Climbers have the rare ability to gamble the rest of their lives on one step.
Joe Simpson, Dark Shadows Falling page 196
Doesn't even need to be a climber, sounds like he was just following the simple trail and maybe stubbed his toe, or placed his foot too close to an unstable edge. It's easy to do that whether ataxic or not from AMS.
I have stubbed my toe on many a trail. There but by the grace....
Mr. Kato was reportedly quite ill at the summit 90 minutes before his fall (according to the video interview). It seems likely that AMS played a role in his fall. It's possible that AMS started for him at the summit and he had no choice but to climb down, but it's more likely that he struggled with AMS while climbing and it worsened at the summit. I hope there's a follow up article, but they tend to get buried or dropped. Maybe the SAR report will shed some light.
