How a White Mountains trek turned into a survival test

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2014/05/23/brutal-cold-bad-luck-and-bad-decisions-turn-white-mountains-trek-into-survival-test/e11bhDs1uY5HRw5GOZ7vyM/story.html

by ColinWright • 12 years ago

33 39 12 years ago

bostonglobe.com

revelation• 12 years ago

Apparently not one of these veterans thought to bring a PLB (http://www.amazon.com/s/?field-keywords=plb).

mbubb6• 12 years ago

Great idea - I have never used one. There was a recent 'This American Life" podcast where the marine version of this saved a family on a sinking vessel in the middle of the Pacific.

I bring a tiny dual band ham radio (Baofeng uv5r) plus antenna. At 4 Watts it might not be powerful enough - though

brandur• 12 years ago

Known as an "EPIRB" [1]. That was a great episode on the Kaufmans [2]; definitely worth the listen.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_radiobeacon

[2] http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/525

davycro• 12 years ago

I was going to post the same thing. My family uses the SPOT messenger. Whenever one of my brothers embarks on a dangerous trip, he takes it with him. Recently my brother kayaked through the Grand Canyon alone in the winter. Every day he would "check in" and we could see where he was camped and how much progress he made down the river that day.

stef25• 12 years ago

I used a SPOT tracker when motorbiking through Africa, the company provides a Google map page that updates every 2 min. Family back home loved watching that page.

Afaik the emergency button (not the one to your family but to support services) would only work in the US, couldn't imagine a helicopter picking me up in Mauritania.

noir_lord• 12 years ago

It's not usually one thing going wrong that gets you it's the next or the one after that.

I nearly got hypothermia a few years ago.

I'd gotten into cycling and been the tough northerner (England not America) that I am I went for a ride in the north Yorkshire hills on a sunny winters day.

Got about 45 miles into the ride and I got a flat, no problem I have a spare so I swapped them out and headed back and then the sky opened freezing rain/sleet and the wind crept up, again not a problem as I was wearing wet weather but then I got another flat (road bikes are a git at times) and I didn't have a spare tube.

So now I'm 10 miles away from anywhere I know on a freezing cold winters day wearing gear designed to keep you warm when you are moving and working hard with a bike that is useless and wearing clipless cycling shoes (not designed to be walked in) and because of the cold my phone battery (which was never good) was dying and it's getting dark.

I used my bike tool to take the cleats of my shoes and set of back towards the last village I'd been through, it took hours with temp's around 0C in a 20-30 mile an hour wind so the wind chill was horrible and since I'd planned on been home before it got dark my lights where sat on my computer desk at home.

I got into the village about 8pm and the little old lady in the local pub took one look at me and went and got towels, a hot drink and some of the nicest chocolate I've ever tasted and an hour later I was ok but damn that was unpleasant.

---

Now when I ride alone in winter I always ride with my lights on the bike even during the day, I use a medium sized backpack to carry: fully charged spare phone battery, puncture repair kit and two tubes, 3-4 bars of kendal mint cake, spare batteries for lights, thermal socks, small towel, pair of windproof overtrousers (lightweight and waterproof) and a pair of hiking trainers.

masklinn2• 12 years ago

Garbage bags can serve as rain cover or waterproof sleeping bag protection in a pinch, although they're not very resistant to puncture packing a few can save your bacon, especially with a few sticks/supports to build a one-time shelter against wind and water.

protomyth2• 12 years ago

Garbage bags are a very good suggestions (unscented puncture resistant). I would also add a lighter, sterno can, and swiss army knife. Never know when you need to cut something. All very low weight and all useful when things are going crapy in winter weather.

retroafroman• 12 years ago

Using trash bags meant for trash compactors is a big step up in puncture resistance. They are typically 2-3times thicker than the typical trash bags you find and not much bigger or heavier when packed.

rasz_pl• 12 years ago

Lets be realistic here, towel is the most important part of your luggage.

qwerty_asdf• 12 years ago

  The major difference between a thing that might go 
  wrong, and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong, is 
  that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes 
  wrong, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at 
  or repair.

