hoping someone out there might know more about who was involved. If so, please contact one of us (bj AT splitterchoss.com, Duane’s can be found at www.rockandice.com) or call the police.
It’s incredible to think someone would be this reckless and purposely tried to harm these guys in such a manner. Hopefully this person can be found and confronted so we don’t have to worry about getting shot at while climbing!
12 Responses to Shots Fired in Coal Creek
Bulldog Creek Dog Walk (IV WI 4+)
Hayden Carpenter and Tom Bohanon recently repeated an obscure ice climb on the south side of Mt Sopris. Given a brief mention in Jack Robert’s ice guide, Bulldog Creek Walk is described as being 100 meters of WI 4. What they found was seven pitches of ice in a remote setting that makes for one […]
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I told you people that ice climbing is dangerous…
Reminds me of the old days in Utah. I never got shot at myself, but heard from people who were on desert towers and guys started shooting at them. And of course the bolted route anchors have always been targets for those guys.
As for the “powder burns,” those only happen within inches of a firearm, not hundreds of yards away…
That is interesting because there were shots early sunday morning, a little after 7am. We didnt see anyone nor did it seem like the shots were directed at us but definetly gunfire.
wow, that is crazy. what the hell prompts people to do stuff like this?
Bad ehtics and style, Tom. Next time were out rallying in bolts in the Cristal Vally maybe we should think about these two things.
I believe that Mr. Choss discovered the joy of shooting a 9mm up Coal Creek rd. Not unusual to hear gunfire in the area. Getting shot at, not so bueno.
Crazy. Well, it certainly could make climbing more interesting.
They were powder burns around each spot. No mistaking that. The shots were fired from maybe 150 feet away. Perhaps half that if the shooter sneaked up closer. No mistaking the black rings around each bullet hole. From now on, I’ll be packing some firepower in case that jackass shows himself again.
I just re-read the 5th post here, from Coop. It’s clear he hasn’t cracked a dictionary in a while, but does anyone know if he drives a pick-up and smokes?
he’s not from around here, and doesn’t smoke.
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Any news on this? Or are you too busy enjoying that new shooter you bought to defend yourself. Kinda fun squirting pepper spray, isn’t it (grin)?