[pct-l] Glissade death on Whitney

[johnvonhof at comcast.net (John Vonhof)]

Fellow Hikers,

Last Monday a hiking friend and I made an aborted attempt to summit Mt.
Whitney in one day from the portal. This would have been my 3rd time up and
Glen's 1st. We made it as far as just above the cables and turned around due
to snow and ice on the trail Although we had poles, we did not have
crampons. Everyone we talked to, either coming down after making the summit,
or having turned around, told us of the need for crampons.

After descending almost all the switchbacks to Trail Camp, a hiker came down
yelling of a "hiker down and not moving." He had seen a solo hiker slide
down the snow chute all the way to the bottom and no movement after he
stopped. The hiker, and Glen and I made our way lower on the switchbacks
until we could traverse across a small gulley and work our way up to where
the hiker had stopped. It took us close to 45 minutes to scramble over the
rocks and snow and find the body. I made a visual assessment of the scene
and the body before checking for a carotid pulse. There was none and I knew
from his wounds that he was dead.

Apparently the hiker was uncomfortable making his way down the switchbacks
with only poles and no crampons. Instead, he chose to glissade down the snow
chute from near Trail Crest to a moraine just up from Trail Camp--about 1600
feet. He quickly lost control and slide to his death. We stayed with the
body for more than an hour and a half in expectation of a helicopter. When
the winds picked up we knew the body would not be recovered until the next
day. We started down the mountain, giving a detailed report to two rangers
coming up to check on the incident. When they were assured I was medically
qualified to determine death in the field (CA paramedic), they radioed down
to the Search & Rescue team the incident was now one of recovery.

The body was recovered Tuesday. In a quirk of fate, that same day two more
hikers were injured doing the same glissade. One had a broken leg and
another was knocked unconscious. Both were airlifted out by helicopter. This
was the 2nd glissade death on Whitney this year.

I suspect more will try the stunt because they'll see the marks in the snow
and make the assumption that if others have done it, it must be doable and
safe. The rangers in Lone Pine told us no technical equipment was needed to
summit. No mention was made of the dangers of glissading. I saw no warning
signs on the trail. Unless you have an ice axe and know the finer points of
self arrest, crampons, and poles, you place your life on the
line--especially on the steep 70 degree, 1600 foot snow chute below Trail
Crest.

There is quite a discussion of this incident at the Whitney Portal Store's
site. You have to register but it's easy to do.
http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi

If you want to read the SF Chronicle's article on the hiker, here's the
link: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/09/MNHIKER.DTL

Glen and I had stopped at the scene of a motorcycle vs. SUV the day before
and helped package the cyclist for helicopter transport. The incident on
Whitney was our second medical assist in two days. Please for the sake of
your family and friends, think safe and be safe.

John Vonhof
Fixing Your Feet Ezine at: http://www.vonhof.typepad.com/fixingyourfeet
Happy Feet blog: http://www.vonhof.typepad.com/happy_feet/
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