"Why All Be Cold?" - Inj. Climber Abandoned

[G-spotter]

http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/pique/index.php?cat=C_News&content=Sar+on+wedge+1532

 

Climber with broken leg allegedly abandoned on glacier by rest of party to wait for rescue. Not on K2, mind you - on the Wedge Gl. near Whistler.

[Drederek]

I guess the guy is lucky his partners didn't shoot him to keep him from having to be cold too.

[ZimZam]

LAME

[Off_White]

That's pretty damned outrageous. An expensive risky rescue because the three other partners didn't want to care for their injured member? I want their names, I think we need an International Do-Not-Climb-With database.

 

Also, those SPOT thingys don't sound like a very good idea at all.

[AlpineK]

That injured fellow is lucky and his partners are totally irresponsible.

 

I can see cases in a 2 person team where the uninjured partner might have to make the injured climber comfortable and then leave for help, but a 4 person team should not abandon their partner.

[Bug]

These three should be publicly identified and plagued with questions and ridicule.

Narcissistic assholes is the nicest term I can think of.

[fishstick]

The three partners deserve an incredibly swift kick in the nuts.

 

GB

[sobo]

Climber with broken leg allegedly abandoned on glacier by rest of party to wait for rescue. Not on K2, mind you - on the Wedge Gl. near Whistler.

Allegedly? Really??? Sounded pretty factual from the reporting, given that the other three l00zerz in the party had to be awakened from a "deep sleep" at the hut. Sounds like abandonment to me.

 

Clearly, these folks left the trailhead without all of the 47 Essentials. I saw no mention of a tauntaun anywhere.

[G-spotter]

Well - I said allegedly since it's a report in the news media. It was once reported on p3. of the Province newspaper that a climbing partner of mine was "hanging up his ice pick for good" after a rescue off Mt Currie. Since then I tend to disbelieve anything the non-climbing media reports.

 

Recently, a guy I know was rescued off Harvey and the media reported he had two broken legs and other injuries when in fact he walked out of hospital the next day with none of those, just a hematoma.

 

But I suspect this one might be a little closer to the truth than many.

[sobo]

Yeah, OK, Dru, I can go with that, the not trusting anything the non-climbing media says about climbing. But they interviewed the Whistler SAR guy, Brad Sills... I felt that that should have brought some truth to the reporting.

 

Still, what those three l00zerz did was totally reprehensible and irresponsible. They should be publicly denigrated and made into pariahs.

[shaoleung]

These are the few @$$holes that make climbers seem like selfish egotistical ne'erdowells. People read this and picture Stallone with an enormous bolt gun and no mercy... climb at any cost to your partners/environment etc.

 

Agreed... public humiliation is the only appropriate resolution to this.

[Hugh Conway]

Also, those SPOT thingys don't sound like a very good idea at all.

 

They don't seem to be as useful as their proponents claim - primarily from the difficulties of getting local rescuers to respond (which I can understand - "need help at point XYZ" is rather vague)

[DPS]

I once had an accident on the Girth Pillar. I broke both my arms (one was an open fracture, the other broken in seven places), had a head injury and broken ankle). My ONE partner, Nick, got me down 1,500 feet of technical terrain, took my pack and hiked me out to the trail head and then, after a 20 hour day, drove me all the way back to Seattle.

 

Now, if ONE guy can do that, why can't THREE pack the other guy down to the hut I wonder?

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Also, those SPOT thingys don't sound like a very good idea at all.

 

They don't seem to be as useful as their proponents claim - primarily from the difficulties of getting local rescuers to respond (which I can understand - "need help at point XYZ" is rather vague)

 

I have a spot, and it is a bit discouraging to see how they are being handled in rescues. Hopefully local rescuers/authorities will develop more effective protocols for answering spot requests. It would certainly be nice if the device had direct messaging capabilities, but it is what it is for now.

 

Regarding this guys companions, they are clearly douchebags.

[mattp]

Gotta love the Kangaroo Court. We focus on two or three sentences from a newspaper article published by those blood sucking journalists, we have no response or statement from the subjects of our "investigation," and we're all calling for them to be publicly humiliated because that will solve whatever the problem was.

