North Conway "Hiker" rescue

[peakbagger]

Sounds to me that its was climber rescue. Given the long days this time of year hard to think that sunset crept up on them. Perhaps they started late in the day?

https://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/two-stranded-hikers-rescued-overnight-mountain

 

[bikehikeskifish]

HALES LOCATION, NH — On Friday, June 12, shortly before 10 p.m. New Hampshire Fish and Game was notified that a rock climbing party was stuck near the top of Whitehorse Ledge and could not continue.

Poor headline? The contents clearly says "rock climbing party".

Tim

 

[NHClimber]

I have a lot of friends who start climbs late in the day. I don't know why. It's one thing to hike with a head lamp. It's entirely another thing to climb/deal with anchors and rope management in the dark by head lamp.

 

[skiguy]

Without much details it is hard to say what really happened here. But it does sound like they did a few things wrong. Sounds like poor time management to begin with. Also sounds like they were doing a route that did not top out at the hiker's trail that leads to the bottom. Or they just simply could not continue to the top to reach the hikers decent .Then necessitating a rappel to return to the bottom. Which they could not perform either. Otherwise they may have had a chance of self extricating. Interesting that they both dropped their headlamps. Also that their torches were not tethered. Climbing in the dark is not all that uncommon but is usually done more often on Big Walls or on a smaller crag like Whitehorse as a training effort. But when you drop your headlamp that could be a moot effort. Good thing they didn't drop their Cell Phone though. Twenty years ago they would have been hanging in their harnesses until dawn. Making a lot of assumptions here. Hopefully more detailed info comes in. Summer is here. Let the fun begin!

 

[sierra]

These rescues are really getting lame. I mean its Whitehorse ledge not the Eiger. Plan ahead and have the skillset to self rescue. You can rappel down Whitehorse even if you cant climb up. Its riddled with fixed anchors. I sincerely hope they get a bill.

 

[skiguy]

These rescues are really getting lame. I mean its Whitehorse ledge not the Eiger. Plan ahead and have the skillset to self rescue. You can rappel down Whitehorse even if you cant climb up. Its riddled with fixed anchors. I sincerely hope they get a bill.

LOL! Or they could have just left them up there for the night. The Black flies and mosquitos would have taken care of them.

 

[Mike P.]

In the ADK on Friday evening it got down into the 30's, if NH was similar, there were no mosquitos. For the MRS team, it was a likely routine rescue and a good plug for them.

 

[skiguy]

Sounds to me that its was climber rescue. Given the long days this time of year hard to think that sunset crept up on them. Perhaps they started late in the day?

https://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/two-stranded-hikers-rescued-overnight-mountain

In the ADK on Friday evening it got down into the 30's, if NH was similar, there were no mosquitos. For the MRS team, it was a likely routine rescue and a good plug for them.

I’m not that concrete. It was just a joke about the bugs. I disagree if you think they MRS are plugging. I am personal friends with many MRS Members and have been for 40 years. Believe me when I say given the times the last thing they want to do is go out on a rescue.

 

[NHClimber]

There is no excuse for getting stuck on any local crags in NH in the dark other than perhaps Cannon (even then, it would take work given the typical maybe 6-7 pitches of the routes and, as noted above, the opportunities to rap off fixed gear or placed gear). And dropping both headlamps is lame. People should not climb in the dark or have to rap in the dark unless experienced and planned.

 

[ChrisB]

Sounds to me that its was climber rescue. Given the long days this time of year hard to think that sunset crept up on them. Perhaps they started late in the day?

https://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/two-stranded-hikers-rescued-overnight-mountain

Interesting that MSR went 800(?) feet up rather than down from the top. I wonder what route.

These guys do not appear to be highly-skilled hard-core dirt bags.

 

[Mike P.]

I’m not that concrete. It was just a joke about the bugs. I disagree if you think they MRS are plugging. I am personal friends with many MRS Members and have been for 40 years. Believe me when I say given the times the last thing they want to do is go out on a rescue.

I meant the story , as brief as it was sounded like a nice write up for them, no questions asked, they didn't comment, they just answered the call and made the rescue. I suspect for them, a night time rescue on a local cliff, they likely know well, was not as difficult as what we initially think of when they put climbing and darkness together in a story.

 

[sierra]

Interesting that MSR went 800(?) feet up rather than down from the top. I wonder what route.

These guys do not appear to be highly-skilled hard-core dirt bags.

Believe it or not, it might be quicker. The trail up is not to quick especially at night. Routes like Standard rated 5.5, a skilled climber can basically walk right up it in no time. Me and my friends would climb routes like that with running belays, never stopping at all.

 

[skiguy]

These guys do not appear to be highly-skilled hard-core dirt bags.

They’ve got a long way to go. https://youtu.be/bF2c0jMXPpw

 

[skiguy]

Believe it or not, it might be quicker. The trail up is not to quick especially at night. Routes like Standard rated 5.5, a skilled climber can basically walk right up it in no time. Me and my friends would climb routes like that with running belays, never stopping at all.

I would agree. Depending what route they were on, which will be interesting to find out, descending from the top may have involved some pendulums to get to them. Probably easier to take the direct line from the bottom.

 

[skiguy]

I meant the story , as brief as it was sounded like a nice write up for them, no questions asked, they didn't comment, they just answered the call and made the rescue. I suspect for them, a night time rescue on a local cliff, they likely know well, was not as difficult as what we initially think of when they put climbing and darkness together in a story.

Hopefully it was not too much of a plug. Too much advertisement of the fact the service is available could lead to people thinking it’s just OK to get my arse in a sling because MRS is just a phone call away. Maybe I’m just being facetious but I’m with Sierra on this. I just wonder sometimes what people are thinking when they get themselves into what seems like ridiculous scenarios. Maybe hanging in a harness on the side of Whitehorse on a nice late Spring night may have given them time to contemplate their situation. Who knows come early morning light they may have rapped their way out of it or finished the climb. Hey they did it in the dark with someone showing them the way. It’s getting light by 4:30 AM this time of year anyhow. Before Cell Phones a lot more “Epic” incidents happened where folks got a good lesson in survival. Most of which were better Outdoorsman for the experience. Sometimes you just got to get spanked a bit to learn.

 

[ChrisB]

... Before Cell Phones a lot more “Epic” incidents happened where folks got a good lesson in survival. Most of which were better Outdoorsman for the experience. Sometimes you just got to get spanked a bit to learn.

True. And who climbs Whitehorse with a cell phone for cry'n out loud?

You can just yell at the hotel for help. Oh, maybe its not open yet.

 

[SherpaWill]

"They had been overcome by darkness prior to completing their climb and unfortunately dropped their headlamps" sounds a lot like they didn't bring headlamps.

 

[jfb]

Boy meets girl. Boy takes girl rock climbing. Girl freaks out. Girl calls 911. Who knows what really happened?

 

[NHClimber]

Kind of like being rescued on a free solo -- officer, I dropped my phone, harness, rope, gear...

 

[jniehof]

Boy meets girl. Boy takes girl rock climbing. Girl freaks out. Girl calls 911. Who knows what really happened?

Not commenting on this one in particular, but I've read a lot of incident reports that made me think "well, he probably didn't get a second date." (It's usually he. The ones where a lady does some asking and planning don't seem to end that way.)