Climbing Coleman Deming Un-roped

I find the pictures of the father-son team less horrifying and more fascinating.

I agree.  They're having an adventure, and are probably better equipped than the first ascent party.

In the scheme of things, on my various slogs up Baker I recall seeing lots of people up there on foot, unroped, without packs, and carrying ski poles only.  Ill advised or not, the vast majority seem to have survived

With respect to crevasse hazard, I think September is arguably the safest month of
the year for foot travel because so little is hidden.

The clothing looks like hunter's camo to me.

The Levis and apparent lack of packs  are not choices I'd make or advocate, but as I insist on the right to make my choices I am bound to respect the right of others to do the same.

Those two are heros. Telling and re-telling the story to thier families. Worries aboout lack of gear read Brian Harder's ski mountaineering website. The future is more with less. To bad so many climbers/skiers tout freedom of the hills then mock those who are free of mental constrictions mad up it climbing and skiing magazines!

The clothing looks like hunter's camo to me.

The Levis and apparent lack of packs  are not choices I'd make or advocate, but as I insist on the right to make my choices I am bound to respect the right of others to do the same.

Yeah it appears to be woodland and mossy oak camo. At least they had some sort of crampons and what appear to be ice axes. I won't judge, I've done lots of stupid things, some more than that.

Would you take your son/daughter base jumping on a whim?

Without knowing particulars, the trailing climber has cramp-ons and an axe. Solid posture too unless purely by accident. They were certainly the most U-V protected party in the Cascades. Blind determination or wanting the experience, have to wonder but there's a story for them to tell. Another illustration of going "minimalist" and fancy gear be damned. Maybe their hunting scouting trip got a bit out of hand?

A few more thoughts reflecting on the comments:

“Ill advised or not, the vast majority seem to have survived.”

True, but just surviving the odds without knowing the risks is a negative feedback. For example, most of the time snow in avalanche terrain is not avalanching so a person without any knowledge of avalanches gets a false sense of safety just by going through avalanche terrain without any negative consequence. Fortunately we can learn from our own personal experiences, and – better yet – learn from others’ knowledge and experiences.


“… as I insist on the right to make my choices I am bound to respect the right of others to do the same”

Absolutely! But, circumstances don’t always make such personal freedoms that simple, even on mountains. As much as I can appreciate the father/son team attempting the climb and having an adventure, they were a risk to others climbing behind them on the Roman Wall at least where I doubt they could have arrested.

Also, I think any person should be aware of, and not take risks with, those trusting their actions/leadership. I can excuse someone of this error if they don’t know or understand the hazards/risks, but any excuse for sincerely not knowing doesn’t offset natural consequences (i.e., if the father/son team fell and couldn’t arrest – gravity would still work). It is difficult to extend such personal freedom to people (or myself) if they (or I) knowingly put someone at risk when they putting their trust in you. I probably have this view because I am a dad and my kids would blindly trust (at least when they were younger). The thought about balancing personal freedom with responsibility never really hit home as much until fatherhood.


“There's a story here …”

What I remember from talking to the father/son team the night before was they were from a town just north of the border where they could see the mountain from their house (or nearby). They were very nice and totally stoked to climb early the next morning. We got a leisurely start in the morning so we didn’t encounter them again until where the picture was taken. I remember them being scared.

We will probably never know the full story. Several of us have offered our own takes which makes for good discussion. Different interpretation is one of the beautiful things about a good picture. I added this photo to the thread not for judgment of the individuals - just as fodder for discussion.