[pct-l] Snow impasses?

[Dennis Phelan]

Very well said - I think you hit the nail right on the head.

On Fri, May 4, 2012 at 9:58 AM, Eric Lee <saintgimp at hotmail.com> wrote:

> jmhow01 at yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> I've read a lot of blogs throughout the past couple years talking about
> weather conditions in the sierras creating a temporary impasse (hikers turn
> back and wait it out or flip flop), but I never really get an idea as to
> what conditions make it an impasse. Obviously snow is the culprit, but what
> about the snow makes things impassable? Navigation difficulties? Snow
> covering the trail? Snow depth? Lack of proper gear (ropes, crampons,
> axes)?
> Ice slides?
> >
>
> impassable is a tricky word.  Nothing is ever impassable - until you try it
> and die.  Then it's impassable for you.  You could be standing at the base
> of a 1000 cliff with nothing but the clothes on your back.  Is it
> impassable?  Heck no.  Just free-climb that sucker.  If it works, it was
> passable.  If you fall to your death then yup, it was impassable.
>
> Ok, that's kind of a silly way to approach it.  Realistically what people
> mean by the word "impassible" is that they consider the risk of catastrophe
> to be so high that it's not worth doing.  The risk level depends on a lot
> of
> factors including the conditions at that precise moment, the skill level of
> the person, and the risk tolerance of the person.
>
> A lot of people would consider the Sierra in April to be impassable, not
> because it's literally impossible to walk through it, but because the risk
> as measured against their skill level, their risk tolerance, and the
> potential payoff just isn't worth it.  There are a lot of hazards in the
> mountains in April.  Snowstorms, uncontrolled falls, avalanches, injuries
> with no one around, running out of supplies, etc.  Those risks tend to
> decrease as spring progresses.  At some point each person looks at the
> situation and says, "Ok, it's passable for me now."
>
> If you follow the journals you'll notice a lot of instances where one hiker
> will come upon some situation and declare it to be impassable, and another
> one will travel through the same spot a couple days later with no issues.
> That doesn't mean the first hiker was wrong.  Maybe the snow melted out
> more, or the river level went down, or the first person had less
> experience,
> or had more to live for.  Each person has the responsibility to evaluate
> things for themselves and no one else has the right to second-guess that.
> Unless they evaluate wrong and get injured or killed.  Then we armchair
> hikers get to have fun dissecting their decision on PCT-L.  :-)
>
> Eric
>
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