Hiker Dies in the White Mountains

Hiking Mount Washington on Sunday with *that* forecast?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nyc-hiker-found-dead-n-h-mountains-article-1.2118000

And the husband dropped her off at the trailhead -- "bye honey, enjoy yourself!"

She clearly lacked any sense. The mountain wasn't climbable on Saturday..Above the treeline it was insane..

Verification of Ayn Rand. Sad.

Unfortunately, this person also put the SAR people in danger, too. I heard her name mentioned on the local news radio in NYC that she was lost in NH. I thought that was very strange. They also mentioned the locator beacon. Occasionally, the stations mention lost hikers, but rarely mention the names.

I would love to have heard the discussion with the husband when he dropped her off at the trail head at 5am. It took her about 10 hours to figure out what the rest of us would have figured out at 5am.

Just baffling.  What a senseless, useless, unnecessary loss of life.  Being an accomplished hiker (apparently) she must surely have been aware of the risks.  Hubris must be punished.....I guess they didn't cover Greek mythology in her Russian education.  Such an incredibly selfish decision as well.  People had to risk their lives to bring her corpse back, and her loved one's are left to mourn.  

Seems like she had a little experience and let that go to her head. Not enough knowledge to know that hiking the White mountains in winter with a GOOD forecast is challenging and even dangerous, certainly not something to do alone.

No truly experienced person would have set out in those conditions, alone or in a group.

I can't find the article by way of the link in this thread but I'm guessing she had her mind set on the summit well before she left NYC. I can't remember what heuristic that is specifically but it's a big one.

http://nealpinestart.com/2015/02/18/a-young-climber-perishes-on-mt-adams/

raisingarizona wrote

I can't find the article by way of the link in this thread but I'm guessing she had her mind set on the summit well before she left NYC. I can't remember what heuristic that is specifically but it's a big one.

Yes, I think think summit fever is spot on. Especially if it was a planned trip. Sounds like she had a busy professional life and she might not have gotten a lot of windows so every window was valuable.

She is quite experienced from what I've read so far. I doubt it was her first time on the Presidentials in the winter. She may have been too committed to her goal. Given that she was dropped off for a traverse, perhaps the thought of needing to get to the anticipated pick up area was an issue. Perhaps she's climbed in the Presi's a lot in the past so she was familiar with the terrain and bad weather and that familiarity blinded her to the risks.

A lot of people see these stories and they say "dumb" or "it was obvious not to go". What I see is the potential danger that anyone who adventures might make mistakes. No one goes into a death trap thinking that they are walking into a death trap. Something inside our brains says we got this, no problem. Or it is a calculated risk but we're experienced enough to make it happen. I don't cast judgment on these deaths, I reflect on whether I've occasionally made poor decisions as well and just happened to be luckier.

riverc0il wrote

A lot of people see these stories and they say "dumb" or "it was obvious not to go". What I see is the potential danger that anyone who adventures might make mistakes. No one goes into a death trap thinking that they are walking into a death trap. Something inside our brains says we got this, no problem. Or it is a calculated risk but we're experienced enough to make it happen. I don't cast judgment on these deaths, I reflect on whether I've occasionally made poor decisions as well and just happened to be luckier.

Agree.

I suppose RA, but this one seems to go beyond the more garden variety questionable decisions most of us get caught up in, and even those can have consequences.

A lot of people may say tackling the Presidentials in full mid winter conditions, solo no less, under favorable weather conditions is fraught with risk.  Even in good conditions that choice could go wrong.  Any of us could end up there.

To choose to proceed with the attempt under not just less than ideal conditions, not just bad conditions, but forecasted severe and deadly conditions......from the Monday morning couch it just makes you scratch your head.

Yeah, she probably had a window, but windows close and when tackling a place that has some of the most severe weather conditions on the planet you have to be cognizant of that.

I'm not trying to be a critical dick and blame the victim.  I feel for her, what it must have been like to realize how severely you fucked up, to drift off knowing you were going to die, never to wake up again.  I feel for her family left behind.  It's all so unnecessarily tragic.  Just like the debates we always have after a skiing death, I always like to think there is something that can be taken away from the death, lessons learned that can do much more than put the victim under the microscope, but can save a life when someone else is faced with a similar go/no go decision.

