Quote... "crossing the Presidential Range toward Loon"...now that would be a hike! Yet another poorly written article by a member of our media whom obviously has probably never hiked farther than the mailbox at the end of his driveway. As far as the Leader and his group. I am always amazed at the pain someone will go through before turning back or not at all. Also for not further checking and understanding trail conditions at the time or observing a turn around time. The Leader should have known better. I can only hypothesize but this incident IMO smacks of misdirected group driven behavior.
This story is a bit spooky to me since I was practically there that night. That weekend I had a plan of hiking over Zealand, tenting at Guyot and bagging the Bonds and Twins. Getting up the road to the hut was easy that day but past the hut was impenetrable. I struggled through waist deep drifts up Zealand and was totally exhausted when I reached the summit around 3:30. Even though Guyot was only a couple miles more, I didn't thing it was wise to continue and turned around. I stopped in the hut on the way out to let the caretaker know that I was heading down and that if he heard helicopters coming to rescue somebody, it wasn't me they were after. The hut was crowded and I probably saw these guys sitting around the table playing cards. I guess I made a better decision than they did.
The added twist of...err..."Dehydrator's" story is that the caretaker knew in no uncertain terms of the conditions outside. Whether he or she passed them on to that group becomes an interesting question. If the caretaker didn't relay that information in no uncertain terms, why not? If he or she and the group ignored it, that takes on additional significance.
Brian
Clearly the report was written by someone who didn't know much about skiing a Pemi traverse. I too had to read through it as best I could.Quote... "crossing the Presidential Range toward Loon"...now that would be a hike! Yet another poorly written article by a member of our media whom obviously has probably never hiked farther than the mailbox at the end of his driveway.
What often happens is that a fast hiker/skier goes ahead and gets out of contact with the slowest hiker/skier. Decisions get made without consulting or regard to the the slow traveler. (The slowpoke may still be struggling to catch up and thus not even present when the decisions are made...) This is a failure of the speed daemons... (I'm often slow and have "been there, done that"--in some cases I've been left behind for hours. In such cases I have declared that I've been abandoned and switched to solo mode. (IE slow down and turn back if need be.))As far as the Leader and his group. I am always amazed at the pain someone will go through before turning back or not at all. Also for not further checking and understanding trail conditions at the time or observing a turn around time. The Leader should have known better. I can only hypothesize but this incident IMO smacks of misdirected group driven behavior.
Having skied the TFT twice and the SPT three times I disagree--IMO they are both worth skiing. SPT has 4 major stream crossings, no extended steeps, and potentially more difficult navigation. The TFT is a little shorter, has no major stream crossings, and is easier to navigate but has an extended steep and several medium steeps.Take TFT, not SPT!
This isn't being brazen. The history of frostbite treatment is loaded with instances of surgeons eager to cut off more than necessary. The best tissue retention occurs when one lets the body decide which may take two to six months. The tissue in question may be extremely fragile and infection prone during much of this waiting period.being so brazen as to scoff off the opinion of a surgeon when he tells me that I will be losing some toes to frostbite.
This isn't being brazen. The history of frostbite treatment is loaded with instances of surgeons eager to cut off more than necessary. The best tissue retention occurs when one lets the body decide which may take two to six months. The tissue in question may be extremely fragile and infection prone during much of this waiting period.
From "Hypothermia Frostbite and Other Cold Injuries", by Gordon G. Giesbrecht PhD and James A. Wilkerson MD, second edition, 2006, pg 83:
Many physicians who care for patients with frostbite recount horror stories about individuals who have avoided major hand or foot amputations only because they refused to allow surgeons to perform them, and subsequently have lost only fingers or toes--or the tips of those digits. Surgical amputation of frostbitten digits or extremities is almost never necessary until six weeks or more after then injury. Only then is the extent of tissue death clearly demarcated. "Frozen in January--amputate in July" is a time proven adage.
See also: "Medicine for Mountaineering", edited by James A Wilkerson MD, Ernest E Moore MD, and Ken Zafren MD.
Doug
A number of us on this website have done it. There are enough terrain features and stream crossings to deal with on the SPT and Wilderness Trails that it is harder than just 17 mi of flat terrain, but it is still very doable by a skier with moderate BC skiing skills. One must be efficient and IMO the most important factor is the snow conditions.I didn't attempt the same route that the unfortunate group in the article did. I tried to go over the ridge and they went around it. I have never hiked in skis but I would think that 17 miles over flat terrain would be doable even over unbroken trail. I can't imagine why the caretaker would be alarmed by their plans.
Hi Z,Hi Doug,
My guess is that he knew the history of surgeons eagerly cutting too much too soon (it is well known in the winter mountaineering community) and the surgeon appeared to be ignorant and arrogant to him. IMO, the surgeon wasn't acting very professionally...I was merely saying that unless someone is well versed in the area of frostbite it is worth listening to the advice of a medical professional. This was not a comment on how the patient should have allowed the surgeon to remove digits without a second practitioner's opinion.
I merely thought that this person seemed overly confident in their own appraisal of the situation and ultimately in the ill fated hike in which he lead others into.
My guess is that the N-S traverse was their goal and spotting a car at LW was just part of their preparation. Depending on their decisions at the hut and on the trail they had the options of going back to 302 or continuing on to LW.I'll defer to the skiers here but spotting a car at Lincoln Woods in case you decide to go out that way over going back out Zealand to 302? (Not sure I read they did that but based on late start and making it to the hut without a major issue, assumed they did not go in by Ethan Pond or over the Willey Range)
Glad I could count on your affrimation on this one Doug and especially the expanded rhetoric. The bottom line of the Globe's article says it all.Clearly the report was written by someone who didn't know much about skiing a Pemi traverse. I too had to read through it as best I could.
What often happens is that a fast hiker/skier goes ahead and gets out of contact with the slowest hiker/skier. Decisions get made without consulting or regard to the the slow traveler. (The slowpoke may still be struggling to catch up and thus not even present when the decisions are made...) This is a failure of the speed daemons... (I'm often slow and have "been there, done that"--in some cases I've been left behind for hours. In such cases I have declared that I've been abandoned and switched to solo mode. (IE slow down and turn back if need be.))
But, in general, I agree that it could have been a failure of the group to function as a group or group driven behavior.
The N-S Pemi traverse via Shoal Pond Tr is also a (possibly deceptively) committing route: the point where it appears to be better to continue rather than turn back isn't that far down the Shoal Pond Tr, particularly if you start from Rte 302.
Doug
IMO, the spotted car says that they were hoping for the full traverse. But it appears that they were unsure of whether they could make it. However, Mazur seems to have gotten the impression from the hutkeeper that he route would be easy...I'd agree with you that the traverse was the goal but the article amongst it's other flaws seemed to make the traverse sound like a just in case conditions were good. Thinking their source may have told them that & that their source was one of the leaders and/or the members of the group.
I suspect that both Zealand Tr, Ethan Pond Tr, and the first mile of SPT (ie as far as the viewpoint over the pond) get broken out pretty quickly. The TFT, the Wilderness Tr beyond the Wilderness boundary (and particularly beyond the TFT junction), and the rest of the SPT probably don't get broken out nearly as quickly. In 2003 and 2011, I/we had to break out large portions of the TFT, SPT, and Wilderness Tr. (Both trips did a clockwise lollipop out of Lincoln woods so we did both the TFT and SPT.) Most (maybe all) of the 2014 (SPT) traverse was broken.As a peakbagger, I always think of the traverse as going over the Bonds. Do the TFT and SPT stay broken out? I suspect the routes to the 4K peaks are broken out more during the winter.
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