Mt Washington Deaths

[iain]

Thanks for bringing your information into this discussion, Scott.

 

I have the above photos and others at much higher resolution, and some photos from when I climbed the west face a few years ago. When I climbed it, we went up to that first belay (from which most of those routes branch off), but backed down to the ground because we did not feel good using it for a belay-worthy anchor. With a little mental rallying, we set off again, but belayed from the base and simply used the upper belay as a piece of pro. We did one long pitch to the stacked piton belay up on the white corner. The bad rock does indeed go away, and the upper pitch (in the white corner, along with a 5.9 variation) is a delight. The first pitch does have some x-factor to it though, as you are well aware.

 

Thanks again for your input. I would imagine it was probably hard for you to read about such a tragedy in the same location. Your survival story was compelling.

[iain]

Here's a slightly higher resolution image of the face, with the routes overlaid as best as I can see. That first bad belay is where the routes begin to branch off.