UL hiker "swam with the sharks too many times"

In Avalanche Awareness training they talk about “human factors” that can lead even very experienced folks to make decisions that put them at higher risk.  These “human factors” are worth studying.  We need to be humble enough to realize that we might be doing things that we might look back on and realize we were “lucky”, not skilled, to survive.  In “Deep Survival” Lawrence Gonzales writes about “communing with the dead” to try and learn from them so we don’t make the same mistakes.

The writers who started this UL backpacking idea stressed building your skills so that you were not as dependent on lots of gear.  Part of that education is learning about all of the forces at work around and inside you and preparing yourself to deal with them.  Some of that means training.  Some of that means gear and how to use it.

I’m not very experienced with winter conditions, but for an extended day hike in snow I have and would carry my 32 degree sleeping bag, my winter rated sleeping pad, and an emergency bivvy so that I can spend an unexpected night curled up without getting hypothermia. The extra weight is not really a concern for me, but these are high end ultralight/low bulk items that most hikers don’t own.

It’s vital to remember that she was a Dayhiker and dayhikers do strange things. They generally do not have the gear to get them thru difficult conditions when compared to the gear Backpackers carry.

Another dayhiker death worthy of note is Kate Matrosova who died in distantly-related conditions with snow but much colder and much (much) windier (in the Presidentials). Rescue guy Erik Thatcher said of Kate:

“Kate’s kit was rather stripped down to the bare essentials. No partner, no bivy gear, and even relatively light on essential layers in my opinion. This in itself is no sin. What it means is that she was operating with no room for error.” ERIK THATCHER.

Erik mentions what part of her kit she did not have—

“The first is mittens. She had regular gloves which in my experience just doesn’t cut it. The second is a neoprene ski mask . . . .no snow shoes, no crampons were on when she was found.” ERIK THATCHER.

And remember, Kate was a dayhiker.

Which brings us to this case. In the article is this interesting quote:

“But behind (this) is a very, very dark addiction personality. The more adulation you get . . .”

And then this ironic comment: “She would find a way to make hiking not monotonous.” She sure did find a way.

Jerry Adams asks: “So, what’s the 4 pounds of gear that would have kept her alive and what did she carry that wasn’t enough?” And he goes on: “And not fair to blame the victim.”

4 pounds of gear?? How about a bivy bag, a sleeping bag, a small tent, arcteryx rain gear?? Anything to hole up and spend the night?

Not fair to blame the victim? Do we then blame the Sky? Or the Forest? Or Miss Nature? Or the mountain Rangers who looked for her? Mr Adams seems in denial. Or maybe he is incensed by the use of the word Ultralight in the title of this thread, as in: UL can do no wrong.

There was a similar story of a dayhiker who attempted to climb Mt Hood and got caught in a winter storm, amply forecasted hours before his hike. His plight and rescue was even discussed here on BPL. His name is Jeff Kish and here is a link:

http://legacy.kgw.com/story/news/2014/07/24/12390668/

https://gearjunkie.com/mount-hood-climb-rescue

And then there’s the story of Steve Frazier who went on a backpacking trip into Yosemite in 2010. All backpackers should study him. He got snowed in 2 feet of fresh powder and was 20 miles from the trailhead and couldn’t realistically move so what did he do? Did he panic and freeze to death? Did he strip naked and run screaming into the night? Did he quickly hit HELP on his Spot device like Solo Girl on her PCT hike? No, he stayed in his tent and made 2 days worth of food last 12 and then he got rescued. He pulled what I call a “Frazier.” Most dayhikers could not pull a Frazier. And nowadays many backpackers would freak out and dial up 911 the first night, as did the three South Carolina boys who panicked on the AT in the Smokies, or Solo Girl on the PCT.  See for Frazier—

http://www.friendsofyosar.org/rescues/2008/2010

For South Carolina boys—

http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/12325-a-winter-rescue-rangers-trek-into-frigid-snowy-darkness-to-save-hikers

And for Solo Girl’s plight, see—

http://www.postholer.com/journal/Pacific-Crest-Trail/2009/SoloGirl/2009-06-03/Day-38–Snow-Storm/8688

What does any of this have to do with Ultralight? Are UL dayhikers more at risk than UL backpackers? I guess it all comes down to what gear you are carrying and how long you are prepared to sit put and survive.

