sobo

My bad, I must have forgotten about this part. It was 5 years ago... The dead climber found in the snow cave (Kelly James) was autopsied and no debilitating injuries were found. From here, 4th post from the bottom of the page.

WTF, man??? Were those dudes all fucked up on khat to be giving a chimp an AK?? Ya think they coulda at least unloaded the damned thing first...

Damn, that's too bad. But glad to hear he's all right and that he cleaned his stuff off the mountain, too. Big props to that man.

Polypro liners. My feet won't go into, or come out of, the shoes without them. And besides, you have to wear something at the crag, no...??

If memory serves, the dates of their departure from the TJ cabin/trailhead and the arrival of the poor weather that was forecasted were in such proximity in time that the climbers would still have been low enough on the route to retire safely. The fact that one of them was found (dead) in a snow cave with an injury (shoulder, IIRC) so near the summit would suggest that they either ignored the weather, or thought that they could beat it, or maybe even force their way through it, and they continued upward into a storm which then put them into a position from which they could not retire. Either way, they climbed up into a storm that they knew was coming. Given that they knew the storm was coming, and it arrived earlier than expected (while they were still low enough to retire), it is my opinion that they made an error in judgment by continuing upward into a winter storm while operating under a light and fast tactic. These points, taken individually, may have made for an uncomfortable day. But taken together as a whole, they do not allow for much margin for error. This does NOT AT ALL mean that they were n00bs. They just made a bad call.

By what logic do you arrive at this conclusion? Many of us here read that thread as the tradegy was unfolding, there was a companion thread containing dozens of pages of speculation after the event had passed, and might I add that many of us on this board were actually on the mountain looking for them as the days went by. So to my untrained e-mountaineer eye, it appears to me that you're making incorrect assumptions and proceeding from a false premise that none of us read those threads. Nobody here that I recall ever said that they were incompetent. Fuggedaboudit came on here a couple of years before he died and asked several questions regarding Liberty Ridge. He and two partners attempted it in 2004, but were turned back. He summitted Athabasca's NF that fall. He returned to Rainier and summitted via the Emmons in 2005. He summitted Assiniboine's NF that same fall. He returned to Rainier a year later and was ultimately successful on LR in the summer of 2006. It was on this climb that he met the two Texans that would be his future partners for the NF of Mt. Hood that winter. We were happy for him and his successes, he had huge stoke and seemed to know what he was doing, and no one here ever flamed him that I can recall. He then set his sights on the NF of Hood in winter with the Texans and started asking questions about it. From his past record of success, nobody flamed him for what they were contemplating, and in fact he was provided with several good pieces of information by many of the regulars here. But were you to go back and re-read the main Mt. Hood rescue thread and also the "speculation" thread, you will find that they made a series a small miscalculations that individually may have amounted to nothing, but cumulatively they cascaded into a full-on emergency situation. Yes, they knew poor weather was forecasted in a couple of days, but that poor weather arrived earlier than forecasted. Agreed, not their fault. Yes, that poor weather was shittier than forecasted. Agreed, not their fault. Yes, said weather arrived from a direction from which they could not monitor. They knew that going in, so that's their judgment call and an acceptable risk, because that's just something that you have to accept when climbing on that side of the mountain. Yes, at least two appeared to have summitted, but then apparently got lost trying to find the descent. That's their error. Recall that they were travelling "fast and light" in winter, but when doing so and confronted with deteriorating conditions, it is better to retire than to press a bad situation into a worse situation. Going F&L in summer and becoming engaged in a clusterfuck will make for merely a mildly unpleasant evening somewhere en route. Going F&L in winter and becoming engaged in a clusterfuck will leave one very little margin for error, as has been aptly demonstrated. They continued upward in a worsening storm, a storm which they knew was coming before they left the trailhead, and were trapped by it. They made a poor judgment call. Then the rescuers were hampered in their efforts to rescue them by the same storm. That made their poor call even more of a desperate situation. We will probably never know what really happened up there, but the evidence gathered by the rescuers and from the snow caves would seem to suggest that there was an injury (shoulder, IIRC) to at least one climber that likely prevented him from continuing. The other two left him sheltered in a snow cave and went for help. Noble. However, they apparently summitted and then got lost, fell off the north side somewhere, and died. Then the lone climber in the cave eventually expired. All of this may have been prevented by paying a bit more attention to their situational awareness. That's all any of us were saying. Nobody was bashing them as n00bs. Now I'm done.

Here ya go...

You can have it when I'm done with it, Tyson. But know that I'm enjoying it too much right now to let go of it anytime soon.

Well already I'm on page 15 of that massive thread. I'm pretty sad in more than one way that you spoiled the ending. The thread is actually pretty useful, with little spray and alot of tips about snow caves, etc. It's also pretty wierd to see your sig in that thread, could we change pretty soon? Sorry to "spoil the ending" for ya, Prince, but I thought ivan made the ending pretty clear upthread. When you finally admit that we folks here do know WTF we're talking about, then I'll change my autosig. Until then, I kinda enjoy being an e-mountaineer and not knowing shit.

A woman who speaks my language. I think I'm in luv... :swoon:

NRB??

That's better. thx

link to thread and news story/bulletin? Search this board around mid-to-late summer of 2006, for climbs on the NF of Mt. Hood, with a username of Fuggedaboudit. He and his two partners died somewhere on the north side of Hood in mid-December of that year. He was a NY'er, and I think his partners were Texans. But by your royal proclamation, I'm an e-mountaineer and I don't know shit.

I was kinda hoping you'd do better than that for the new guy, Drew...

moosejah, Until someone comes along that actually answers your questions, try the Search function on this board. Select "All Forums" for which forums to search, enter "Yak" in the Keyword Search Terms box, select the "in subject" toggle, leave the Display Name Search box blank, and select "Newer than 10 Years" in the Date Range section, then hit the Submit button. I just did that and got 10 pages of hits, which will probably reduce down to about a half dozen or more trip reports. I scanned a few of them and there are some pretty good reports there that might help you out. Different routes, descent recommendations, best season to climb, don't drink the coffee from the little shop at the base, etc. Good luck.

moosejah, you'll be all right. Someone like Dru/G-spotter or someone else who lives up your way/has been on Yak Peak will eventually see this and chime in with useful beta. Marmot Prince, OTOH, still bears watching... That's right, MP, I'm still watching you. Watching... always watching...

Check kevino's Alpental updates thread in the Alpine Lakes forum for condish in the Snoqualmie Corridor, or the 2011/12 Washington Ice Conditions thread in this forum for other areas. Both threads have been receiving near-daily updates. Good luck!

not even close. MarmotPrince is Rainier to moosejah's rubble pile. Couldn't have expressed it better myself.

Um, yeah, like that goatfucker would know. Oh, and I'm assuming you meant "angel"... And I'm sure you are...

Now why on this earth would you want to submit yourself to this kind of punishment? Were you a bad person in a previous life? Heed Gene's words and do not rush into things that are not fun...

Must... resist... editing... Fixed it fer ya.Dave, were you one of those kids back in the first grade that always got the "Needs to exhibit more self-control" comment on their report card...??

Morning Glory, I think. I have no idea; the ex planted it years ago. It thins out in the winter and comes back really thick every year. Thanks again for the continued notes of sympathy. I'm finding that I really miss that old cat... Shal OW E-rock Mel 'bone Bala

He should probably also acquire several avalanche poodles to ensure a safe crossing...

Are you an agnostic about the tooth fairy, too? I mean, you can't prove a negative!!!! The Tooth Fairy is for realz, rob. Where do you think all those quarters under the pillow come from?

Are you sure about that? I'm a bit uncertain...