12/29/13 Two hikers trigger an avalanche on Mount Washington... At night...

"Although many bed surfaces in our terrain are still broken up by rock cliffs, turf, and ice bulges limiting their size they are large enough to harbor unstable slabs sensitive to a human trigger. This was tested last night when 2 hikers came down from summiting Washington and traveled into “the Lip” at dark and triggered an avalanche carrying them down to the floor of the Tuckerman Ravine. They miraculously survived but sustained injuries requiring rescue during the overnight. Through history there have been a number of very lucky people in the world, they are now 2 more of them. More information will be posted in our accidents page later today. Variability in our snowpack stability is still substantial."

I wonder if they were lost or actually expected to hike down something that looked like this:

Attachment 147448

If 100 people fall down that, how many live?

http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/2-r...z/-/index.html

Avalanche happened at 8pm. Sunset was at 4ish.

I'm guessing summit fever. Never set a turn around time, got fatigued, cold, and disoriented. Thought they could descend the Tuckerman Ravine Trail (because they had done it in summer) and ran right into the dragons lair. They certainly are lucky to be alive. Bye a powerball ticket!

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ya, lucky for the them the route was all broken up with rocks, ice bulges and funnels to break up the snow as it slid.

a more detailed report comes out later I guess.

rog

yeah all those things break up bones, too. i can't believe anybody would survive a 800' ride down that shit. in the dark. i'll be interested to hear what their injuries are.

maybe because it was dark and they didn't fight the fall, it could have possibly saved their lives.
b

A new chapter for "not without peril" every few months up there it seems - some ride in the dark, and they are lucky someone knew it happened before morning.

Jesus christ... must have been like plinko coming down that... still plenty of ice and rock exposed up there.

Echoing LDogs - always have a turn around time and multiple escape plans / routes. They should have followed the 6 Ps

Proper
Planning
Prevents
Piss
Poor
Performance

Altho risky and dangerous all of us make the decision to go out there knowing the risks associated with our sport and we all have had a little luck on our side at times.

Glad they are ok.

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wow. i generally try to err on the side of objectivity, but that is straight up retarded. downclimbing the lip early season- during the day? maybe. downclimbing it at night? youve got to be shitting me. Thats a Darwin award to say the least. fuck.

The only thing that makes any sense is that they thought they were going down Lions Head and went down the lip. Visibility was nill at the summit with freezing fog, blowing snow, and 60mph winds at 8pm.

800 feet is a long time to wait for death. i wonder if they figured out where they were mid-fall. that would be one crazy ass ride especially if the conditions were as bad as that.

It was 800', but on a 45-50 degree mixed slope. The rocks prob beat them up good, but also slowed it down as well - and as rog mentioned the thin cover prob kept them from being fully buried, maybe just enough snow to lift them up and take them on the ride they won't want a ticket for again. Really curious if they initiated the rescue with a call or text...who would have seen that at 8pm?

We'll never evolve at this rate of survival success. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NoPostholio

Really curious if they initiated the rescue with a call or text...who would have seen that at 8pm?

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it's a long shot, but maybe their headlamps were spotted by the hojos caretaker as they descended. especially if the hikers had logged in at pnvc and weren't back when expected and loved ones called to inquire?

a few years ago a guy was downclimbing at night and his headlamp was spotted from hojos as the guy fell hundreds of feet to his death to the ravine floor. imagine seeing a headlamp slowly making it's way down and all of a sudden it just drops like a rock for hundreds of feet?:eek:

rog

This was taken today. Shared on FB by IME. Not a ride I would want to take. Lucky indeed. Yikes.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pzqd1rjpt9...1287807316.jpg

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thats true - the boys have a room with a view right close and would prob be able to hear yelling from there.

Ouch! I can’t believe they didn’t get seriously injured.

This is quite the story. Lots of luck in the backcountry these days. Glad they’re OK.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lynchdogger

This was taken today. Shared on FB by IME. Not a ride I would want to take. Lucky indeed. Yikes.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pzqd1rjpt9...1287807316.jpg

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/pzqd1rjpt9...1287807316.jpg

we..........need...........snow...........

rog

Would hate to get tossed around in something like that at night. or, really any time for that matter.