Another important dayhiker tragedy is the case of Decareaux and his two sons who perished on a dayhike in the Ozarks. They entered what I now call the Decareaux Cycle:
** A warm winter day at 60F which entices people to hike.
** Rain begins during the hike and the temps dip to 35F. Time to put on the shells and set up camp and hunker in for a zero.
** Night falls and the rain stops and the temps dip below freezing into the 20Fs or lower.
** Soaked dayhikers without protection don’t make it thru the night.

The Decareaux Cycle is a typical and common occurrence in the South and Southeast mountains—Warm temps followed by cold rain and then clear skies and a severe temperature drop, followed by warming temps to repeat the cycle.

I’ll leave the discussion of dayhikers to someone better informed than me about the sport, suffice it to say that the UL backpackers I see in the winter commonly do not carry the clothing, sleeping pads, bags and shelters required for comfort in the mountains of NC, TN, Georgia and Virginia. This may be why their trips are so short. I could give examples: A guy in a winter blizzard atop an open bald at 5,300 feet who woke up cold under a tarp covered in spindrift. A guy in a hammock in a sleet storm who had to bail to his friend’s tent since his hammock tarp blew away. A woman at 19F in a tent with a Prolite pad who slept cold from the frozen ground and had to bail a day early. A guy in March in a snowstorm who left camp and hiked back to his car to retrieve a second sleeping bag. And all the AT thruhikers starting in January who bail into towns after a good snowstorm or a dip in the temps down to 0F.

End of Rant.

Btw, here’s the Jeff Kish discussion on BPL—

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/84614/

People do ‘dumb’ things, myself included. We can learn from their mistakes, but their is no need to criticize them as people. And in the same vein we shouldn’t elevate them to folk hero status, such as Chris McCandless.

Interesting to note how social media, Facebook in this case, can drive individual behavior to their own detriment. It isn’t Facebook that is the problem but how some people allow themselves to be negatively influenced. I see it here where sleep systems are not adequate for the anticipated conditions and clothing is planned to cover the differential, however if an expected surprise weather event ocurrs, the hiker becomes at risk, but they sure have a nice spreadsheet base weight. I have done this myself, but more so in 3 season weather; but I have a lot of survival training and experience, courtesy of my Uncle Sam.

Very much agree with what d.k. wrote.

trail runners are often even more ill prepared than day hikers; we had a runner lose her way on a group hike in the mountains early this fall- she was ill prepared for an unexpected night out, but lady luck only dropped the temps into the high 30’s (it had been in the low to mid 20’s for several days prior).

she was found the next day, very cold, but alive

I’m putting on a evening of training next Monday evening to the running group on reducing chances of getting lost, clothing selection, carrying a minimum of kit to get you through a night and what to do if you do have to spend the night out

I probably lean a little too far towards the Boy Scout end of the scale, but a few unexpected nights out and being involved in too many SAR missions, tends to push one towards that end of the spectrum

A bit too late, but a Christmas tree disposal bag is a great emergency shelter. $2 at home depot, 4 oz, does not take up much space in a day pack and very large so a person can easily get into it. Cheap insurance for anyone on a winter day trek into the backcountry. It is always in my day ski pack.  Knock wood, I have not needed to use it yet….

EDIT: looks like they are on ebay for $6 with free shipping

Again… “SWEATPANTS”!!??  Really? as posted above “Experience does not equal wisdom.”

“A bit too late, but a Christmas tree disposal bag is a great emergency shelter. $2 at home depot, 4 oz, does not take up much space in a day pack and very large so a person can easily get into it. Cheap insurance for anyone on a winter day trek into the backcountry.”

