Recovery Week(s)

I just finished a great book about some of the disasters that have occurred in the mountains of Colorado.  I read it because I wanted to gain a perspective of what has been happening on mountains I have climbed or are on my list.  The book came at a great time, as we had done day trips to Bierstadt and La Plata in consecutive weekends, and it was nice not to have to wake up at 2:30am and drive somewhere!

In the book Colorado 14er Disasters, the author talks a lot about the sequence of events and mindsets that have precluded some of the fatal events in our mountains.  I just wanted to touch on a few of the points Nash made that I found interesting...

Point 1:  There is a "cascade of errors" that preclude a large error.  This is so true.  The case he mentions occurred up on Holy Cross, where a hiking party of two separates, and a lady vanishes.  The author goes into how the "leader" had forgotten his lunch, his water purifier, took the wrong trail and still tried to lead someone up the Halo Ridge of Holy Cross.  The risk multiplies by every error made.  Wrong trail all by itself?  Not a big deal really.  However if you are on the wrong trail, with a novice, neither of you know the route, you are behind schedule, no food, no water, etc...now you got yourself into a pickle.  It just reinforces thinking about your day.  This "cascade of errors" was also evident in the 127 Hours movie.  Ralston forgot some gear, didn't tell anyone where he was going, these things all add up.

Point 2:   Nash details the psyche of climbing parties.  I found this to be interesting.  He states the soloists are most exposed if something goes wrong, obviously one is on his/her own.  The couple that splits up comes in second in line, especially if one is more skilled than the other.  He says that leaving a novice on their own for whatever reason is more dangerous than the solo, because of the fact the novice had no intentions of being alone in the first place.  Spot on.  Then comes a party of three, and finally the optimal solution - a party of four experienced climbers.

Very interesting stuff to chew on during some down time.  We are looking forward to heading east this weekend to see our families!  We have tossed around hiking trips to Mt. Washington and Mt. Marcy while home.  If we do one of them, you'll see the writeup here!