Another Rescue Sat 12/21 on Adams

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20131223/NEWS07/131229757

It was quite wet and drizzy in Gorham on Saturday with a low overcast. Not sure what was going on at the summits. The temps remained high until Sunday AM but winds did crank up overnight. It would speculate it was great condtions for hypothermia as all their gear would be wet, with some wind to speed cooling.

One of the reports indicate they used a Spot and that rescuers had no info on who or why the Spot was activated, just a position fix. That appears to be one advantage with a PLB that the units have to be registered to someone, but I don't think it would have changed the response.

I would speculate that it was a previously planned trip and the party got here and decided that "what the heck we are here, might as well go for a hike and we will turn back if the weather gets worse".

I will let others debate if the Spot served as a crutch to encourage them to do a hike that they normally wouldn't do.

We'll see, or maybe we won't. Was the spot a crutch or would they have made the same decisions without it. Will we learn how experienced they were, if they had been in the area before, how well they knew it, etc...

I can see how a new miracle parka might induce some people to hike in the rain but a SPOT won't keep you dry or keep you from slipping on black ice or help you find the trail. It still took 4 hrs for the rescuers to reach them with dry clothes and 3 hrs to walk out in the dark. A GPS with trail on map could have had them back at road in less time than the rescuers took to arrive.

peakbagger said:

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20131223/NEWS07/131229757 It was quite wet and drizzy in Gorham on Saturday with a low overcast. Not sure what was going on at the summits. The temps remained high until Sunday AM but winds did crank up overnight. It would speculate it was great condtions for hypothermia as all their gear would be wet, with some wind to speed cooling.

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The temperature inversion was pretty wild on Saturday. Even just going from the Flume visitor center to Lafayette Place the temp rose 3 degrees. I'm guess those guys were soaked, if not from rain, from sweat. Even right now as I look at the Mt. Washington temp profile it's 29 at the summit and base, but 37 from 3300'-4000'.

Mike P. said:

We'll see, or maybe we won't. Was the spot a crutch or would they have made the same decisions without it. Will we learn how experienced they were, if they had been in the area before, how well they knew it, etc...

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They carried and used a bivy shelter so they appear to have had some appreciation of what conditions might be like or what could happen.


As for the Spot--the same basic issues apply to anything which allows one to call for help or otherwise improves ones safety margin (eg, a rope encourages/allows a climber to try harder climbs, seatbelts in cars, etc). In other words, probably not worth rehashing...

Doug

It appears from the article that this was actually Sunday night. That means the pair actually left on the worse day of the weekend. Saturday had a window during the day where one could have hiked before much rain so long as it involved an early afternoon finish. I considered hiking Saturday but opted against it with the conditions, but Sunday wasn't even a consideration.

Anyone who has spent any time along the floor of King Ravine can imagine what those boulders would be like covered in a layer of ice. That's one of the last places in the mountains I would want to navigate in those conditions. Treacherous at best.

Got to hand it to F&G and AV SAR people for hiking in to save them in a cold windy rainstorm at night. Sounds really nasty. I know its "what they do" but they deserve kudos for their efforts which should never be taken for granted.

Do we know what time they started the hike? It would seem that if they were headed up and only made it to King Ravine then they started quite late durring one of the shortest days of the year.

My guess is that they got to the boulder field in King Ravine because they took a wrong turn on the way down. It would be pretty easy to turn around on the way up.

jfb said:

My guess is that they got to the boulder field in King Ravine because they took a wrong turn on the way down. It would be pretty easy to turn around on the way up.

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This is total conjecture on my part, but based on the conditions Sunday in Randolph, I'm guessing they did not descend into King's Ravine from the top. The three options for doing so (King Ravine Trail, Great Gully, or Chemin Des Dames) would have been ridiculous. Maybe they did just that, but I would think if they could manage that descent, they would have gotten out of the ravine okay as well. I certainly would like more details on this one.

Raven said:

This is total conjecture on my part, but based on the conditions Sunday in Randolph, I'm guessing they did not descend into King's Ravine from the top. The three options for doing so (King Ravine Trail, Great Gully, or Chemin Des Dames) would have been ridiculous. Maybe they did just that, but I would think if they could manage that descent, they would have gotten out of the ravine okay as well. I certainly would like more details on this one.

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They may have managed the descent into the ravine before dark, and reached the boulder field around dusk, decided it was too dangerous to continue, then waited a couple of hours before calling for the rescue. Someone not familiar with the boulder field may have thought descending into the ravine was a quick escape route.

jfb said:

They may have managed the descent into the ravine before dark, and reached the boulder field around dusk, decided it was too dangerous to continue, then waited a couple of hours before calling for the rescue. Someone not familiar with the boulder field may have thought descending into the ravine was a quick escape route.

