Link:
http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=12749504

WFT?

WTF is right.

"When the first two climbers stopped to rest, they discovered Lewis had unclipped from the rope ..."




Very wierd...

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/20 ... l-park6165
No updates, but a little more info..

Vitaliy M wrote:PS: if reports are true, communication on this rope team must be very poor

Understatement of the day...

This thread freaked me out when I saw it... I have a buddy from college who just left for Mt. Rainer last week and I was worried it might be him.

It doesn't sound good for Lewis, but I hope they find him.

According to park officials, the climber in the lead, Don Storm, Jr., stopped and was joined by the second climber on the rope, Trevor Lane. As they waited for Mr. Lewis to join them, reeling in the rope, they discovered only a coil of rope with a knot, the park said. They had caught glimpses of Mr. Lewis on the rope just moments before, and immediately searched the slope below them. They proceeded to the summit ridge in case he had skirted around them. They then returned to Camp Muir, the climbing high camp at 10,200 feet, and reported the incident to climbing rangers.

HTF do you lose a partner that is tied into the rope and not more than 10-30 meters apart at best????

WTF is going on out there these days..... this is a joke right?

It does seem odd he would vanish like that.

Was this the DC route? Spooky ..

Of course this is very tragic for his family and I feel for them, but there is an aspect that is a bit hilarious about this story........with all due respect.

The other report that Lasvegaswraith posted stated that the middle man saw Lewis on the rope just "moments earlier". If indeed he unclipped like the reports state, then his judgement must have been severely impaired, possibly from the altitude.

People can and often do really odd things in the mountains for whatever reason: inexperience, poor judgment, altitude impairment, etc.

I've chided long time partners for kind of wandering off when we're, for example, doing something in the Sierra. One time, we were doing a one day ascent of BCS's North Arete, and my partner, who was hiking behind me, decided he was going to take a different route out to the car without telling me. We eventually hooked up later but only after I stopped, waited, backtracked, etc., not knowing if he had stopped, was hurt, whatever. Though an experienced climber, he seemed really puzzled why I was pissed at him.

This guy could have stopped to take a dump, adjust his harness, who knows, but it was definitely bad judgment on his part. I hope they find him alive and in one piece.

fatdad wrote:People can and often do really odd things in the mountains for whatever reason: inexperience, poor judgment, altitude impairment, etc.

I've chided long time partners for kind of wandering off when we're, for example, doing something in the Sierra. One time, we were doing a one day ascent of BCS's North Arete, and my partner, who was hiking behind me, decided he was going to take a different route out to the car without telling me. We eventually hooked up later but only after I stopped, waited, backtracked, etc., not knowing if he had stopped, was hurt, whatever. Though an experienced climber, he seemed really puzzled why I was pissed at him.

Agreed. I've had similar problems with an otherwise reliable partner who would stop to eat / drink / dump / whatever without saying a word. He would be behind me one minute and gone the next, not reappearing for 15 or 20 minutes in some cases. I finally griped about it when he did it twice in a row on the MR. Communication has been much better since then.

I hope Mr. Lewis will be found alive, but things aren't looking very positive.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/24138732/detail.html

Haven't seen anything newer...still wierd though

the guy must have unclipped from the rope to do "something" (???), right at this time it seems is when his partners decided to bring in the rope??...he must have slipped or became disoriented while looking for the rope and/or his buddies. it would be nice if this doesn't have end up having a tragic ending...

...that said i have noticed that when this stuff happens the news media blogs are filled with comments from non-climbers that seem to gloat on the misfortune of others, all the while accusing those who climb of being adrenaline-junkie-thrill-seeker types, who get what they deserve...most of us can find useful lessons of what to do or not do when this stuff happens, and while the actions of his partners need to come under scrutiny, i just hope that those on these climbing threads can resist throwing out the standard "what an idiot dumb-ass" critiques. this guy is a fellow human, and the circles of the people involved in his life no doubt are filled with anguish & grief.

This has to be one of the kookiest, strangest stories I've read in a while.
Shitty thing is that these rarely turn out good.

Is it just me or does there seem to be some kind of increase in rescues, dissapearances, injuries etc. lately? Like in the last few years. Are people being lead into a false sense of security in the mountains by the sheer number of [added] climbers/hikers reporting great times, experiences etc. only to think this same experience applies to EVERYONE?
Lack of communication, assumptions, NOT doing one's research, hell...SPOT Trackers and cell phones aren't helping either.

Hell, a lot of posts on the forums out here in Colorado, not only on SP, but on a couple other Colorado-specific websites, you see newbies all the time and some seaoned folks relying less on common sense, maps, compass and simple topo markers in lieu of GPS and advice from others they don't know (situationally dependent).
Not knowing or realizing your tail-gunner has untied from the rope seems completely preposterious to me.
Like The Chief said, this seems like someone's version of a bad joke.

Only once have I ever had a friend leave me behind. They went climbing Wetterhorn Peak (Colorado). I went up and hiked Matterhorn and Broken Hill. Agreement was they would come by and get me at treeline near the trail next to an old campsite. They never stopped. Shit, talk about a wild & uncontrolable feeling of being abandoned!
I ran most of the 4 miles back to the TH only to find them at the car waiting. I absolutely ripped into them.
Made for an uncomfortable ride home.