We can all learn from the NH tragedy

[timetohike]

By now I'm sure you have all heard or read about the hiker who died in NH the other day.

NH Fish and Game officials stated the two hikers "were equipped only for a day hike and did not have adequate winter gear for a night in the severe weather conditions on the mountain. They did not have snowshoes, which officials said were a prerequisite for navigating the snowy conditions on the trails."

Reading that statement affirms my position that I will not refer to my smaller pack as a "day pack" because there really is no such thing in my opinion. I pack less in it but never so little that I could not survive an unexpected night in the woods.

It also made me wonder how many lives the DEC rangers may have saved over the last few years by ticketing and sending back to the Loj hikers caught on the trails without snowshoes. Everyone of them who becomes aware of the NH story should write a thank you note to the ranger who gave them the ticket.

[pico23]

I'm personally anti judgment on peoples mistakes. Having made one I thought I was too smart, to prepared to make, i know sometimes you just make decisions that if you had a split second to remake, you'd do otherwise.

That said, I usually emphasize that no hike or climb should be taken for granted as an easy day in the mountains. Gravity and weather, will kill you if you are unprepared, or sometimes just unlucky.

People do tend to take these little northeastern hills for granted though. but a fall is a fall, -30F is -30F, 0 visibility is 0 visibility, avalanches are avalanches.

As far as snowshoes, I can attest there was at least 1 trip where against my better judgment I left the snowshoes, we ended up having to descend into a gully on the leeward side of a mountain and the snow was thigh deep despite being almost non existent on the way up.

We bivied and then the next day had to hike back out. I dissented amongst the group that I wanted to go back over the summit because I lacked snowshoes (but had crampons), and new the conditions going back but not ahead. Unfortunately because the groups gear was not homogenous we argued about where we would go as a group.

Snowshoes, IMO, are essential to winter travel, even when not needed, you never know 100% what upcoming conditions are, and moreso on overnight trips. Sometimes we all forget that though when there is bare rock at the base of the mountain we are ascending.

[RTSpoons]

Lessons

It is hard to draw lessons for such an incident. I would guess most winter hikers with experience would have snowshoes, shell, fleece, extra food, water, etc.

I read the news articles and it sounds like these two guys were simple careless or did not have a clue. So how do you draw lessons.

Sorry that someone had to die and the other guy is not in great shape but hiking in winter in the mountains is not a summer walk up Marcy in tennis shoes.

[pico23]

It is hard to draw lessons for such an incident. I would guess most winter hikers with experience would have snowshoes, shell, fleece, extra food, water, etc.

I read the news articles and it sounds like these two guys were simple careless or did not have a clue. So how do you draw lessons.

Sorry that someone had to die and the other guy is not in great shape but hiking in winter in the mountains is not a summer walk up Marcy in tennis shoes.

Actually it seems like they were experienced hikers from the post that there friends gave in their defense on one of the newspaper sites. One guy had been hiking for 20+ years (maybe all in the summer but it sounded otherwise).

Problem is, and a friend who is planning the presi traverse just confirmed this, while we in the Daks at lower elevations were complaining of a lack of snow, in the Presi/Whites the ridge lines are seeing above average snow levels.

So while in a typical winter you might not even need snowshoes but rather crampons on the ridge lines, I'm hearing reports of waist deep snow.

I think you can always learn a lesson from others mistakes, what you do with that lesson is up to you. Most people call it stupid and say it will never happen to them, those are the people I worry about! I know though just about everyone has done something (at least 1X) that was stupid, that could have gotten them into trouble, and perhaps didn't, that is where the luck comes into play.

[timetohike]

I know though just about everyone has done something (at least 1X) that was stupid, that could have gotten them into trouble, and perhaps didn't, that is where the luck comes into play.

You are right about that. Incidents like the most recent tragedy remind me of all the stupid chances I've taken over the last 35 years of winter climbing and convince me to never take them again.

[RobertRogers]

I agree. I've learned to always plan on spending a night outdoors even on just a dayhike. Things happen, one can never forsee - injury, gear breakdown, wrong turn, even lost.

Also, know when it is time to turn back. Once you hit total exhaustion it could be too late.

[colden46]

I think you can always learn a lesson from others mistakes, what you do with that lesson is up to you. Most people call it stupid and say it will never happen to them, those are the people I worry about! I know though just about everyone has done something (at least 1X) that was stupid, that could have gotten them into trouble, and perhaps didn't, that is where the luck comes into play.

Sure, I've made mistakes, and I've done some stupid things that could have killed me. And actually, leaving snowshoes at home when I should have had them was one of the mistakes I've made -- there was no snow at the trailhead, but there was at high elevation. But the difference was, when I got to deep snow I realized it was a mistake, and I turned around. I didn't keep postholing away until I was so exhausted I couldn't make it out, or until it got dark and I had to spend the night.

Honestly, being caught out in conditions that were unexpected and that you were unprepared for is one thing. For instance, a big snowstorm caught you on the summit, created a whiteout, and you got lost and died. There are lessons to be learned there. It's another matter entirely to knowingly enter into conditions that you are unprepared for, especially when you enter those conditions the very moment you step out of your car.

