Accident report worth reading (Ice Axe Usage)

[TomD]

I make no claims of being an expert, but reading the original post, all I could think was "what the hell were these guys thinking?" Steep icy ravine, in the dark, crampons, no ice axe in hand. I'd say based on the story, the guy who fell was pretty lucky-with just crampons on and no way to self-arrest, he could have cartwheeled down the hill and really gotten hurt.

A couple of winters ago, we had about six fatalities in the local mountains east of LA (as in California-they get snow and ice believe it or not) where hikers slipped and fell off trails. A couple of them just disappeared while out solo hiking. A fall is presumed in those cases. No crampons or ice axe was a common element of these accidents, if I remember right.

I took a basic mountaineering class years ago. We spent a fair amount of time practising self-arrest by falling down in different positions and stopping ourselves as well as setting up various belays on steep slopes. It's not hard to learn, but it did take practice. I don't see why people would take the risk without the right tools and the skill to use them.

 

[Grayjay]

Sometimes there are accidents on Mount Washington that involve those who have some experience climbing, but little familiarity with the terrain.
For example, the accident in the 80's that involved Hugh Herr, and resulted in the death of a guide. In that fiasco, they topped out of Huntington Ravine and got lost in the Great Gulf.
This time, they went up Central Gully, which takes some experience with ice axe and crampons. Heading down the headwall in the dark with no ice axe out, is a sure sign of terrain ignorance. All they had to do beforehand, was look at a picture of the mountain!
Let's hope that many can learn from this accident.

 

[DougPaul]

This time, they went up Central Gully, which takes some experience with ice axe and crampons. Heading down the headwall in the dark with no ice axe out, is a sure sign of terrain ignorance.

Actually, Central Gully can be pretty easy and is often used as a beginner's route. The fact that they went up Central doesn't tell us much about their experience. As one approaches the edge of Tucks, it may gradually get steeper (depending on where one approaches). This kind of terrain can suck one onward until one suddenly realizes that he doesn't have the proper gear out. (This is where you have to think ahead to get the gear out before you need it. Clearly, they didn't--this lack of forethought suggests that their experience/competence was limited.)

There are also all sorts of things that we don't know. For instance, did they have a report to the effect that there was a nice easy boot-track down their intended route? Judging the actions of others based on inadequate information is fraught with inaccuracy...

Doug

 

[giggy]

I was actually just posting this to offer another point of view - not actually having anything to do with this accident or this person - (stuff happens) - just the theme in general.

This is a combo hike/climb (hiking being the more dominant) site and my point was - its all terrain specific and size doesn't fit all. some trails can turn technical or semi-technical under the right conditions. I don't buy too much into this army of lunatics waving ice axes around that don't know how to use them creating mass killings...

esp now since the snow and ice will likely linger in more amounts than typical years, thought it was worth pointing out - albeit, it maybe been in my artsy subliminal sort of way.

now shut up and enjoy the ozzy

 

[bubba]

I was actually just posting this to offer another point of view - not actually having anything to do with this accident or this person -

now shut up and enjoy the ozzy[/URL]

and... all this was offered up by one sick dude, anyway!!

 

[Grayjay]

You are right that central gully is a beginner's ice climbing route, and that's what I meant. There is a bulge that requires a little bit of that. You are also right about the inviting slope leading down into Tuck.
As peakbaggers, there seems to be an unsaid thing that you only cross terrain once, so familiarity is not that important. But Mount Washington accidents too often betray tactics that show a lack of consideration of terrain. One can't discount that it is a special place in the northeast, with some characteristics of higher mountains in the snow season.

 

[sierra]

You are right that central gully is a beginner's ice climbing route, and that's what I meant. There is a bulge that requires a little bit of that. You are also right about the inviting slope leading down into Tuck.
As peakbaggers, there seems to be an unsaid thing that you only cross terrain once, so familiarity is not that important. But Mount Washington accidents too often betray tactics that show a lack of consideration of terrain. One can't discount that it is a special place in the northeast, with some characteristics of higher mountains in the snow season.

You only cross terrain once? 20 years peakbagging and I never knew that. It is very true, Ive been on boards in the east for years and MANY MANY people have aurgued against ice axes over and over. Ive had to list routes they are needed on and accidents resulting thier lack of axes to know avail. To be honest here and this ties in with another thread currantly running, being on a web site prominently seems to be a way to gather experience, where as it used to be being in the backcountry was a way to become experienced.

 

[David Metsky]

To be honest here and this ties in with another thread currantly running, being on a web site prominently seems to be a way to gather experience, where as it used to be being in the backcountry was a way to become experienced.

No one has ever said that a website is a place to gather experience. It's a place to gather information. What you do with that is up to you.

-dave-

 

[TomD]

I agree with Dave. I have learned quite a bit here-some of which is from Dave himself-which I then used, in one case, to help me choose skis and bindings. I see nothing inherently wrong with learning from the experiences or even the mistakes of others. Why reinvent the wheel or learn the hard way each time you go out, when learning from others can make your experience so much more enjoyable?