 

I gotta say the article does not sound good, but do we know what happened, or what they thought they were trying to do, or what the injured climber actually said about it, or .... ?

 

I know I would never do that, though. Nope. I'm waaaaay better than those loosers.

[Bogen]

I imagine they left everything warm they had with him in a safe spot, and roped up for the descent down the glacier. Is the glacier dangerous right now?

[billcoe]

I once had an accident on the Girth Pillar. I broke both my arms (one was an open fracture, the other broken in seven places), had a head injury and broken ankle). My ONE partner, Nick, got me down 1,500 feet of technical terrain, took my pack and hiked me out to the trail head and then, after a 20 hour day, drove me all the way back to Seattle.

 

Now theres a partner!

 

Although it's probably a good thing you didn't go into shock....

Edited August 12, 2008 by billcoe

[G-spotter]

I imagine they left everything warm they had with him in a safe spot, and roped up for the descent down the glacier. Is the glacier dangerous right now?

 

The glacier has a hard time being dangerous at its worst, and most of the time is a fluffy bunny.

[fenderfour]

Gotta love the Kangaroo Court. We focus on two or three sentences from a newspaper article published by those blood sucking journalists, we have no response or statement from the subjects of our "investigation," and we're all calling for them to be publicly humiliated because that will solve whatever the problem was.

 

I gotta say the article does not sound good, but do we know what happened, or what they thought they were trying to do, or what the injured climber actually said about it, or .... ?

 

I know I would never do that, though. Nope. I'm waaaaay better than those loosers.

 

Their injured partner was on a glacier. They were in a hut sleeping. What more is there to know?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

cc.com and speculation go hand in hand

[G-spotter]

Like MLUs and Tauntauns.

[Dechristo]

maybe the guy with the broken leg had bad breath or disgusting gas.

[wfinley]

Also, those SPOT thingys don't sound like a very good idea at all.

 

They don't seem to be as useful as their proponents claim - primarily from the difficulties of getting local rescuers to respond (which I can understand - "need help at point XYZ" is rather vague)

 

I have a spot, and it is a bit discouraging to see how they are being handled in rescues. Hopefully local rescuers/authorities will develop more effective protocols for answering spot requests. It would certainly be nice if the device had direct messaging capabilities, but it is what it is for now.

 

I hadn't read any reports about authorities not wanting to respond. The argument that the technology is flawed (quote from linked article) doesn't make much sense to me... PLBs have been used successfully for emergencies with aircraft and boats for years now. Why should authorities view PLB use in the backcountry any differently then they would PLB use for aircraft and boats?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

"According to an e-mail from Sills, the threesome felt there was no point in them all being cold when a helicopter would pick them up in the morning."

 

There you go. P*** before friends!

[rob]

The argument that the technology is flawed (quote from linked article) doesn't make much sense to me... PLBs have been used successfully for emergencies with aircraft and boats for years now. Why should authorities view PLB use in the backcountry any differently then they would PLB use for aircraft and boats?

 

A SPOT is not a PLB. A SPOT uses a GPS to determine your location, which means you have to be in a location where you can get a GPS lock to begin with, and SPOT uses the private globalstar network for communications (the globalstar network has it's OWN problems which is another issue).

 

The 911 services are handled by GEOSalliance, a private concern in Texas. I was involved in a rescue mission in which the subject had a SPOT device and GEOS alliance spent several hours just trying to figure out who to contact to initiate a rescue -- and they gave incorrect coordinates right off the bat. I never spoke with them directly, but the Sheriff's deputies had lots of complaints about the call center which handled the 911 response for SPOT. That's the only experience I've had with them, and it was poor. (That said, at least they DID finally contact us....)

 

A PLB (much more expensive) uses a 406 MHz digital transmitter, which is the exact same technology used by aircraft beacons. It is much more reliable, uses government based satellites, and will work where a SPOT will not. It also doesn't cost $100 per year to operate (service is free) and is monitored by a government agency (I think NOAA monitors the signals in the US).

Edited August 12, 2008 by rob