Muir snowfield

[Buckaroo]

I have to agree with the hypothermia hypothesis, because they had warm clothes but weren't wearing them.

 

I got hypothermic one time while winter surfing near Ventura beach, with a borrowed half cut wetsuit that was too big. The scariest thing about it is it can happen quickly and you don't realize it's happening. If someone else doesn't notice you're a goner. My friends were about 100 yards away in the surf and I just decided to get out for no particular reason. When I got out of the water, I had a very hard time walking and fell several times walking a half block back to the car. The incompetence I felt just walking makes me think it would have been difficult to swim in the surf especially if I'd lost my board. It took about two hours before I felt back to normal. Just a few more minutes in the water and I could have fallen off my board and possibly gone under, then I would have had to depend on my friends noticing quick enough to help from 100 yards in the surf.

 

Lots of times during strenuous hiking the tendency is to take off a lot of layers to keep cool down to a point were you can't stand still for long if it's cold. These guys were probably hiking hard and maybe stopped to rest for too long and both went hypothermic near the same time so they couldn't help each other.

 

Anyone hiking or climbing in the snow, especially places like Rainier, should be prepared to dig a snow cave and know when it's necessary. Even if all your gear is wet you can survive in a snow cave as long as you have polypro. A tent will only work to a certain extreme, but a snow cave will make it just another weekend.