Jens Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 An old timer told me a story about a dude in the alps who fell and his rope caught on a horn above an overhang and his body was not able to be recovered for several years. The old timer saw the body swinging in the wind for quite a while. All the Mt. Hood banter got me thinking...... Are their any places in the cascades where you couldn't be rescued or recovered even in perfect weather? Anyone care to post scenarios about places you've been that might fit the above? When I was climbing a short AI2 section about 300 feet below the "traverse of the angels" on Willis Wall I had a rock hit the top of my backpack at terminal velocity, I thought later, who would come up here and give me First Aid (had I been hurt)as it was July and the whole face was a shooting gallery every few minutes. Another possible scenario: Two climbers are roped together from the top of little Tahoma standing on the summit in winter. One slips over the north face and yanks the other with him. Their rope snags on an overhang. They end up cutting the rope and free falling another pitch to a steep rock face above a huge overhang not on any route. How would a rescue be conducted if it was not possible to lower in and climbing a new route to get to them might be only posible for a couple people in this whole state because of the overhanging drytooling (and the choss might be unaidable)? Any other places or scenarios? -Johannesburg comes to mind as their are canyons that can't be flown into. I don't mean any disrespect to the Hood folks. Quote
Gary_Yngve Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 In your Tahoma case, couldn't you lower in with a 600-ft rope? I'd agree with you on Willis Wall with that high objective hazard that no one's gonna come for you. Unless it were somehow possible to get a heli in there (dunno about steepness and winds) and shorthaul. Rescues are by definition not light and fast. I think the more important question, that would then lead up to your rescue question, is: How would you call for help, or how would they locate you? Quote
G-spotter Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 In the CDN Rockies people have been heli-longlined off the East Face of Howse... the Cascades don't have anyplace where this wouldn't work Quote
rob Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 Places in the Cascades you couldn't be rescued -- next, on FOX Quote
meadlx200 Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 I think the body on the rope was from the Corti/ Longhi (sp?) attempt on the Eiger NF. I forgot which one was rescued. Quote
stinkyclimber Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 In the CDN Rockies people have been heli-longlined off the East Face of Howse... the Cascades don't have anyplace where this wouldn't work Yah, but only if you are Bubba, with a Park Service radio. Quote
Mr_Phil Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 Is there a place in the Cascades that you couldn't be rescued by NOLs graduates which requires passing through a speed trap to get there? Quote
chris Posted December 18, 2006 Posted December 18, 2006 I think the body on the rope was from the Corti/ Longhi (sp?) attempt on the Eiger NF. I forgot which one was rescued. Could be, but Corti actually fell later that day - sightseers claimed he had moved, creating theories that he was only unconscious, not dead as reported, and had awoke enough to remove himself from the anchor. Toni Kurtz (I may have the name wrong - too much history) I think is the most likely source of this story - the climber who died of exposure within a rope's thow of rescuers, dangling underneath an overhang, hand frozen to stiff to manipulate a knot past his rappel 'biners. His famous last words were "I'm through." He remained hanging there for a time, within sight of Grindenwald, until his rope frayed through and his body fell to the lower slopes. But this was in the 1950's, long before the mechanized cable or helicopters were used for rescue applications. Quote
ScottP Posted January 7, 2007 Posted January 7, 2007 Toni Kurz died in 1936... "Ich kann nicht mehr" Quote
tread_tramp Posted January 13, 2007 Posted January 13, 2007 ...the off-width crack on Trask Buttress. No one would go there 'cept maybe Greg W. You're pretty much on your own. Quote
Raindawg Posted January 31, 2007 Posted January 31, 2007 The simple answer to your rather involved scenarios: SEND IN BIG LOU!!! Quote
Dechristo Posted January 31, 2007 Posted January 31, 2007 This is the Cafe Sensitivioso. Please refrain from making suggestions of being Lou'd. Quote
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