rockymtnclimber wrote:Chief,Much respect to you, and I'm sure there wasn't anything that could have been done for the guy, but you have to admit that the statement sounds bad. Saying "last" fatal incident makes it sound as if there's a list of them. Based on your usual input, you seem to have a lot of knowledge and experience, but based on that line, well... I wouldn't put it in an advertisement. Kris
Thanks, Kris.
This particular incident was included in Accidents in North American Mountaineering 2009.
Also, the list that I speak of is, as many that know me personally and here on SP, know that I flew as a SAR CREWMAN with the US Navy in different regions of the world including Antarctica. Thus the rest of the folks that succumbed in my presence and did not make it that I include in this list were all part of the many SAR Ops that I partook in over the years. Not guiding. Three in particular died of exposure/hypothermia and would most likely be alive today had they had a PLB. We got to them some six hours too late. Their initial location was very sketchy to say the least and it took the four different air and land resources involved in the Search Op almost 62 hours of non-stop searching to actually locate them.
My personal experiences are merely a plug for the use of a PLB on any mountianeering/climbing/backcounty adventure that would entail a SAR OP of any kind in order to get to ya if anything bad were to go array. I will indeed continue to "advertise" my personal experiences if it saves someones ass some day. That is what others experiences are for. Those that do not openly share the experiences, good or bad, in this respect, that may one day actually save another one's ass, are indeed selfish.