-Douglas Adams

mbubb6• 12 years ago

There was a story of a guy in South Carolina a few weeks back who went out in the woods with 2 kids and had to be rescued. He was incredibly unprepared and was lost with young kids for ~ 2days. There is a distortion, where map distance and proximity to civilzation gives a false sense of security and we under prepare.

These stories are useful. Both to get ideas and to validate/ challenge choices I make when going hiking. To critique it is not to say "Look at that dumass, my hero Bear Grillz would have known what to do..." but rather "Wow - this can happen so easily and relatively close to warm beds, even to experienced folks"

And this guy sounds much more experienced than I am. But:

When you do this kind of hiking you register the route with someone who expects you to be out by such and such a time... Last hike I wnet on my friend logged our route in a trail book. It is easy for someone to get injured, cross country skiing will give you nasty twists and breaks.

Fire equipment? They are in a pine forest and could have gotten a fire going.

Also those aluminum foil-like emergency blankets - they are so small and light, there is space in any pack. Came in handy on my last overnight as a sleepingbag liner as the night got colder than expected.

How/Why did his feet get wet? Crosscountry ski boots are usually a Gortex-y material with a hard base and a cleat for the bnding. Wonder if he fell in a stream, etc. If so that is time to stop and make a fire. Get warm and dry.

I am curious what they were wearing. It was warm enough that some of the streams were not ice covered - so probably below freezing at night but with normal walking they should have stayed warm.

Hypothermia can happen when the air temp is quite a bit above freezing esp. - if you are wet.

Last winter I was on well marked xcountry ski trails in the Adirondacks (NY State) with my boys and another father and children. The loop took longer than expected and we spent the last two hours getting back in the dark. No cell service and we got off the skis. I bound all the skis together and carried them and we hiked back.

It was well below freezing and was concerned about the little toes and fingers. Since we had registered the hike a snowmobile came out for us and caught us in the last km - didn't take us back though, the bastard. :)

I did not have a pack on but had compass, firestarter and a few emerg blankets in my coat. I had two small LEDs - I gave one to the other father and we used them to check for blazes and read map. WHen the smowmobile came they were useful for signaling. Plus a metal water bottle to melt snow if needed...

So that situation worked out ok. I am not really comparing it to the situation in the article. I was glad to have the foil blankets and firestarter, in case.

My wife says I overpack (and she is not wrong). We have animated discussions before going out. "Why do you need this rope?" "I dunno - that's the point" "What are you going to do with this axe?" "Etc..."

An overly heavy pack is a liability as well. I could not keep up with my friend on my last overnight. We also had to climb cliffs and I seriously considered tieing off the bag and pulling it up the cliff after I got up. (with the paracord my wife was complaining about - ;) )

Also when you fall extra weight increases the impact... And I fall on occaision. So I must learn to reduce.

But, I think if I were in that group - I would be angry with the lack of prep - angry at my self mostly.

japhyr3• 12 years ago

I seriously considered tieing off the bag and pulling it up the cliff after I got up.

I'm not sure about your particular situation, but that's a clear sign that people are getting into a situation where they should seriously consider turning back. I have worked in mountain rescue for a while now, and that's a common story when people end up needing help.

If you have to take your pack off to go up something you weren't planning to go up, you should probably head back the way you came. Otherwise you can easily find yourself unable to go up any higher, and unable to get back down on your own. It's way easier to go up than it is to go down.

mbubb6• 12 years ago

Good point.

I was with a more experienced friend who was carrying less weight. I never had to take my pack off. If I had thought I would need to I would have shed some non-polluting weight. I was carrying 6L water at that point and there was the prospect of potable springs on the trail ahead. We also had h2o filters...

That hike taught me about weight. I need to pack less on overnights.

Where do you do mountain rescue?

contacternst2• 12 years ago

Having hiked in the White Mountains with a small group for 6 days, it sounds like the leader of this group underestimated a mountain range containing Mt Mansfield, where the coldest wind chill has ever been recorded.

Just because these mountains aren't any taller than 7000 feet doesn't mean it isn't one of the most rugged in the world. The Jet Stream is particularly low in this part of the world which is the reason of the extreme cold.

