The Hoy

Looking for a safe climbing partner with alpine skills for weekend and extended weekend alpine climbing. I have been climbing for 12 years and have experience on several of the Cascade volcanoes and in the Canadian Rockies. I have some traditional routes in mind on Jefferson, North Sister, and Washington. I plan to hit these in the late spring as weather permits. Post here if interested in meeting. Thanks!

I had to page back through every page to find these photos, finally finding them on page 3. The second one just shows the tracks. The footprints are sideways, sloping slightly down and to the right. Other photos I've seen show them going straight up, assuming the camera was right side up. I don't know which way is up on this one, and I don't see an anchor, webbing, gear, or anything else except maybe some rocks sticking through the snow, and the photographers hand in the way on the right side of the pic. What's the deal? As for the Y shaped photo, the first one, all I can say is, you've absolutely positively have to be kidding me, right? The sheriff himself referred to that photo as being something the climbers made, and that he himself was wondering why the media had turned it sideways when the Y in actuality was pointing straight downward. This is crazy. Look just above where the tracks terminate on the right side of the photo. It is difficult to see because of the distance from which the photo was taken, but there is clearly a very typical alpine anchor set-up. It is about the size of your mouse arrow.

This is a good point. Other than an inadequte set-up or failure of pro that initially held, I do not have a good response. More importantly, why would he call out on his cell saying his two buddies had gone for help, if instead they'd all be involved in some self-arrest accident which only he had survived. This discussion is only useful if people don't throw out all of the "probable reality" previously established. It seems that James was incoherent when he made the call, so the meaning of what he said could be interpreted in different ways. Also, I was not really thinking of a traditional self-arrest causing the injury. You make a very good point about not throwing out previously established 'probable reality.' I am struggling to understand what happened and your observations have merit and are welcomed.

This is a good point. Other than an inadequte set-up or failure of pro that initially held, I do not have a good response.

First of all my deep sympathy to the families of these climbers. I myself climbed with Nikko in 2005 and I have been worrying about him and the other climbers since all this began. Today I still hold a glimmer of hope that Nikko and Brian are found. Without making any judgment on their actions, I have been contemplating an alternate scenario to what has been discussed up until this point. I have tried to stick to facts and not speculation, but without the climber's to tell us what happened we may never know the whole story. Some of the information we get is presented as fact, and later turns out to be inaccurate. I'm sure as time goes by more factual information will surface and perhaps we will know a little more about the decisions that were made and be able to develop a more informed sequence of events. All this being said, and using information gleaned from this site as well as from the media, here is an alternate scenario... Is it possible that all 3 climbers were well when they dug the snow cave on the east side of the mountain? Perhaps they could not find their way to the Gates because of the weather or fatigue. Perhaps they chose to dig-in for the night on the east side to be out of the wind. They faired okay through the night. They arose at some point as the weather worsened and thought they still had a window of opportunity to get off the mountain. The wind was too high to go over the top and down the south side. The three felt they still had a chance and so they did not call for help. Instead, wet from the condensation in the cave, and with a developing storm, they began to descend. They would be cold and shivering as the dampness on their bodies froze. They set up an anchor and began the process to rappel down. An accident occurred. Someone slipped. James attempted to stop the fall, but dislocated his shoulder while holding the fall. His attempt at preventing the fall was unsuccessful. With his last energy and with hypothermia developing, he craws back to the cave. Once inside, he uses the last of his energy to make a desperate call for help on his cell phone. If it is true that he made statements about Nikko flying and Brian gone for help in town, then perhaps with his condition worsening and with his mind unable to accept what he had seen, this was his mind trying to cope with the accident. This might explain why the other two never called, the dislocated shoulder, the strained comments made by James. No judgment here, no criticism of these guys, just another scenario for consideration. If I have missed a crucial piece of fact that contradicts this theory, then I apologize. I mean no harm to anyone. Just seeking closure. I welcome the thoughts of other experienced climbers.

This clarifies a lot. Thanks for the information.

Concerning the photo of the anchor...I came-up with the same interpretation as 'FiveFingeredJack.' The anchor and climbing line appear to be the same, single rope. Hard to believe it would be a 'throw-away.' It could be an ascent anchor, but I doubt it. Normally you would use a different rope or cordelette to set an anchor. It is hard to make-out the type of knot in the photo, but the rope appears to be 'irretrievable' in a descent. With this in mind, it might have been set as a security line for use in a cave situation. The intent then, would be to climb back up to the anchor when the weather broke, retrieve the anchor, and then move on up the hill or descend using a more standard method.

Climbed the Mt Assiniboine NF with Nikko last summer. He is a strong and determined climber. I send my hopes to him and his family.