http://bencrawfordlife.com/2009/12/15/f ... d-anthony/

Wed Dec 16
Search Suspended for 'Likely Dead' Mt. Hood Climbers
http://www.newser.com/story/76277/searc ... mbers.html

Here's the bottom line...

If you chose to go and climb, regardless of what and where, you best be prepared for the fact that shit can happen.

Doesn't matter how experienced one is (some of the best of the best perished this season alone. I do not have to name them), you better have your head in the game 110%.

There is no such thing as luck. Our destiny on any hill depends on our abilities, experience, awareness and the temper of the environment we chose to play in.

Any, and I mean any lapse of reasoning or abilities, what so ever, will in fact result in dire consequences.

Climbing is very dangerous and kills. Period.

So, when you head out, regardless of where and what your gig is, remember that.

This sad incident is just another grim example of that.

"The Great Spirit of any mountain should never be taken lightly. One goes into it's hands and must remember that death is a grim consequence of any lapse in reasoning. We can not go with the intentions of conquering the mountain. Rather, it is us that will always be conquered."
"342 Hours on the Grandes Jorasses"
René Desmaison after his very sad and grim incident on the Grandes Jorasses, 1971, which he lost his partner and he himself almost perished.

Thanks for the words of wisdom Chief. Were it not for your post, I'm quite certain I would have gone out and gotten myself killed tomorrow. Now how about a little respect for the fallen and missing and spare us all any further elitist lecture.

tazz wrote:Ben thank you for your beautiful article.


I am ashamed of you folks here!!! This should be a thread about 1 climber who unfortunately left us and two who we are wishing the best for. they are not newb's. they are not folks from out of the area. the are not dumb and went on a poor forecast.

they were experienced locals taking advantage of the great conditions we have had for 1.5 weeks. Just like me and many others out that same day and weekend. Just like you local CA folks and Co folks who take advantage of the BEST conditions . Hood's BEST conditions for the difficult routes...(or any ice/steep snow route) is in winter. Very cold and clear weather was upon us until the day after their planned climb, PERFECT conditions. Something happened. not weather and not planning "fail" due to weather. Obviously there was a fall with the scattered gear and poor luke. Something we may never know. Please can we have ONE thread here for the guy/climber we have lost and the two others who are missing without all the speculation and arguments and ....and...and....and....

Please people. respect...

I really want to start another thread for the climbers. This one and the other one is a sewer hole.

Glad Im not the only one that noticed. C'mon people! Put your hubris, self-interest, and irrelevent thoughts aside for a moment... These are people from our community!

Please keep in mind that it is very likely that the family members of these guys will come across this thread looking for some catharsis and meaning.

So far, they will be coming up short...

As I have said before -and I hope others will follow- my thoughts are with the family and friends of the these three climbers. I am deeply sorry for each of your losses. I am still hoping for a miracle for the missing two...

The Chief wrote:If you chose to go and climb, regardless of what and where, you best be prepared for the fact that shit can happen.... there is no such thing as luck.

I respect you for your experience, which is vastly greater than my own, but I have to respectfully disagree with you here.
A) If you were to prepare for every eventuality, you would be dragging a truckload of stuff with you for the most mild of climbs. Taking in the full scope of *everything* that can happen, it's simply not practical to prepare for it from a gear perspective. Mental preparedness will only get you so far in certain situations.
B) There absolutely is such a thing as luck. It's a bit audacious to suggest that we have some measure of control over everything that *can* happen on a mountain. The reliability of mountain weather forecats is highly dubious, yet you trust your life to meteoroligist-math every time you head out. You're actually far more likely to die in the car on the way there, not matter what your experience level. Anything at any moment can snatch the life right out of you.

Speaking hypothetically: Suppose the two missing climbers were actually the first to be injured, and the fellow that was found was forced to downclimb on his own, with predictable results. You can rope up all you like, but there is absolutely no garauntee that you won't be injured in a fall. People have been impaled by their own axes on relatively short tumbles. You can break a limb slamming against the side of a crevasse as you're safety line stops your fall.