Sometimes, vanity can be deadly.

mbubb6• 12 years ago

Wow sounds like a nice trek. Those are famously steep, aren't they?

redtexture• 12 years ago

No.

contacternst2• 12 years ago

Not so much steep as Rugged, dangerous, and extremely unpredictable.

mparr42• 12 years ago

Mt. Mansfield is in the Green Mountains of Vermont. You're thinking of Mt. Washington, the tallest point in the northeast and largest of the White Mountains, which are in New Hampshire.

Mt. Washington previously held the record for the fastest wind ever recorded at 231 mph (http://www.mountwashington.org/about/visitor/recordwind.php)

The mountain is notorious for its fickle weather.

DanielBMarkham• 12 years ago

So the mistakes here were getting off into the deep snow on a trail and continuing forward hoping the trail would get better. Add in a 15-mile hike over somewhat unfamiliar ground, and you've got a party slogging it out through the dark desperately trying to make it out of the woods.

The good news is that they always knew where they were -- they had GPS. Also they were always within 15 miles or so of some kind of civilization. So I'm with the professor: there was no danger of not getting out, as long as nobody just sat down and stopped moving.

If it hadn't been for the GPS, I might have gone the shelter route, but that's a huge time sink. You're better off just doing what they did: kept slugging away at it.

Note: I'm not trying to downplay the dangers of hypothermia; that stuff can kill you. But I would think that any overnight hiking trip in the snowy mountains would face this, so to me it doesn't look like a new problem that emerged as part of the rest of the adventure.

japhyr3• 12 years ago

Also they were always within 15 miles or so of some kind of civilization. So I'm with the professor: there was no danger of not getting out, as long as nobody just sat down and stopped moving.

I think you are underestimating how difficult it can be to travel in terrain with a deep snowpack, downed trees, and no clear trail markers. It sounds like their gps batteries were on their last bars, so gps was not a given for their entire trek out.

Deep snow can make a 100-yard stretch take an hour. They said that every downed tree took the group 10 minutes. That sounds like an exagerration while reading comfortably in front of a computer, but having been there myself that's a realistic statement.

I took a summer trek on a less-traveled spur trail in the White Mountains one summer. There were downed trees every 20-50 feet for a couple miles. I was working at a camp the whole summer, so I was on trails every day and in quite good shape for traveling quickly. Even so, that was a long day! 15 miles in harsh winter conditions can easily mean a very real danger of not getting out.

I also spent several hours crossing a small, open basin in the Colorado Rockies one spring. The snow was waist-deep, with a crust that wouldn't quite support my weight, and heavy snow underneath. Every step was a significant effort. That stretch would have taken 10 minutes in the summer, and 3 minutes on skis with better snow. Traveling in the mountains in winter is entirely different than it is in the summer.

mbubb6• 12 years ago

To your point - I recently read an account of the infamous Andean airplane crash (cannibalism, etc)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Andes_flight_disaster

Three men struck out to find help for the group after they realized that they were not going to be rescued. They hiked for 3 days to get to the top of the closest peak. From that vantage they realized it was a much longer trip and they did not have supplies enough for 3 men. They sent one guy back. It took him roughly an hour (on a makeshift sled) to backtrack what it took them 3 days to climb.

"On the third day of the trek, Parrado reached the top of the mountain before the other two. Stretched before him as far as the eye could see were more mountains. In fact, he had just climbed one of the mountains (as high as 4,650 metres (15,260 ft)) which forms the border between Argentina and Chile, meaning that they were still tens of kilometres from the green valleys of Chile. After spying a small "Y" in the distance, he gauged that a way out of the mountains must lie beyond, and refused to give up hope. Knowing that the hike would take more energy than they had originally planned for, Parrado and Canessa sent Vizintín back to the crash site, as they were rapidly running out of rations. Since the return was entirely downhill, it only took him one hour to get back to the fuselage using a makeshift sled."

mbubb6• 12 years ago

"The good news is that they always knew where they were..."

Actually, they mentioned that they lost the blazes so at some points could not find the trail.