Next we’ll be reading about someone who got into one of these bags and suffocated during the night :(

billy

Well Billy, I’d like to think anyone who has the foresight to pack an emergency shelter would realize you need to keep the damn thing open while sleeping.

Then again, people have started forest fires with stoves, driven down one ways the wrong way and have fallen and slipped into a creek during snowmelt season, too (that would be me).

Well Billy, I’d like to think anyone who has the foresight to pack an emergency shelter would realize you need to keep the damn thing open while sleeping.

Thanks, I needed a good laugh ;)

@Tipi I do not really understand the SoloGirl. She had the concentration and manual dexterity to operate her phone to make videos and to use her Spot to call for help, but was not able to light her lighter??

This whole thread calls to mind another thread on BPL about whether winter dayhikers travelling over snow needed to carry the means to melt snow to make water.  The late departed from this forum Bob Gross shared how for the first ski tour of the season, he would stop, and boil water to make tea just to keep the skill set sharp.

What would Les Stroud do?

It’s valuable to discuss incidents like this, especially insofar as it brings about introspection on things that we’ve done in the past which kept us from getting in trouble either due to skill or luck.  The rudeness, pedantry, and assumptions that a few internet accounts hold all information serve no purpose.  Billy and Tipi, in my opinion you both owe BPL better behavior.

Bob Gross was banned. Bruce makes it sound like he no longer breathes the air on Earth.

I don’t see anything wrong with Tipi’s post. Roger didn’t take the opportunity to say anything about Billy’s. Billy is Billy.

Was she hiking on fairly deep snow and were there snowy, cold, windy conditions?

It seems like those conditions would lead towards bringing more extra gear like snowshoes, sleeping bag/bivy

(personally, I just sort of ignore “bad behavior”.  Sometimes comments read worse than they were intended.  Reacting to them just encourages more.  Just my opinion)

I think Scott hit it pretty well with his statement,

“Some of that means training. Some of that means gear and how to use it.”

And the ability to exercise good judgement. What to take when, how far to go before deciding to go back if needed, which piece of gear will cover the unexpected drop in temps the best…and practicing humility. Perhaps Hua paid for being too bold, too daring and she lacked some training. In the equine business we see it all the time, it’s called “holes in the training” and can mean life and death when dealing with a thousand pound animal you ride that has the flight instincts of a deer. I see it a LOT. People become impatient, in a hurry….they just gotta get on and go….somehow believing that the hole will be magically filled without actually applying work in good order. And often they get injured or killed.

I’m experienced, I’ve made mistakes I’ve been lucky to survive. And it doesn’t mean I won’t make more. I’m sure many here have done the same in your years of hiking.

Jerry, the snow was thigh deep, at least according to a group going up the same mountain.  The weather was good for an ADK winter hike. She was soaked, probably from sweat and snow melting onto her clothing.  I thought snowshoes or skis were required in the the ADK high peaks when there was more than 8″ of snow.  She was very slow reaching the summit, probably because of post holing.

one thing no one has mentioned before is that going UL can be seen as one of two philosophies

• bring basically the same gear anyone would but everything is lighter
• bringing less and probably lighter gear

In the former, with the quality of decent gear, youll survive pretty decently though in the long run your gear may get wrecked in nasty conditions, and gear failure is more likely (UL rain jackets for example)

In the latter (less gear), you have very little “staying power”in adverse conditions … it is imperative that one knows when to turn back and knows the bail options … the commitment goes up significantly as you may not just be able to hunker down

your skills and fitness need to be significantly greater to make up for this deficit

years ago mark twight dedicated an entire section on this in “extreme alpinism” … if you simply dont have the gear, and especially if you cant make it up with the skills and fitness (which you cant always do) … you die

thats really all there is to it …

I was saddened to hear the story when it happened. The local hiking groups here in DC all sent out emails.

“Dayhiker”, “lack of skills”, etc.

