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Bronco

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    Herman fatality?

    in the *freshiezone*

    Posted

    Someone posted this on TGR, sounds like a terrible accident with lots of people watching but unable to help:

     

    It appears that one of them was injured while skiing on the backside of what most people call Mt. Herman. Technically the true Mt. Hermon is behind to the west. They had called 911 for help with the injury so several people were watching them work their way down. They were coming from the backside of Herman and cutting under what is known as the Widowmaker, just on the apron of it. A slide from above hit them and now both were injured. A second and third slide came down from above them and really messed them up. It is amazing that they were not both fully buried or killed from trauma. These were very large wet slides going on the ground. Widowmaker is very steep and the ground is solid rock slab with no vegatation. We just had a ton of rain a 2 days before this so the water could not drain due to the solid rock. The stability really wasn't that bad anywhere else. I bet these were the only slides in the Mt Baker region yesterday. Strange set of circumstances really. A situation went from bad to worse. They longlined one guy out and left the other due to him being mostly buried, having severe head trauma and it being too unsafe to dig him out.

     

    Condolences to the family and friends, hope the skier that survived the slides fully recovers.

    Eldorado Peak

    in Newbies

    Posted

    I agree with Jason regarding the crevasse risk being relatively low.

     

    It may be tough to obtain an overnight camping permit for that zone on a weekend in August. If you can swing a weeknight, you will probably have better odds.

     

    The hike and boulder field scramble are pretty steep but at least the bugs will be terrible.

    Doug Walker

    in Climber's Board

    Posted

    Got off at exit 47 yesterday, not knowing there was a mountain rescue going on. I've been up and down Granite Mountain probably 50-75 times. Many times in winter on and off skis. It has a reputation and those that have spent much time there know it's foreshortened view from the highway does not do justice to the vertical it contains. The genuine peace and solitude it produces as merely 2 miles up the trail, the sound of corrosive I-90 disappear, and the mystical feeling of a large and powerful presence envelop you. It's a relatively steep and simultaneously straightforward formula, but there are tricks to getting up and down in winter. Stay out of the gully, off the steep open slopes, wander thru the steep forest, make a break for the seemingly wind blown finger, move quickly. Ignore the burn in your legs as it feels like a real mountain, and has proven itself time and time again to be a dangerous place at certain times. I've witnessed several rescues there. It wasn't that long ago when these were small intimate affairs, shared by few. Yesterday was a huge show. A lot of presence. An important man in that community lost his life, in a place where you venture to enjoy something so close to man, that in a few steps can take you so far away. Yesterday a man was taken by the mystical force that imbues the higher places - a small whisper of snow, a slight movement under foot, and that small place in your mind simultaneously decries belief and acceptance. "I died here today, this is how I died". And you listen to the soft surf sounds of snow glide overhead as the cold quicksand pulls you under. Blue skies fallen climber..

     

    As usual, your writing is eerily relatable and spot on. It's been a long time, hope to see more of it around here.

     

    Condolences to Doug's family, friends and climbing partners, by all accounts, he was a force to be reckoned with.

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