For example, drive up through the Adirondacks today and in some spots the snowbanks are more than head-high (that is, if they haven't been knocked down -- yesterday we passed a grader pushing back the banks on Rt 8 near Piseco). Anyone driving to a trailhead past head-high snowbanks and thinking "nope, I won't need snowshoes today" is ... well I don't even have words to describe it.

[Justin]

This is something a little different, but I think one can learn from a mistake I made this weekend.

I always try to be very careful while on top of frozen water. Whether it's walking, snowshoeing, skiing, ice fishing, or sledding. Especially if it's a marshy or beaver meadow area. Typically I won't even go on ice if I'm alone.

Well, I went through this weekend on a weak section of ice while snowshoeing near the head of a meadow. I went through up to my waist, and it was a little scary because it was about 10 degrees out and I was soaked.
Ironically enough, it happened right next to shore when I was headed back to land to start a bushwhack course parallel to the inlet brook.

It was just a day trip, and luckily I had an extra pair of long johns. However, the one and only time I forget to throw an extra pair of heavy wool socks in my pack is the time I REALLY needed them. Doesn't it always work that way?
I decided to take an hour break, and get a small stick fire going to dry out my socks and boots as much as I could.
I was able to get pretty dry and continue on with the hike, and it turned out to be a great day.

So, lessons learned:
1. Be very careful while on ice, especially in marshy areas.
2. Always make sure you have extra clothes, even on a day trip.
3. NEVER forget your extra wool socks.

Here's the hole where I went through:

[Simon1]

well said colden

Anyone driving to the trailhead past these snow banks ought to second guess their gear choices. Winter is upon us and it is certainly more challenging to be out in the woods during the cold season. We've all had challenging times in the woods but as Colden pointed out it is the choices we make when confronted by situations that ultimately decide whether we make it out alive or not. I hadn't heard about the hikers in NH before this thread so I cannot comment on their situation but it is certainly unfortunate that someone died.

[timetohike]

Due to an interest in law enforcement I just finished reading about the death this weekend of a 51-year old NYS corrections officer who went looking for his dog near his home, which was on the banks of a small river in Buffalo, NY. When he did not return freinds, family, and fellow law enforcement officers went looking for him.

Following foot prints and dog tracks they came upon a clump of fur under the ice and extracted the body of the dog and were able to trace it to the corrections officer. Shortly there after they found his body under the ice aslo.

This tragedy is also a reminder that crossing streams and rivers even in mid winter can be dangerous. Granted, an urban low land river is more likely to have thin ice, but all water crossing should be treated with caution, especially in early fall and spring.

[fingerlakeshiker]

It is especially dangerous to be on ice while alone.

[redhawk]

It is especially dangerous to be on ice while alone.

The "Rule of Three" is suggested whenever winter camping, regardless of whether on ice, or snow.

That allows one person to stay with the distressed or injured party while the other goes for help.

[twochordcool]

I always try to be very careful while on top of frozen water. Whether it's walking, snowshoeing, skiing, ice fishing, or sledding. Especially if it's a marshy or beaver meadow area. Typically I won't even go on ice if I'm alone.

Well, I went through this weekend on a weak section of ice while snowshoeing near the head of a meadow. I went through up to my waist, and it was a little scary because it was about 10 degrees out and I was soaked

Yeah, those marshy / muddy / meadow areas scare the @#$% out of me - I went through the ice up to my torso in a meadow area back in late November and my friend went through what apparently was the marshy area of a pond up to his torso in the dead of winter last year.

The scary thing is with lots of snow cover it's hard to tell what is safe and what isn't -

so when you are out in the middle of a perfectly safe frozen lake you always have that horrible thought in the back of your mind.

The hike we did this past weekend was MUCH easier to just walk across the lake, in an area where the "trail" was broken. The safer alternative was an exhausting hike around the lake where the trail was NOT broken.

And getting water from a stream while standing on packed snow right above that stream is a little ridiculous too - but sometimes it's unavoidable when it's the only water source available?

Be careful people and take control of the things you have control of - have all the gear you need and plenty of extras of the things that you REALLY need.

I bring a RIDICULOUS amount of extra socks, hats and gloves - I figure if you can keep your extremities warm and from getting frost bitten you will be comfortable enough and survive...

but then my friend made me realize that I was not very smart after all because all of those things weren't in waterproof stuff sacks - if I went in with my pack (and I had my pack with me most of the time) a lot of good wet gloves, socks, and hats would have done me.

We all need to try to think about what could happen and how you would like to be prepared if it did happen.

Camping in winter can be beautiful but the risks do go up obviously - don't take chances and be as prepared as possible.

[ellsaf]

A bit off the post here but this whole thread reminds me of a very good book I just read called "The Last Season" by Eric Blehm about a 30 yr veteran backcountry ranger in the Sierra's who mysteriously disappeared and yrs later some of his clothing and bones were found. It was determined he must have walked onto a bridge of snow fallen through it and a sheath of ice to a small brook below. It was to shallow to drown but he must have gotten wedge in the ice and could not move to get himself out.