Vitaliy M. wrote:. . .
Crossing a glacier roped to one-two other competent partners never been controversial- it is a norm.
Norm for many but not all.
Vitaliy M. wrote:. Would for sure help you if you broke/severely injured yourself in this fall. Even if they did not get you out (even though competent partners should have no problem with that) they would be able to get help...
I've never needed help in the mountains (you never know what might happened in the future though), on the contrary, was helping others to get out of sh… and once on the safe ground some just ran away without any concern if I was still OK. So there is no guarantee.
Vitaliy M. wrote:. To be honest, when I first saw your posts on the Bay Area Mountaineering group looking for partners to climb Shasta/Whitney in a storms I was a bit shocked.
Sorry to scare you. I’ll avoid posts like this (or any) in the future.
Vitaliy M. wrote:Even though Shasta and Whitney are CA 14ers, they still kill multiple people every year.
I'm not new to mountaineering and heard/read that many times, but thanks.
Vitaliy M. wrote:As climbers we should be READY to deal with situations, but we should NOT put ourselves in these dangerous situations on purpose.
How can you be READY if you don't practice in such or similar situations? In which many people die because they thought they were READY. Do you know the purpose of drills?
Diggler wrote:The repeated lapses in judgment demonstrated here are extraordinary. While the entire incident is exceptional, perhaps the thing that's most exceptional is that it seems quite possible, from the self-analyses expressed in the story, that nothing was learned... If anything, I think that some things deserve scrutiny, so that other inexperienced glacier travelers don't fall into the same hole (pun intended).
A good idea.
Diggler wrote:At first I was shocked of why it happened because in my mind I did everything correct and it seemed to be easy and feasible to do.
The fact that this happened in the first place might be a good place to start self-analyzing whether or not the whole self-glacier crossing without a partner/walking over "questionable" snow bridges thing is a good idea or not- a lot of people might conclude that it was NOT a good idea upon falling into a crevasse.
a lot but not all.
Just to summarize the rest:
"Climb Safe" has different perspective for different people. It simly means don't get hurt. There are many people who climb solo and do really crazy and very, very "unsafe" things. I'm not even close to that. For me "Climb Safe" is doing whatever one might be comfortable doing without getting in accident or being rescued. Luck is the last thing I count on in the mountains. "Expect the worst and hope for the best," some people say. I say expect the worst so you would not be surprised, anticipate being ready for the right move if something happens. Do not panic if you are in trouble. Look around and think, there IS ALWAYS a solution; unless, you are dead or under avalanche, for instance. That is my point, never ever give up. You can't think negatively because you may die. You have to fight. And this is my primary message.
My mistake was "not to anticipate" and I am analyzing that factor how it was possible and programming my brain not to happen again. The rest of the experience is, again, a fight for my life. But fight, not praying for mercy or SAR.
As of climbing style, some people like to go with partners, some only with the professional guides, some other solo, and still some other solo and in solitude. But to belong to the last group you've better have a lot of experience (not just skills) and as Roper said, know what you are doing. And what I call experience are among things that Vitaliy avoids. Rope may sometimes become a death trap (e.g. Mt Hood 10 years ago). But if you are not a solo climber you will never understand that for the same purpose as many don't understand mountaineering at all. Fortunately, we live in democracy and everyone has right to be dissatisfied.
Thank you for reading and taking time to analyze my story. People will make mistakes but the important is what they do after. Will they be able to recover or just wait to die or for SAR to come?