I'm one of the "retards" that was up there with Rollo - I was on the sharp end of his rope. I'm also the one who failed to read the book's glacier descent description before I left town, left the photocopy of that description in the car before we started hiking in, and the one who listened when, days before, a friend with loads of alpine experience (one who had been twice-benighted on SA C-to-C in the early 90s) said the descent was a "walk off." I think that makes me - as the trip leader - responsible. I can assure all of you (kind and unkind) that I recognize the luck involved that allowed my friends to descend unharmed.
That said, I believe we approached the climb and our deteriorated situation respectfully. We definitely climbed slower than I would have liked or had planned, but I've seen impatience lead to serious error so decided it was best not to rush or panic as it got late. The rope team that topped out first spent an hour in the swirling mist trying to find a safe descent, and when that couldn't be found we wisely hunkered down instead of pressing. In the morning, we judiciously evaluated our options in cloud-obscured conditions and didn't start our descent until we could do it safely - given our non-existent descent beta and the gear we had.
I don't condone rescuing dumb-asses either, but we never considered asking for it and we'd have elected to trudge out Ingalls Creek all day instead of requesting one.
Having climbed Prussik last year - in October - and having paid attention the night before our SA ascent, we, too, knew when it became dark. And we still thought our 9:00am start was conservative. But we underestimated how slowly we would (safely be willing to) move over the 5th class stuff up high and some in our party were stymied by the cold, wet last pitch (Rollo incorrectly reported that we arrived there at 7:30 when we started that pitch, it was 6:30 - although we indeed summitted at 8:00).
I almost always wear sandals when I hike, find that they fit easily on my harness, and have worn them on virtually every descent I've done in the last six years. Although I would clearly have elected to wear boots - and bring crampons - had I not bone-headed the descent beta. SANDALS! were not the issue.
I'm embarassed that I allowed my party to leave without good descent beta and thankful they were all unhurt. And while Rollo hasn't bred, you might be interested to know that I have three wonderful, intelligent kids and that my wife let me fuck her even after this botched descent.
Finally, I'm cool with the criticism, especially since that about our lack of descent beta is wholly justified. But I'm not so cool with being called a FUCKING RETARD or the assertion that a mistake on an climb is relevant criteria for breeding. Neither am I tough, but if the sprayers want to call me a FUCKING RETARD in person instead of through cc.com, I'll be glad to meet them. We could get stoned and/or go climbing after we tussle - both of which I find thoroughly enjoyable in nearly all circumstances.