Point: No safety preparations ever grant you 100% safety. I am a believer in the power of mountains, and absolutely believe in luck, and I've seen it go both ways.

Alpinist wrote:Thanks for the words of wisdom Chief. Were it not for your post, I'm quite certain I would have gone out and gotten myself killed tomorrow. Now how about a little respect for the fallen and missing and spare us all any further elitist lecture.

Agreed. I wonder why the Chief keeps repeating the same tired line?

Seems like most folks here only care about distinguishing themselves and their opinions anymore. Amongst all this white noise, todays quasi-final news on the missing climbers appear to go unnoticed:
"Rescuers Believe Missing Mt. Hood Climbers Are Dead, Search Is Suspended
[...]
Health experts believe there is a less than one percent chance the two missing since Friday are alive."
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7017283213

Under the bottom line, everyone here (and anywhere else for that matter) is going to continue doing things in their own way and according to their beliefs anyway, so if you think about it, the fact makes all discussions here pretty senseless. Sadly entertaining, if anything.
And the world keeps turning, people die, starve, get shot, are tortured, fight, argue, cry, laugh, love, have fun, and you can only hope the dead have had a good life before it ended.
That's about enough philosophy for today

The Chief wrote:Here's the bottom line...



Climbing is very dangerous and kills. Period.

Isn't it ONE of the reasons why we climb? If we wanted to find a safe sport we could just stick to playing chess.

I'm surprised with many posts I'm reading here in relation to this tragedy. Some of you sound more like Bill O'Reilly than climbers.

We all know about many VERY EXPERIENCED climbers who have died in the mountains. I don't see any post criticizing Todd Skinner, Dan Osman, John Bachar and others. And that's because we understand what climbing is all about and the risk involved in it.
Why can't we show some respect to these 3 fellow climbers and their families and friends, rather than posting crap? We don't even know much about the circumstances of the whole ordeal and what really took place.

Zzyzx wrote:Why can't we show some respect to these 3 fellow climbers and their families and friends, rather than posting crap?

Because some people equate the length, breadth and number of their pontifications with their degree of wisdom. This thread makes it painfully obvious that more isn't better.

I agree -- let's show some respect for the fallen and the missing.

Zzyzx wrote: Some of you sound more like Bill O'Reilly than climbers.

Zzyzx wrote:

The Chief wrote:Here's the bottom line...



Climbing is very dangerous and kills. Period.

Isn't it ONE of the reasons why we climb? If we wanted to find a safe sport we could just stick to playing chess.

I'm surprised with many posts I'm reading here in relation to this tragedy. Some of you sound more like Bill O'Reilly than climbers.

We all know about many VERY EXPERIENCED climbers who have died in the mountains. I don't see any post criticizing Todd Skinner, Dan Osman, John Bachar and others. And that's because we understand what climbing is all about and the risk involved in it.
Why can't we show some respect to these 3 fellow climbers and their families and friends, rather than posting crap? We don't even know much about the circumstances of the whole ordeal and what really took place.

kozman18 wrote:

Zzyzx wrote:Why can't we show some respect to these 3 fellow climbers and their families and friends, rather than posting crap?

Because some people equate the length, breadth and number of their pontifications with their degree of wisdom. This thread makes it painfully obvious that more isn't better.

I agree -- let's show some respect for the fallen and the missing.

Well put Zzyzx and kozman18; we would all be better off to send positve thoughts for thier safe descent.

tazz wrote:Ben thank you for your beautiful article.


I am ashamed of you folks here!!! This should be a thread about 1 climber who unfortunately left us and two who we are wishing the best for. they are not newb's.

I really want to start another thread for the climbers. This one and the other one is a sewer hole.

God bless us, everyone !


I really do hope they find the missing climbers someday.

Perhaps already posted but here's a link to a timeline that provides a few details:

http://www.kgw.com/home/related/Missing ... 18092.html

gwave47 wrote: I don't think anything I have ever attempted or will ever attempt is risky enough to need rescue, unless something just seriously goes wrong.

"...unless something just seriously goes wrong."

That's what it's all about.

Rather like not needing/never needing a rope. Until you fall.