On Wednesday, ten of us had a great time climbing Mt. Baldy. On the way down, we came upon a climber who had just tumbled down the bowl. Though she was seriously injured, she is recovering. Here is my trip report.

Another good read. Sorry to hear about your dad 10 years back.

Was the slope just so unconsolidated, that Natalie started her own "slough"?

We came across a broken crampon in the bowl yesterday. The teeth on it were really short; it wouldn't take much snow buildup to lose traction. Couldn't tell what brand they were; something made in Korea.

I know Natalie.
She is a great kid, budding rock climber/alpinist.
I visited her at the hospital last night. She is doing fine, and is expected to be released today.
She said that a really strong gust of wind knocked her off balance. She lost her axe in the fall.
Sam, thanks for your help in the rescue.

Good to hear she'll be fine!

On Tuesday the 23rd, one day before Sara's experience, I caught a ride down to the Village with a guy who was a little wrecked. He had just had the same thing happen but the outcome was very different. After sliding the entire way down the Bowl when he lost his footing (using hiking poles, axe on his pack) he was lucky just to have a very sore hamstring from contact with one of the rocks. It makes me consider my winter outings in the area a bit more carefully after many years of travel on foot up, over, and around Baldy.

We often tend to forget about it but Baldy can be quite dangerous in winter.

Several hikers have lost their lives on Baldy, two have never been found. But an excellent mountain to practice winter skills on after local storms. I remember combing just about every sq in of Baldy with a group looking for a young mans body in 2004, still missing.

outdoorabstract wrote:On Tuesday the 23rd, one day before Sara's experience, I caught a ride down to the Village with a guy who was a little wrecked. He had just had the same thing happen but the outcome was very different. After sliding the entire way down the Bowl when he lost his footing (using hiking poles, axe on his pack) he was lucky just to have a very sore hamstring from contact with one of the rocks. It makes me consider my winter outings in the area a bit more carefully after many years of travel on foot up, over, and around Baldy.

I wish more people would use their axe if they have it with them.
I know someone who died on Baldy. He slipped, and fell with his axe on his pack. He crashed into a tree, and it was over.

Thanks for the kind words about my trip report.

I heard there was also a rescue in Baldy Bowl last Saturday.

Sam Page wrote:Thanks for the kind words about my trip report.

I heard there was also a rescue in Baldy Bowl last Saturday.

It hasn't been very warm lately. I'd say the snow is more icy than usual, making it much harder to correct any mistakes.

Luciano136 wrote:It hasn't been very warm lately. I'd say the snow is more icy than usual, making it much harder to correct any mistakes.

I was looking at some of the pics and video from that day. People posted a bunch on the end of this thread. One thing that is evident is how windy it was that day. When Baldy gets windy I have seen the snow all over the mountain turn from spring corn to a sheet of ice within 15 minutes. Apparently she was knocked off her feet in a gust of wind and with such a slick snow surface she gained speed pretty quickly.

ridgeline wrote:Several hikers have lost their lives on Baldy, two have never been found. But an excellent mountain to practice winter skills on after local storms. I remember combing just about every sq in of Baldy with a group looking for a young mans body in 2004, still missing.

If you're referring to Eugene, I helped in that search, too. Pretty sobering to realize that a person can just disappear that close to civilization. When you're looking for someone, Baldy all of a sudden seems like a very big place.

That was the guy, Eugene Lushevski, remember they found his pack and cam, we would put together scenarios of where a body would slide from that point and search that side. Or did he walk off the other side, etc. Searches went on for a couple years.

Accidents on Baldy seem to catch even experts...
http://www.traditionalmountaineering.or ... JSecor.htm