Fatality at Muir

Maybe ten years ago I remember coming down and crossing paths with a man and woman hiking up on snow. They were carrying cotton sleeping bags under their arms...

What can you do? It is surprising that there are not more incidents.

In this case, one could imagine that given their purported experience level that they wanted to experience the conditions that they were exposed to. Thats what I was thinking when I first heard of this. Wasn't just about everyone aware of what the weather was supposed to be? Our consistently cool cloudy and wet weather this year has made national news and certainly even non mountain travelers were complaining about the next upcoming storm and snow producer. Are current condition and forecast conditions not available at Paradise?

In any case, the latest article in the times described the effort these individuals made to survive and it seemed apparent that they were short of the equipment needed to stay the night in a trench. From what I read, maybe just short. All that they would have needed to make it was a single thermarest or other pad and a small tarp. Very unfortunate and sad.

Alan

My thoughts are with the families. I mentioned to a friend that the media was portraying the deceased as a "hero", my friend's reply was "he deserves that regardless", that made sense after I thought about it.  I figure there is much more to what happened than we will likely know, for one person to die of hypothermia and two other are able to walk uphill 1400 ft the next day leads me to believe that there are pieces missing.
I think that some of the new coverage was aweful and insensitive . The thought of a reporter ratting around the neighborhood and place of business looking for stories about a dead guy is pretty gross. She would get more than a "no comment" if she were askinig me for details on a friend, neighbor or co-worker.

Relating to the young doctor lost in 2000 or 2001. When he was found, a good family friend (known for poor judgement) was lost between Muir and Paradise. She and partner set up a tent on the Nisqually after taking a wrong turn and seeing gaping crevasses. I was running interference between my friend's family and the hardworking rangers, to try and keep the family informed enough to stay away from the rangers. When found, my family friend expected praise for staying put after getting lost. They found the young doctor within 200M of my friend's tent.

I believe that the Muir snowfield has much of the same issues as Mt. Hood, in that the fall line will not get you home, but into trouble. This causes much trouble for the human animal after walking uphill all day.

I figure there is much more to what happened than we will likely know, for one person to die of hypothermia and two other are able to walk uphill 1400 ft the next day leads me to believe that there are pieces missing.

I think that is supported by the Times report this morning and what I was referring to in my post as well. It was stated that once they got the trench built, he entered first and lay on the bottom with the other two on top of him. It also stated that snow melt below him caused him to become saturated and refrozen through his clothing, which was the reason for the hypothermia. I think that falls into hero category.

Alan

I don't know if it statisically the muir snowfield would be rated that "hazardous overall," as thousand and thousands successfully make it up and down, which would skew the rate. 

Yeah, I agree completely. The accident rate per traveller is probably lower than many other places in the Cascades. But the total number of accidents is high.

You might say that the Bowling Alley Couloir (a made-up location) is the most "dangerous" (i.e. accidents per capita) while the Paradise to Muir route is the most "deadly" (i.e. most accidents overall). It's just a intellectual exercise to look at things in a different light, especially when you're feeling helpless about the latest tragedy... 

 

As noted, if you've hiked or skiied the snowfield that much, it's quite likely that you've had a close call with getting off route, or know someone who has. 

Interesting that despite the fall-line from Camp Muir leading to the Nisqually Glacier canyon, many, if not most of the victims and survivors end up east of the ascent route, probably due to the strong prevailing wind. I recall a fellow back in the 70's, storm-separated from his winter climbing partners just below Muir, who pounded on the Ohana ranger's door ten nights later.

            DATE TIME  TEMP  HUM% MIN   AVG    MAX   DIR

             6 9   1200     22     97     36     46     55          353


             6 9   1300     19     95     31     45     57          353
             6 9   1400     21     97     29     42     57          353
             6 9   1500     21     97     35     45     54          353
             6 9   1600     20     97     28     47     61          353
             6 9   1700     21     96     43     54     71          353
             6 9   1800     17     96     32     49     62          353
             6 9   1900     14     95     24     45     65          353
             6 9   2000      8      91     24     42     61          353
             6 9   2100      6      91     11     37     55          353
             6 9   2200      8      92     22     44     57          353
             6 9   2300      9      93     34     48     59          353
             6 10      0     10      93     39     49     59          353
             6 10    100     10     93     36     51    61          353
             6 10    200     12     94     27     45    59          353
             6 10    300     12     94      7     29     45          353
             6 10    400     14     95      4     11     24          353
         

---

Not to Monday morning quarterback this accident. But, I think it is important to study the facts of this incident, to prevent other mistakes in judgement. This weather fact is copied from Amar Andal website.

At 12 noon , when the hikers left Paradise, the temps were 22* and winds were max @ 55mph.(MUIR)P The max winds during their hike were 57,57,54,61,71,62,65,61,55,57,59,61,59,45 and 24 mph.

Not sure of their motives. Were they training for a Denali climb? Possible. People  do that on Rainier. Again, this is not a criticism of these folks ,  just a study of the facts.

The wind direction was a constant 353*. Evidence of a sustained storm.

Was it calm at Paradise when they left? Probably.

I've been at Crystal Mt skiing with almost no wind at the base area, but having the REX chair closed because of 60-70mph winds. (@ 7,000')

Mountains are very deceiving.

I left Paradise with a partner one time in nice conditions. As we approached Pan Point, the winds started to pick up, as we continued to Pebble Creek, we were looking for some rock out croppings for protection from the wind. We were day hiking , to Camp Muuir. No sleeping bags,  no tent, no stove. My partner and I talked for about 15 minutes , yelling at each other over the wind, debating, should we go further or call it quits? We turned around. On the way down, it was a total white out. The only way we got back on track was to listen for voices from hikers coming up and finally we found the wands the NPS placed.

Everyone has to make a choice when in the mountains.

Somtimes you roll the dice. That is what makes being in the mountains invigorating.

Much regards to the family of the injured and deceased. As much as we should let things lay, we should also learn from this incident to prevent others fatal mistakes.

Ther is nothing wrong with pushing the envelope in the mountains. Personally, high winds will make me turn back more than anything. Cold and snowy, OK. But when you mix high wind into the eqaution . Forget it. I'm out of there.