What the hell? So many questions. I’m not a hiker, nor do I play one on TV, but I’ve read a few books written by hikers in the Applachains and this makes no sense.
Hiking alone?
Sub-zero temps?
100+ mph winds?
During a known blizzard?
Suicide?
Homocide?
Darwin Candidate?
Arrogant?
http://www.wmur.com/news/rescuers-search-for-missing-hiker-near-mt-adams/31294362
I’m with you – what was she (and her husband) thinking?
Possibly one of those “I need to challenge myself to do the nearly impossible” types.
At this time of year, you could scarcely find a more hostile US location east of the Rocky Mountains. I doubt this was suicide, but it was definitely suicidal.
I wonder whether her personal locator beacon might possibly have contributed to the problem. She may have thought of this as a way to escape trouble if conditions got really bad (as they did). But in that sort of weather (impossible for helicopter rescue operations), when the alarm goes out at 3:30pm, there’s almost no chance help will arrive sooner than mid-morning the next day.
I found this link, with much more detail.
She was an experienced mountaineer, nominally qualified to make the hike she’d planned. But the forecast was horrific:
Another article said that on Monday morning, the Mt Washington observatory at the summit recorded its highest wind gust in 7 years.
Even for a well trained and equipped mountaineer, this is at the limit for survival.
Without reading about this particular tragedy, my guess is that a lot of these type of deaths happen to people who haven’t really experienced any major adversity in life so they develop a sense of invincibility and lose a healthy fear of nature.
We’ve been hearing about this for the past couple of days. Even without knowing about it, I figured it must be an experienced hiker (I can’t imagine even a suicidal newbie venturing out into this), but it seems stupid for all sorts of reasons. The biggest of these is that after her disappearance, a lot of searchers had to go out into the blizzard looking for her. It’s unbelievably selfish not to factor that in when you’re risking your neck.
On local news here (ME), there’s a video showing the rescuers being thrown around (literally) by the winds.
Someone in the comment section said, “She was from Siberia and very skilled.”
Not all that skilled, I’m thinking.
Skilled, yes. Wise, no.
I could see this happening to my wife. She is an experienced hiker and mountaineer who climbed and hiked all over the former USSR. She seems to have an inexplicable belief that cold and wind just aren’t as severe here. She has been criticized by members of her hiking club for having a tendency to turn outings into death marches.
I just have tremendous respect for that rescue team that went up and looked for her. I can barely make it out to my bird feeders right now. I’ve done hikes in that area and even in clement conditions, it’s a grueling climb. The distances are deceptive, because the White Mountain trails are typically quite steep without switchbacks. Climbing it in snow gear on snow shoes would be brutal. Doing it in 100mph winds and subzero temperatures – I can’t imagine how fit you have to be in order to do that.
But yes, I’m guessing that she got herself in some kind of “To Light a Fire” situation where she was just too cold and tired to make shelter in time. That’s why you bring a buddy. Or stay home with the hot chocolate when conditions get like that.
Oh c’mon. Hitler died years ago, in Argentina.
Do they make clothing which can handle these kinds of temperatures? (For example for use in Antarctica?)
Good God. I’m sorry for this woman, of course, but she should have known better. You can get into trouble on Mt. Washington in the summer, never mind January or February.
There is (or used to be, at least) a sign at the start of one Mt. Washington trail warning you that people have died on the trail in the summer. I suspect that anyone going out in the winter wouldn’t be deterred by such a sign.
I’m sorry for her, too, but this seems insane in many different ways.
What some people will do for a golf-clap on GMA before the segment with today’s recipe… :smack:
Glad to see I’m not the only one that thought it said Hitler
I wonder if it’s possible it is some sort of addiction. I hike a bit, but almost never in very cold temperatures. And Im certainly not anywhere near the level she was, but there was a couple times when I got home after a cold hike where it just gave you a pretty neat feeling.
Hard to describe, but I didn’t really know where I was. I mean intellectually I knew, but if I closed my eyes I had no sense of space. Felt kinda good. Not so good I’d wanna try any thing like that.
It’s pretty easy to pile on in situations like these - so I’ll refrain.
The fact she was from Siberia - I wonder if that played any part. That kinda beats anything you hear around here with regards to “I’m from XYZ and so I know how to handle snow.”
Will you always get frostbite before you “freeze to death”? The reason I ask is if she had been out in conditions that were worse than what had been predicted there (obviously not there since that was a record) - and did not get frostbite or otherwise suffer ill effects - is it possible to then die under other less severe conditions? Or I guess another way of asking is - can you have been close to having frozen to death and not realize it?
You know who else set some seemingly impossible goals for themself?
Look at what the rescue team is wearing for an idea of the appropriate dress for the conditions.
You can always throw on more layers and more R values, but there’s a weight and mobility tradeoff if you’re going to be doing strenuous hiking in the clothes. When you’re hiking, you actually generate serious amounts of heat. A lot of winter hiking gear actually has “pit zips” and other vents that you can open and close to shed heat as needed. I’d be a bit surprised if it turned out to be insufficient clothing that was the problem, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that some normally minor inconvenience turned into a fatal situation under the prevailing weather conditions. For example, maybe she took off a glove to fix a zipper or add a layer and it blew away. Hands froze, zipper wouldn’t go up – it doesn’t take much in those conditions.
Then again, apparently hypothermia is pretty insidious, so she might just have gotten so far and realized that there was nothing left in the tank. Even with the best insulation, you have to be able to replace the heat that leaks out.