For the purpose of steering this discussion, I’m not really sure these terms apply to this hiker. DC UL’s organizer Mike has  fairly decent winter preparedness documentation and vetting system for the group. In the past they’ve routinely done 30-80 mile weekends every couple of weeks. Though I’m not sure he would speak ill of the fallen, I would trust his opinion of her knowledge more than the family.

“Sweat pants” – It sounds like she had 4-5 upper layers and was wearing “fleece bottoms” not cotton sweatpants. I’ve known a few people that use this setup so their legs don’t overheat.

“Soaked head to toe” – A month ago someone posted an puzzling photo of what turned out to be a flooded snowfield. Someone explained that streams can block up and flood areas unexpectedly in deep snow. This isn’t something we typically see in the mid-atlantic so it was a good warning. I wonder if it could be what soaked Hua AND the SAR guy.

Paul’s Xmas tree bag- Nice thanks for the tip. That sounds like a cheaper alternative to the $15 SOL emergency bivy (space blanket material).

Lighter- Just to clarify I think it said she had one. Maybe the lesson here is bring a small esbit pill or strip of bike innertube with you to get the twigs burning.

Sleeping bag- Note, probably would only have helped if she had it in a waterproof bag.

On a lighter hearted note. On my last trip to Denver this Dec., I talked to 5 rangers ahead of time about the trails going over lakes and received different safety estimates from each. Not knowing what to do I finally got my first good advice from the REI snowshoe rental guy. “Dude, there’s really only one main way to die while snowshoeing. And that’s falling into a water source. If you’re unsure just walk around it.”

You know, you make judgement calls and you have to live with them. The greatest skill of all is to know when to bail and head back before it’s too late. In a couple of situations I was luckier than I was smart.

But wait a minute, she was a day hiker not a backpacker. She wasn’t intending to camp out or sleep. I don’t know about you but I don’t bring tents and sleeping bags when I go for a day hike. Of course I don’t try to do any 24 hour day hikes, but still. Lots of people do stuff like this and don’t die. People die driving their cars and sitting on their couches, but nobody gets all bent out of shape about that.

it doesnt matter if its a “dayhike” … you better be prepared to survive the night

twist an ankle, take a fall, go the wrong way, etc … theres tons of ways to get lost or immobilized

SAR will not come and get you if theres is significant risk to them due to darkness or avalanche conditions … at least not till morning

folks die driving, but that doesnt mean you should be a reckless driver with no insurance … modern safety gear in cars were developed for a reason

whats very interesting is that IME many hikers dont give a damn about “safety” or learning lessons from other folks accidents, unlike climbing

and while it may not happen to you anytime soon, if and when it happens … you may well have no idea what to do if you cant learn off others misfortunes

heres a “dayhike” by an experienced hiker last month which became a bit more when his dog ran off … fortunately he was well prepared

 Preparation made all the difference for a snowshoer who spent a chilly night lost in the North Shore mountains this weekend, rescuers say.

The man had been hiking with his dog along the Howe Sound Crest Trail up to Mount Strachan on Saturday when his animal ran off into a gully shortly after 5 p.m., according to North Shore Rescue. The snowshoer had just called his wife to say he was on his way back to the car, but instead he decided to head off the trail to chase his dog in an area north of Mike’s Corner.

He soon became lost, and his cellphone battery quickly drained as he left mobile range. Thankfully, he had come equipped with all of the “10 essentials” the rescue group recommends for anyone heading out into the wilderness, including a light, compass, shelter, food and water.

“There was no doubt that this individual was prepared, and knew how to use all of his equipment,” NSR’s Curtis Jones wrote in a blog post.

“Carrying the 10 essentials, and knowing how to use them, likely saved this individual’s life.”

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Lost+snowshoer+survives+chilly+night+North+Shore+mountains/11719444/story.html

note thats like 3-4 rescue incidents ive posted for north vancouver alone  in the last month or so in this thread

Damn Eric, I can’t believe you made me click the link to find out what happened to the dog!