Another Aasgard Pass incident

[goatboy]

Sad news here:

 

http://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/mercer-island-man-believed-dead-after-fall-through-snow-at-aasgard-pass/

 

This is becoming all-too-familiar this time of year, in that same site.

[canela]

I heard about this earlier today from another climber. We were discussing how it might be wise for people posting trip reports to not casually talk about glissading down Aasgard after climbing Dragontail and other peaks--- as less experienced climbers might read it and then take it to mean that Aasgard is a safe place to glissade. Everyone should be informed before heading out there and make their own informed decisions, but I cringe every time I read a TR with a note about being "able to get a few glissades in around Aasgard Pass", etc. Hoping for a good outcome....

Edited June 5, 2017 by canela

[tstory]

Rough. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the victim and his partners.

 

I was camped at Colchuck lake when the accident happened last year. I thought then, and I'm thinking again now, that I can't help but wonder if there are some factors at play that have lead to increased accidents in the Enchantments in recent years. The FS changing the permit season to May 15, has in my experience greatly increased the number of people headed into the area in early season. I think a lot of people with less familiarity with the area take the fact that permit season is open to mean that the hiking route is open for the season. Most of us know that Aasgard pass in spring is far more similar to a mountaineering route than it is to a hiking trail. Couple that with a 'scarcity' human factor (fueled by permits, short weather windows, and the non-stop bombardment of beautiful adventure photos on social media) and I think frequent accidents are somewhat inevitable.

 

I'm not really sure what the proper course of action is, or even if there is one. I know I would bemoan the loss of wildness if someone went up and put signage or wands warning folks away from the skiers left side of the pass. Changing the permit dates back would just lead to more people, I'm afraid. It's a sad shame that this is such a frequent occurrence.

[JasonG]

We were discussing how it might be wise for people posting trip reports to not casually talk about glissading down Aasgard after climbing Dragontail and other peaks--- as less experienced climbers might read it and then take it to mean that Aasgard is a safe place to glissade......, but I cringe every time I read a TR with a note about being "able to get a few glissades in around Aasgard Pass", etc.

 

The hills are dangerous. Period. Sanitizing TRs is perhaps one of the worst ideas for this site ever. This has been, and always will be, a game that demands attention to detail. It's your own responsibility to recognize dangers that can change by the day and hour, and especially when you are exceeding your own abilities. Don't depend on the internet to do it for you.

 

 

[ivan]

one has only to stand at the lake and look up there to realize it's not a trivial descent - jeebus, i remember one very sad n' tired n' dark night we ended up stupidly descending to the edge of that giant cliff and almost convincing ourselves there was some sorta way of down-climbing it b/c we were too whupped to contemplate walking all that way back uphill to find where we'd gone wrong