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Good point and I agree that's not unreasonable. I can envision someone thinking that may be the fastest way to treeline but those trails are very steep, open rock and scree, and likely were covered with a half inch of ice at the top. Continuing to descend along those trails with likely extremely slow progress would have involved a conscious choice. My point is that I can't imagine they would choose to continue on this way, but stranger things often happen, so who knows. On the other hand, if they descended into the ravine in those conditions skillfully, I would not guess darkness and the boulder field would have stopped them assuming no injuries. I am interested to hear more and hope we do because this is all just guesswork.

Edit: There's nothing posted on F&G News yet but there may be later:

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Newsroom/newsroom.htm

More news: http://www.conwaydailysun.com/index.php/newsx/local-news/110614-rescue-122413

jfb said:

More news: http://www.conwaydailysun.com/index.php/newsx/local-news/110614-rescue-122413

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Wow - I stand corrected and you are right. They actually descended into King Ravine on purpose and chose not to turn back to the ridge. I'm actually stunned at this decision and suprised they did not tumble to the floor of the ravine on icy rocks.

However, I'm now more stunned (from the article) that a separate group got to the bottom of Mount Washington without realizing they had left one of their group behind stranded at the Lion Head summer/winter split. How does anyone ever get left behind? Really...just leave a guy...no head count...no one checking...no one asks?

They should all be counting their blessings today. Kudos to the rescue team.

jfb said:

More news: http://www.conwaydailysun.com/index.php/newsx/local-news/110614-rescue-122413

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It doesn't say which trail they descended. Apparently they had summitted Adams and were making for Gray Knob. My guess is that they descended to Thunderstorm Junction, and headed down the Great Gully instead of the Spur Trail. That's a confusing jumble of cairns and trails in that area, and it takes a while of descending Great Gully before it gets really, this-can't-be-right, steep. It's still a bit amazing that someone would descend into King Ravine; I'm sure the footing must have been treacherous. Anyway, kudos to the busy rescue teams for making sure this didn't end tragically.

These are both gross errors. I find it hard to believe that no one noticed he was just not there. Did no one look at his gear and think "I may want to keep a lookout for this guy". I feel something is missing.

The other scenario is odd as well. Granted king ravine is an absolutely nasty place to get stuck. But these were able bodies who pressed the easy button and had others risk their lives.

Much respect is given to the search and rescue teams.

I went by Appalachia on my way from Gorham to Littleton around 10:30 am on Sat and was glad to see no one parked, the icing was minor at that point and the rain was light drizzle. Interesting on the way back around 1:30 it was pouring from Bethlehem to Bowman and running about 48 F; as I was listening to a complex storm explanation from Eye on the Sky, I watched my thermometer as I went over the Presidential hump and it dropped progressively to 36 F all the way into Gorham with only a drizzle falling from Bowman on. I did note a couple vehicles then at Appalachia but assumed they were wise enough to be hiking low.

I'm with everyone else on this one: they just forgot a guy? They got all the way to Pinkham Notch and realized they hadn't seen the guy since above tree-line?!?! Hopefully there is clarification on that story. Talk about your bad hiking partners. If the guy was in trouble for some reason at least leave him some gear to hold tight until help arrived. Nah, he can just do jumping jacks all night and he'll be fine. Yikes.

With the sizes of some of the groups I see out there nowadays, unless head counts are frequently taken, can see how this might happen. Makes me wonder how many were in their group. Still, it's inexcusable.

Raven said:

They actually descended the King Ravine Trail on purpose and chose not to turn back to Durand Ridge. I'm actually stunned at this decision

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According to the article, they took this trail not on purpose, but due to a navigational error. It is likely that once they realized that they were on the wrong trail, they chose not to go back up what had probably been a nasty descent and may not have known what lay ahead.

However, I'm now more stunned (from the article) that a separate group got to the bottom of Mount Washington without realizing they had left one of their group behind stranded at the Lion Head summer/winter split. How does anyone ever get left behind? Really...just leave a guy...no head count...no one checking...no one asks?

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People being left behind by groups happens pretty frequently. Poor (or no) leadership is a frequent cause. See http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthre...ous-error-quot&p=405246&viewfull=1#post405246 for some comments on frequent causes and prevention. It is a common factor in many accidents/lost hiker incidents etc. This victim had the good sense to exercise to keep warm while waiting for rescue.

Doug