Recent Discussion of 1982 S&R Mission/Albert Dow

[Raven]

Recent Discussion of 1982 S&R Event and death of Albert Dow.

https://themoth.org/radio-hour/live-from-portsmouth

https://www.mountwashingtonavalanchecenter.org/the-costs-of-rescue/

Edit:

Detailed description of avalanche and analysis from the American Alpine Journal by Joe Gill and Jed Williamson:

http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13198304700/Avalanche-New-Hampshire-Mount-Washington

NYT Article from 1982:

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/02/us/death-on-mount-washington-price-of-a-rescue-is-debated.html?pagewanted=2

 

[JustJoe]

Can't seem to get any of those links to work. Not sure which end it's on.

 

[Raven]

That's on my end; they should work now.

 

[Billy]

I might be missing something simple, but...
- the first link wouldn't let me read it unless I gave money.
- the second link had a really cool photo, but no meat, just basically pointed the reader toward your first link.

 

[JoshandBaron]

I might be missing something simple, but...
- the first link wouldn't let me read it unless I gave money.
- the second link had a really cool photo, but no meat, just basically pointed the reader toward your first link.

There's nothing to read, it's an audio piece.

 

[Lost Dad]

I am quite familiar with the whole story from perspective of the lost climbers. It was very interesting to listen to the story from the POV of one of the rescuers. I commend Joe Lentini for his willingness to share his perspective; so many years later, I am sure that it is still difficult. The moth story is a worthy listen.

 

[Kimball]

This is The Moth MP3 file for download, from themoth.org/radio-hour/live-from-portsmouth. The Joe Lentini talk starts at 18:00.

 

[Raven]

I am quite familiar with the whole story from perspective of the lost climbers. It was very interesting to listen to the story from the POV of one of the rescuers. I commend Joe Lentini for his willingness to share his perspective; so many years later, I am sure that it is still difficult. The moth story is a worthy listen.

This is getting to be a fairly dated event at this point and I wonder how many are no longer familiar with this story.

I was not in NH then and young but from what I understand of this, I'm not sure there's been an event that shook the foundation of the NH S&R and climbing community much more than this one, not to take away from other situations of course. I know one of the guys that was there but we've never spoken about it.

Edit: I posted links to a good description of the avalanche and an analysis from the AAJ as well as a NYT article from a few years later looking at a question still being answered today.

 

[jfb]

A bit more info about the location of the avalanche: http://publications.americanalpinec...ew-Hampshire-Mount-Washington-Lion-Head-Trail

 

[RichS]

This was a powerful listen. The Moth did not disappoint.

"Hugh" went on to become an accomplished engineer and CEO of a company that makes electronic prostheses, which he uses himself. I saw him a few years ago at a keynote speech for Boy Scouts pursuing STEM merit badges. It was all about science and engineering and pursuing dreams. The "incident" was not germane to his talk. His wife was a frequent contributor on this forum years ago.

Life is complex and takes bizarre turns. I was pleased to learn that Joe came to know Hugh as someone beyond "that stupid guy". Albert Dow's community of friends was terribly affected by this hard lesson on human nature. In the end, the lesson is what remains.

 

[JustJoe]

This is getting to be a fairly dated event at this point and I wonder how many are no longer familiar with this story.

It is not dated to me and think of it every time I here about a SAR call out for someone (mainly in winter do to conditions) to look for / rescue a person or persons who've gotten into trouble do to very, very bad decisions. Because they don't realize their selfishness is putting others in danger.

 

[Raven]

It is not dated to me and think of it every time I here about a SAR call out for someone (mainly in winter do to conditions) to look for / rescue a person or persons who've gotten into trouble do to very, very bad decisions. Because they don't realize their selfishness is putting others in danger.

And I've heard enough about it over the years to not forget it even though I was 11 at the time of the incident. I imagine there are plenty of people reading VFTT that are not even aware this occurred. With 40 years passing, retelling an old story hopefully will open some eyes. The Kate Matrosova story has overshadowed much in the past few years. Fortunately, no rescuers lost their lives on that one.