"So I'm with the professor: there was no danger of not getting out..."

When I read it I thought the biggest danger was that he had wet (and then frozen) feet. That is worth stopping to fix. Not a full blown shelter but a large enough fire to warm and dry everyone involved. (And thaw water bottles - dehydration was also noted)

mparr42• 12 years ago

As a backcountry skier in New England, I can attest that it is surprisingly easy to get yourself into high-consequence situations.

The mountains are smaller and the states are more densely populated, but that doesn't mean that the wilderness can be taken lightly, particularly in winter. Especially for a sport that places value in isolation ("first tracks" are highly sought and many locals have their own secret powder stashes) you'll often find yourself in situations where an injury or gear failure can mean serious mortal peril. Even if you're lucky enough to have cell service, batteries don't hold their charge in extreme cold, more often than not, you're on your own.

These hobbies are, in fact, dangerous and the consequences are real. They are also incredibly fun. You've just got to know what you're getting yourself into.

tom_jones• 12 years ago

A great example of the difference between academic knowledge and real world experience.

rwallace2• 12 years ago

Be careful not to write it off too lightly. As far as I can see from the article, the professor did have real world experience, and still got into bad trouble by being overconfident.

001sky• 12 years ago

Still massively overconfident and un-prepared. Its easy to have "experience" but be lacking in the correct type of experience. Simple examples here: treefall. His previous experience was in the alpine, so maybe he wasn't expecting this? Also, its not clear how much basic experience he had was in the back-country (self-supported). That would seem to explain his lack of basic preperation (re: 10 essentials). Nor is it clear how well he studied his maps--lots of water-crossings--some of these issues should not have been surprises.

js2• 12 years ago

Link to the lobsterman story mentioned in the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/magazine/a-speck-in-the-se...

Terrific read and I think it may have been posted here.

qwerta• 12 years ago

When cell phone signal is low, do not try to ring, send text message! It has much lower network overhead and has better chances to be delivered!

Sometimes you can even send/receive text messages from an airplane.

eli• 12 years ago

While we're giving cell phone tips: in an emergency, you should dial 911 even if you don't think your phone has service. It will try to connect to competitors cell towers that would normally be ignored.

Likewise, you can call 911 on a "disconnected" phone or one with no SIM card.

ef4• 12 years ago

This guy still apparently didn't learn his lesson.

"...he would set a point of no return and learn more about trail conditions. “And probably take another trail.”"

BUZZ, wrong answer. Trail conditions change. People make mistakes. People break their legs. Freak weather rolls in.

The right answer is to always be prepared to hunker down for a couple days. And grow some situational awareness -- it's never ok to let anyone in the group be wet and cold in the wilderness. By the time somebody's sock is frozen to their boot all the alarm bells should be ringing in your head and you're lighting a fire and setting up camp.

“But what I didn’t realize was the danger of hypothermia.”

That's unforgivable. What other danger rates mentioning? Even in summer people die of hypothermia all the time. In bitter cold, in deep snow, and it never crossed your mind?

camperman• 12 years ago

Yep - poor leadership and preparation on display here. He should have led the group at all times. He didn't seem to be fully aware of the weather conditions. And everyone should have had a space blanket and some garbage bags. At least two people should have had fire steel. And at least two people should have a machete or small ax. It's these shortish hikes that are the most dangerous because you think nothing can happen to you.

gumby• 12 years ago

A great case of cascading failure and bad decision making. A few things stand out.

- They made several bad mistakes. The tag line of the article said, "and how grit ultimately got the group out of a frozen labyrinth" but it was luck, not grit. The bad decisions were downplayed in this write up.

- They didn't have the right gear and weren't prepared (e.g. keep at least some water and batteries close to your body). One energy bar?

- They shouldn't have pushed on at night. Even for a day hike in the snow I carry a shovel and a couple of foil blankets and know how to rig a shelter. They would have done better to stick together (not to split up), know ahead of time who makes the final decision, and to have waited the night out.

- I don't remember the white mountains as well, but the places I backpack in winter (e.g. minnesota, california, new mexico, colorado) I use a topo and a compass and only use the GPS for back up.

