Hiker dies on Bondcliff Christmas Eve

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Wow, I was thinking that a solo hike to Bondcliff was a reasonable risk for solo winter hikers as the exposure is limited. Potentially adding in the extra couple of hours to go to Bond and West Bond plus the full out exposed stretch between Bond and Bondcliff with a forecast of a front coming through with high winds and low temps that is a different story. Definitely prime conditions for Hypothermia.
 
peakbagger said:
Wow, I was thinking that a solo hike to Bondcliff was a reasonable risk for solo winter hikers as the exposure is limited. Potentially adding in the extra couple of hours to go to Bond and West Bond plus the full out exposed stretch between Bond and Bondcliff with a forecast of a front coming through with high winds and low temps that is a different story. Definitely prime conditions for Hypothermia.
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I've done the Bonds/Zealand (Or Zealand/Bonds) traverse four times in winter/winter conditions and always find it less about mileage for a fit hiker(even with Zealand Rd closed) the bulk of the hiking is easy, relatively low overall elevation gain, but the open ridge between Bond and Bondcliff being the biggest trouble spot (followed by the col between Zealand and the Twinway turn that's often hard to follow if unbroken).

YMMV. Timing is everything.
 
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una_dogger said:
I've done the Bonds/Zealand (Or Zealand/Bonds) traverse four times in winter/winter conditions and always find it less about mileage for a fit hiker(even with Zealand Rd closed) the bulk of the hiking is easy, relatively low overall elevation gain, but the open ridge between Bond and Bondcliff being the biggest trouble spot (followed by the col between Zealand and the Twinway turn that's often hard to follow if unbroken).

YMMV. Timing is everything.
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Four solo winter traverses? or 4 with a group?. To me it makes a lot of difference. A group or even two folks have a better chance of making it through nasty conditions and detecting hypothermia.

I agree timing and conditions are everything. Long term VFTT folks may remember Mohammed Elozy's rather infamous unplanned out and back of the Bonds when his group had to turn around doing the Hellgate bushwhack down off of West Bond and go back up West Bond and back out the way they came.
 
Mohammed's Bonds in a Day, which ended up as a 26 hour hike. I had done some hiking with another member in that group and Mohammed may have even sugar coated it a bit. This is a sad tale & whether he was experienced or slipped & then became hyperthermic won't help his family. Bonds are one of a couple of winter trips I've not done yet.

The peaks and trails are different in winter than in summer. Not only that but each winter is different and trails change differently. Some trails change less than others. My winter trip up South Twin really wasn't much different on a navigational or condition trip than fall and Spring trips. Going back several years later for North Twin was very different though. As most of us know, once you reach the ridge, in summer, other than the couple of views, you are in trees 6-9 feet along the ridge. The day I did it, more exposed peaks weren't good choices due to weather. What I failed to take into account was by late January, several feet of now had accumulated and those 6-9 trees were knee high. The cover I was hoping for wasn't there.

As others mentioned on another thread, this weekend may shape up as a bad avalanche weekend. Meanwhile, SE CT remains an area to hike in sneakers.
 
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peakbagger said:
The deceased could have been experienced and had adequate equipment and still been caught by hypothermia. Its insidious, and can sneak up quick. Many particularly physically fit folks can keep up a good hiking pace and end up with minimal gear on as they are generating enough heat that they don't need much gear on. Once out of the woods on Bondcliff, there is zero cover, if you don't gear up in the woods in advance of breaking treeline in high winds, getting additional gear on is very difficult. In cold weather the first thing lost with hypothermia is clear thinking followed quickly by loss of control of the extremities. A hiker can have a pack full of warm gear but if they cant open the pack because they cant open the buckles, that gear is useless. I and many others carry gear in ziplock bags inside the pack. In extreme conditions (high winds and cold) I have gone from warm to unable to open a ziplock bag due to loss of dexterity in less than 5 minutes, I ended up having to tear the ziplock bag open with my teeth. Putting on a jacket in high winds and cold can be quite a challenge if not impossible and with the claimed 10 to 15 degree below temps and high winds I expect that it was just a matter of minutes before a few missed tries turns into a survival situation. I expect a driver in this situation is that the hiker was probably working on a list and had just hiked for several hours getting just short of the summit, in what was pretty good winter hiking conditions (minimal snow). I expect the temptation is to go that last 1/4 of mile to check off the summit rather than coming back another time was high. Add in mild hypothermia and its a dangerous combination.

Generally solo winter hiking introduces additional risk to an inherently risky sport, it can be managed like other winter risks. A Fish and Game official at one point made a blanket statement that solo winter hiking was inherently reckless. I don't agree I personally solo winter hike but get decidedly conservative. I know of a few times where I have had to help another hiker and have been helped by another individual when I have been unable to get gear on. One of my standard comments on what constitutes a hiking partner versus someone I am hiking with is that a hiking partner is someone who I have hiked with and we both mutually agreed to turn around short of summit.
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Excellent post.
 
3 with one other hiker, 1 with a small group. Kind hard to
spot a car solo :), but I see (and agree with) your point. FWIW I hike solo quite a bit but wouldn't do anything with that much above treeline in winter solo without a stellar forecast and on a weekend where lots of other folks are likely to also be out.
 
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A sad one. RIP.

Sounds like tough conditions for staying dry and warm. But even so, it can happen to the most experienced, well equipped, and intelligent hikers out there. In this man's case he may have turned back numerous times on other hikes when conditions were not good. We don't know of course. Sometimes it's just your time and sometimes the odds land on the wrong side of risk.

I turned back 4 times on solo winter overnight attempts at West Bond when pursuing the W48. All of them within a few miles of the summit. Fifth time was good for it. Heck, even Mount Nancy turned me back in tough conditions of rotten snow and cold rain.

I feel for his family. The shadow of this will likely be with them every Christmas.
 
I do the majority of my winter hikes solo and because of the clothing I wear and the amount of heat generated while hiking, I've never gotten to the point where I was cold. I always wear Underarmour cold gear and a Gortex jacket. Also have proper headgear at the ready depending on conditions. I've seen wind chills as low as 50 below (one hike) and was fine with that. 100 gram thinsulate gloves and hand warmers (if necessary) are always good. It's sad that this young man died on a hike. We all love our sport and I'm willing to go pretty far in the enjoyment of that sport but I'm not really willing to die for it.
 
egilbe said:
22 miles is a damn ambitious hike for Winter conditions. Sad story.
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I think that was the part that surprised me the most. I know how long of a hike that is and unless you are in excellent condition and are planning on being out there after dark, you probably shouldn't be. In those instances where I've hiked a long hike (either solo or with my daughter), I will begin in the dark if I know that the hike is going to end in the dark if I start later. I much prefer beginning in the dark while my mind and my legs are at their freshest, rather than finishing in the dark after a long hike when I'm tired and more likely to make a mistake in the dark
 
egilbe said:
It sounds to me he was an experienced Summer hiker. Winter is an entirely different beast.
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That is an absolute fact and every year, I learn something new when I'm winter hiking - even on the lower peaks like Monadnock or in Western Mass.
 
Thanks for the link Grey J. I was interested to note that the linked blogs form the person who turned around were from a VFTT member that has since passed away, Jenny Bennett
 
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