 

[hikerbrian]

This is all new to me. I was 2 when it happened and was not (until now) familiar with the story. This actually changes (or maybe amplifies) my perspective considerably about putting yourself and others in danger when requiring rescue. Thanks for posting.

 

[sierra]

And I've heard enough about it over the years to not forget it even though I was 7 at the time of the incident. I imagine there are plenty of people reading VFTT that are not even aware this occurred. With 40 years passing, retelling an old story hopefully will open some eyes. The Kate Matrosova story has overshadowed much in the past few years. Fortunately, no rescuers lost their lives on that one.

The loss of Albert Dow had a direct impact on SAR protocol. They now evaluate the safety of the team going into a rescue. back then, it was more gung ho. I was just starting my hiking career at 14yrs old and it was talked about for a few years after. I actually saw Hugh Herr climbing a few times at Cathedral Ledge with his prosthetic legs. He was strong. Put up a route called " Stage fright 5.12x" I believe.

 

[Snowflea]

This happened in 1982, not 1978. I was a kid but remember hearing about it.

For those interested, Alison Osius wrote an excellent book, ‘Second Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr.’

 

[Raven]

This happened in 1982, not 1978. I was a kid but remember hearing about it.

For those interested, Alison Osius wrote an excellent book, ‘Second Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr.’

Thanks for pointing out the mistake in the year. I'll fix that. Maybe an admin can be so kind as to change the date in the title to 1982 so it's accurate.

 

[ChrisB]

The loss of Albert Dow had a direct impact on SAR...

What I recall about this accident was being shocked about where the avalanche occurred: BELOW treeline on Lion's Head trail! What??

We all knew enough to be cautious in the steep gullies of Huntington and Tuckerman, but Lion's Head? No way.

How little we knew and how lucky we were in those youthful days...

cb

 

[jfb]

What I recall about this accident was being shocked about where the avalanche occurred: BELOW treeline on Lion's Head trail! What??

We all knew enough to be cautious in the steep gullies of Huntington and Tuckerman, but Lion's Head? No way.

How little we knew and how lucky we were in those youthful days...

cb

I remember one time seeing so much fresh snow at the top of the old winter trail, three of us chose a different way down.

 

[egilbe]

Would Hugh Herr gone into the study and research of bionics without his accident? Lentini does a very good job telling his story and why he is not so quick to judge those he has to rescue. It's a lesson I could learn.

 

[Mike P.]

As Rich S mentioned., Hugh's wife was a regular contributor here and if you've been here for any length of time, you likely have corresponded with her. She never mentioned who she was married to and the family was out a lot in the wilderness. You may have crossed paths with her, I did. I don't blame her for keeping things quiet as, on a whole, over the 20 or so years that this board or AMC's board back in the day was up, the group can seem to be very opinionated at times. (I've been the rant guy on occasion too)

If I was to guess, which SAR trips or recoveries have caused nearly as much angst, initially, as this one, I'd guess the NH State Employee who died near South Twin in brutally cold weather as he was one of them & worked at Monadnock and the Derek Tinkham Jeremy Haas incident covered in "Not Without Peril" again brutal weather but comments made by the survivor on what gear they should might have brought Vs. remorse about his friend was hard for them to hear.

With the increase of hikers these days in Facebook and meet up groups where a wide range of experience levels are involved and you don't really have a trip leader but an activity planner, I suspect we are overdue for more SAR's. I'd guess that in many cases they would call from rescue too soon instead of too late though.

Kate's case reminded me of the Dr. Dahl rescue on Washington several autumns ago. He did survive. IMO they both had climbed some of the world's seven summits with guides and made serious judgment mistakes on continuing up in brutal weather. When one hikes with a guide, the guide makes the most important decisions. If a guide gets you up Denali or Kilimanjaro, you are a mountaineering athlete and have great stamina and determination. You also know how to listen to the guide who made the decision to stay in camp when the weather was bad or when to turn around. The guide's expertise and knowledge did not transfer to all the clients after sharing the same summit.