It was her first time to the Presidentials. A lot of "experienced" climbers tend to underestimate the weather here when its bad... and overestimate their knowledge and skill level. That entire route is exposed ridgeline.  And we'd had double negative temps and 70-80 mph winds during the day (for a few days). It was forecast and present-- it didn't sneak up. Too many people have climbed taller peaks and think "this is just a little 6K-- no problem.  That gets them into big trouble.

This was taken by the SAR team the next day.  A little better conditions than the previous day (but not much).  It should paint a good picture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP4u6VyrgCk

The teams went out the night before trying to locate her but couldn't clear the treeline due to weather.  Im sure none of them got much sleep that night having to turn back and knowing someone was still up there.

The closest I've been to Mount Washington is the base lodge at Wildcat, so this is probably a dumb question, but here goes...

Let's assume (as improbable/impossible as it was given the weather) that she somehow she reached her goal and got to the summit. Given the time frame, what could she have been planning to do once there -- pitch a tent and stay the night?

bumps wrote

The closest I've been to Mount Washington is the base lodge at Wildcat, so this is probably a dumb question, but here goes...

Let's assume (as improbable/impossible as it was given the weather) that she somehow she reached her goal and got to the summit. Given the time frame, what could she have been planning to do once there -- pitch a tent and stay the night?

From what the article said, it appears she was planning a winter traverse of the Northern presi's, an exhausting day in summer let alone winter. This means she would have come down at the end of her journey - possibly no camping involved. Pure speculation on my part, but she was probably traveling light which meant minimal survival gear, probably a light weight bivey sack and some extra layers, she may not have even had a stove. She may have also been relying on the Madison spring hut for protection if there was a major issue. There were likely few places to dig a snow cave because the snow would have been blown off the ridge line and traveling down the ridge line on the lee side for shelter would have exposed her to Avi dangers and deep impassible snow conditions.

I suspect the thought went like this, I'll go light and fast, keep the wind to my back and push through the weather and I have my SPOT device (or what every she was carrying to start a rescue) if I get into trouble and they will bail me out. She was no neophyte.

Many experienced climbers have died, many extreme skiers have died, do you recall the US Alpine team members who died earlier this year. It takes a certain type of personality, driven to the extreme - who get their rush from pushing the limits. We would have never gotten to the moon in 1969 without people who were willing to take on high risk. Celebrate people like this and except that they would rather die this way then sitting in a nursing home sucking on a straw. These people are not stupid or ignorant - they know and are willing to take those risks. They don't give a single thought about orange netting.

I think her plan had been to hike down and meet back up with her spouse at a different trailhead in Twin Mountain. Unfortunately, she didn't have even basic survival equipment for spending a night on the mountain.  If she had, it may well have saved her life. The whole thing is very sad.  One can only hope her story will help save others in the future.

justamessymedic wrote

  she didn't have even basic survival equipment for spending a night on the mountain.  

Wow, just wow

justamessymedic wrote

 . The whole thing is very sad.  One can only hope her story will help save others in the future.

Agree 100%

I spent a winter's night at the observatory with a bunch of meteorologist.. It's totally insane..They are countless stories of climbers who underestimate the Presidentials..

I have also climbed the mountain in the summer and froze my ass off on top..

justamessymedic wrote

This was taken by the SAR team the next day.  A little better conditions than the previous day (but not much).  It should paint a good picture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP4u6VyrgCk

The teams went out the night before trying to locate her but couldn't clear the treeline due to weather.  Im sure none of them got much sleep that night having to turn back and knowing someone was still up there.

Really have to give it up for those S&R guys.  Going out in the dark in those kind of conditions to try to find a complete stranger is really the essence of being a human being, in the very best sense.

Petronio

justamessymedic wrote

Unfortunately, she didn't have even basic survival equipment for spending a night on the mountain.

Where did you read that? None of the articles I found said that and I wouldn't trust them if they did. I seriously doubt she went without a bivey sack which weighs less than a pound, that and a snow cave will keep you alive. Anyone skilled in mountaineering would not travel in the winter without one. If she didn't, then given her experience, you could consider her an idiot.

Medic has a few pieces of info that make me wonder where exactly he is a medic......seems pretty familiar with the area.