Mount Hood Climbing Tragedy

[Phillip Aubin]

A good friend of mine died climbing Mt Mckinly. He was an avid climber- but something happened. No one really knows for sure:

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/legacy_obits/local_story_165011005.html

 

[Jeremy Den Hartog]

A good friend of mine died climbing Mt Mckinly. He was an avid climber- but something happened. No one really knows for sure:

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/legacy_obits/local_story_165011005.html

Yep, I remember hearing/reading about that Phillip. Very tragic...

 

[Larry J. Kosch]

Tragic Ending?

Looks like they may have given up all hope of finding the lost climbers alive:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-12-16-missing-climbers-search_N.htm?obref=obinsite

The lost climbers probably will either be found in the early summer, when the snow melts. Or they will be entombed forever in the snow/ice like Mount Everest. May they rest in peace!

 

[Bob Hartig]

Like I allready posted, theres about 50 other items that can save your life on a steep section of glacier. You cant carry them all even if you had the money to buy them all.

Point of clarification: No one's talking about carrying them all, just one of them. I get the incremental argument, but it only packs weight when you add increments. However, no one is suggesting that climbers also be required to carry a shovel, a stove, a radio, what have you. Only a GPS. One item, not fifty. It makes sense to me that having a GPS is better than not having one if it makes a practical difference in two areas: 1) increasing the chances of finding and rescuing live climber; and 2) recovering the bodies of dead climbers for the sake of their families.

 

[MClarkson]

A GPS is sometimes very useful and sometimes totally useless, with a large gray area in between. On my practice hills that have trails and ive memorized every other rock, a GPS is about as useless as it is possible to be. Now a harder climb: If I am going to go well above treeline on a route that is not familiar to me and the forecast is marginal, then you can be sure I will have a GPS and extra batteries and I'll be dropping waypoints all over the place. Might even make sure the team has multiple GPS's just in case one breaks. Now a harder climb still: a multi-pitch near vertical rock wall. The GPS is back to being useless again.

When the GPS is less useful there is obviously other gear that is more useful.

But these are decisions climbers make ourselves. To make a blanket statement like "a GPS and radio must always be carried on this mountain" is simply wrong.

Also climbers dont plan on being rescued by help that must come from 1000s of feet below. Thats asking for trouble. Your team gets its badly injured members down on its own or they die. The harder routes on the larger peaks require this commitment, especially in winter. That risk is part of the game.

 

[Shane Adams]

Not to step on opinions that differ from my own, but I'm with Rob 100% on this one. How many threads have we read on here about chasers getting themselves killed with wreckless behavior? And none of them show sympathy, but rather, contempt. It's hard to feel sorry for mountain climbers when, as a chaser, the mere prospect of my death (in the line of duty) draws criticism and disdain from the masses.

I don't get the "human need to explore" argument as reasoning to justify adventurer deaths. If someone decides to willingly risk their lives to satisfy a personal desire for adrenaline, knock yourself out. But don't expect tears from me when you don't come back. Personally, I don't understand the whole "do the dew" extreme mentality. I don't need to almost die to appreciate being alive. It makes me wonder what these people do to stay sane around the house if falling from a plane or wrestling sharks is what it takes to get them off.

But if I'm going to be under a microscope of scrutiny for my actions as a chaser and possibly endangering my life, I'm sure as hell not going to weep and throw flowers for a couple guys who decided to climb a frozen rock knowing they could die. The tracking devices are too expensive? They weigh too much? Deal with it, get one, and at least take some responsibility to make your recovery (not rescue) easier on the people who have to risk their own lives to find your carcass.

 

[MClarkson]

Recovery is no issue, if it is dangerous the bodies are often left where they are. Significant mountains, like Hood, Rainier, Denali, just to name a few of the more famous climbs in the US, have dozens of bodies on them. A body is just a body. No use risking lives for that. As for rescue, again the rescuers are other climbers, "adrenaline junkies" if you will. And in this case they simply didnt go when avalanche conditions and weather made it more dangerous.

And thats my whole point about these stupid beacons. In many cases their is no hope for rescue! Its better to have gear that allows your team to evac its own wounded member, because that is your best option on a hard climb.

I'll be perfectly happy to not have the public's sympathy, so long as we don't have to deal with any of your unneeded regulations either.