- the three times I've felt "wow, there's a good chance chance I won't survive this" my overwhelming thought has been embarrassment at my own stupidity. Two of the three times the initial failure was "set out too late." And it was always multiple, cascading failures -- typically you should be able to deal with one or two things going wrong -- same as with engineering.

tod222• 12 years ago

Given its high profile, including the linked article in the Boston Globe, this incident will likely be analyzed in the Accidents column of a forthcoming issue of Appalachia Journal. [1] I don't expect that the analysis will let this group off lightly. Both the participants and commenters here have already pointed out basic mistakes that were made by the group.

This newspaper account lacks information important to understanding the incident, such as the temperature and forecast. Additionally, snow conditions could have been reported by checking with the Forest Service, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and the Mount Washington Observatory. Analysis of this incident in Appalachia Journal will likely include such details. Winter conditions in the White Mountains are highly variable from year to year and have a tremendous impact on the outcome of backcountry trips.

One thing that hasn't been touched on either by the article or by the commenters—they were doing this as a ski trip. It doesn't say what kind of boots they had, but cross country ski boots tend to have less insulation than winter mountaineering boots (often much less). While temperatures at nearby Whitefield airport weren't bad during the daylight hours of the 16th, they went below zero (F) in the early hours of the 17th. [2] There's no way I'd want anyone in my group wearing lightly insulated cross country boots in below zero temperatures.

It is significant that the trail wasn't broken out. That it took them nine hours to go from Stillwater Junction to the closed Franconia Brook campsite indicates that snow and trail conditions were terrible.

I think that both the article and commenters here overemphasize the value of GPS. The route is not difficult to follow. Most of their second day was spent following a watershed downstream. For this you need a GPS? Warm boots are far more useful (note that the article says that a GPS failed). There is no cell reception where they were, either. When (not 'if') the electronics fail will you be able to cope?

The most important thing that this group did right was to get themselves out under their own power. People who come from urban areas have an incredible temptation to dial 9-1-1 or push a magic "rescue me" button on a PLB device. There is no fleet of helicopters standing by to come get you.

So many people come to New Hampshire to hike or enjoy the outdoors that there are numerous incidents requiring rescue. This has stressed the budgets of the state and federal agencies involved and taxed the energy of the volunteer organizations. Some of the incidents are due to ignorance, negligence, or irresponsibility. People discount the danger to which they expose their rescuers, but meanwhile most of the NH SAR community is aware that volunteer Albert Dow was killed taking part in a search. [3]

New Hampshire started the hikeSafe program [4] due to the increase in the number of search and rescue incidents. It's disappointing that this article didn't interview any SAR personnel or people with winter hiking experience to highlight this group's mistakes. Nor does it list any sources of backcounty education, such as the AMC New Hampshire Chapter's Winter Workshops. [5] It's typical for downcountry media to make heroes of participants and treat such incidents as adventures rather than discuss errors, and this article somewhat follows that pattern.

[1] http://www.outdoors.org/publications/appalachia/

[2] http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KHIE/2014/2/17/D...

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Herr#Early_life

[4] http://www.hikesafe.com/

[5] http://amc-nh.org/committee/excursions/index-winterworkshop....

marvin• 12 years ago

This is what I was thinking too, as a Norwegian that's been skiing my whole life. A 15-mile trek in temperatures close to zero F is not something you'll do lightly. Sounds like at least the trip leaders were in great physical shape but not with the right equipment for this kind of trip.

If you're going in conditions with lots of poweder snow and no trails, you need proper mountaineering skis if you want to do it halfway comfortably. E.g. something like this: http://www.asnes.com/produkt/combat-nato/, that's sufficiently wide and works with skins in rough terrain, etc. Otherwise you'll sink through on every step and waste lots of energy. Also, as you say, the boots are better insulated. Standard touring BC bindings will freeze if you get snow in them, making is tough to get your ski back on. Taking off your skis and walking when the snow conditions are anything less than hard and frozen? Sounds painful.

How a White Mountains trek turned into a survival test

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