I wonder if they were wearing sneakers and jeans... As someone who has been up there a ton over the last five years and who has assisted on several rescue efforts, it still shocks me how unprepared some people are. On the weekends you see all sorts of people up there in casual clothing with their school bags headed to the top like its some simple feat. I hope that's not the case because all of us who are responsible have always feared closures and regulation due to incidents like this. I'm not sure how to stop the problem when the aura of Mt. Washington and tuckermans is so strong. Seems like everyone wants to head up and thinks they can these days.

Sad story and glad they are ok. Huge props to the rescuers.

was up there today. weather was brutal, but 14" of new meant the 2k vert from hojos down skied exceptional. only had a few hours so I did it twice:)

anyway, word on the street is that it was actually a party of 4, 2 of the party were slower than the other 2, so the 2 (that took the ride) were heading down as the slower 2 were heading up as they too wanted to "nab" the summit. as the 2 slower hikers were descending they got to where they noticed the crown and it was still light enough out 4:30 ish pm that they caught a glimpse of the 2 faster hikers laying down injured at the ravine floor. so the 2 slower hikers made sure they were alive and hiked down to hojos to alert SAR. was a long night I guess:(.

today wasn't even that cold, but cold/windy enough where descending climbers were wearing face masks and gogs............well below treeline and it was sunny bluebird out:eek:

my beard was all ice, but I stuck with my sunglasses:)

rogblog

bout time the slower peeps got some props -

slow is the way to go.

rog

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion...atal_avalanche

Mind boggling.

Glad they lived.

http://www.mvtimes.com/2013/12/31/oa...ne-fall-18460/

rog

Glad their ok, but seriously - ice axes with yak traks?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NoPostholio

Glad their ok, but seriously - ice axes with yak traks?

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^^^ Totally appropriate for a Lions Head summit bid in low snow conditions. Crampons would still be in my pack but make sense to me. Done it many times. Walking in crampons in low snow sucks balls and wears them quick.
However, ...
Still don't get if there plan was to ascend and descend thru the lip in tucks or did they get lost coming off the summit and thought they were on Lions Head? Did I miss this?
If there plan was Tucks up n down than yes I would agree that that set up is not sufficient.
Ironically though, not wearing crampons might have saved a broken leg or two.
Not mind boggling though. Just another weekend on the rockpile. What is mind boggling is that more people aren't hurt with all the stupid shit I have seen and still see up there.

Edit: just read Rog's link. They got lost. Bad day. Lucky boys.
3 pm summit has always been my turn around in winter up there unless a full moon or clear and calm conditions.
The alpine garden in a white out is confusing place but plenty of cairns and signage. Inexperience played a big role here. Never follow tracks. Learn some navigation skills. Lucky indeed.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by lynchdogger

Still don't get if there plan was to ascend and descend thru the lip in tucks or did they get lost coming off the summit and thought they were on Lions Head? Did I miss this?


Edit: just read Rog's link. They got lost. Bad day. Lucky boys.

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Yes. Just for clarification for any who may browse this thread and not click the links... according to what I read in the MWV paper yesterday, the party involved had intended to descend via the Lions Head trail, not through tuckerman ravine. They got caught in the dark. They got off course decending the summit cone, and then they got very, very lucky.

Many of the different press accounts are confusing and contradictory, but this first-hand account by Conor Lodge in the Boston Herald (where he previously worked as an editorial assistant) is very clear that they *deliberately* chose the TRT:

"[...] we decided to go fast and leave my brother and Richard behind. We got to the summit, and then on the way down we ran into our friends and they were going to the summit and asked for us to wait. ... But the wind was going 70 miles per hour and there was a negative 20 wind chill. We decided that we had to keep moving. (We) were not familiar with Mount Washington at all, so when we came to the split between Lion’s Head and Tuckerman Ravine, we decided to take Tuckerman Ravine because that’s where I thought we came from."

(Note that according to another account, they didn't have maps.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lynchdogger

^^^ Totally appropriate for a Lions Head summit bid in low snow conditions. Crampons would still be in my pack but make sense to me.

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I can't agree with totally appropriate, but acceptable to have yak traks in case you want them for some of the climb - agree. But climbing down TRT at night I would think the cramps would be mandatory gear. These guys got a hard lesson that MTW is full on winter mountaineering and equipment should reflect that. I really think the avy part might have saved them - maybe gave them just enough cushion to limit the damage and not enough to bury? What if it was a bit more snow and both were buried and unable to self extract? Just guessing but assuming no beacons. Another amazing story of the "peril" peeps can find themselves in up there in any season but esp winter.