Elbert S&R last night

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Tornadoman
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by Tornadoman »

alpinenut wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:01 pm We don’t know for sure if it was the same people, but yes we did talk to a group of two 20ish yr old boys leaving the trailhead about noon. They did mention it was their first 14er attempt.
https://kdvr.com/news/local/hikers-resc ... mt-elbert/

The article mentions that the two rescued hikers started around noon, so seems very likely that it was the two that you encountered. It sounds like they were very lucky to escape without serious frostbite/hypothermia or worse. A lot of lessons to be learned and hopefully if they do decide to go back for other alpine peaks they will take it a bit more seriously. Glad they are ok and thanks for SAR teams for going out in some pretty nasty weather!
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by alpinenut »

It says a lot that both teams went out last night. They must have known they would have not made through the night otherwise. I’m really glad to hear they had cell coverage mid-route. That’s pretty rare on most mountains. Thank you CC and Lake SAR teams!!
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by Trotter »

Tornadoman wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:20 pm
alpinenut wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:01 pm We don’t know for sure if it was the same people, but yes we did talk to a group of two 20ish yr old boys leaving the trailhead about noon. They did mention it was their first 14er attempt.
https://kdvr.com/news/local/hikers-resc ... mt-elbert/

The article mentions that the two rescued hikers started around noon, so seems very likely that it was the two that you encountered. It sounds like they were very lucky to escape without serious frostbite/hypothermia or worse. A lot of lessons to be learned and hopefully if they do decide to go back for other alpine peaks they will take it a bit more seriously. Glad they are ok and thanks for SAR teams for going out in some pretty nasty weather!
Good interview video with one of the SAR guys.

The rescued hikers were wearing jeans and tennis shoes, and hadn't checked the weather. :shock:
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by douglas »

Trotter wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 7:46 am
Tornadoman wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:20 pm
alpinenut wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:01 pm We don’t know for sure if it was the same people, but yes we did talk to a group of two 20ish yr old boys leaving the trailhead about noon. They did mention it was their first 14er attempt.
https://kdvr.com/news/local/hikers-resc ... mt-elbert/

The article mentions that the two rescued hikers started around noon, so seems very likely that it was the two that you encountered. It sounds like they were very lucky to escape without serious frostbite/hypothermia or worse. A lot of lessons to be learned and hopefully if they do decide to go back for other alpine peaks they will take it a bit more seriously. Glad they are ok and thanks for SAR teams for going out in some pretty nasty weather!
Good interview video with one of the SAR guys.

The rescued hikers were wearing jeans and tennis shoes, and hadn't checked the weather. :shock:
At the end of the story he says this was the 17th SAR rescue mission on Mt. Elbert since this summer. Seems like a lot.
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by peter303 »

alpinenut wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:01 pm We don’t know for sure if it was the same people, but yes we did talk to a group of two 20ish yr old boys leaving the trailhead about noon. They did mention it was their first 14er attempt.
Kudos to SARSs that rescued them. Glad they survived.
However we posts here every month from greenhorns with ambitious 14er plans with replies goading them on.
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by Carl_Healy »

Wondering if they tried GPS on their phone at all?

Don't even need a GPX track, if they had cell coverage the standard route shows up in Google Maps by default...
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by nunns »

nyker wrote: Sun Nov 08, 2020 7:51 pm Glad this had a more positive ending than what I was fearing reading the subject line.

Alpinenut, so they were starting out at noon from the TH?

Like Scott said, that's about all you can do. This brings up the oft-talked about point of what do you say to people when you feel in your gut a better decision could be had. I've run into folks more than once doing something where I bit my tongue. Usually its some variant of the same thing, not being prepared one way or another.
No, it's not my business, best I've found was to casually make such folks aware of the risks of the situation and gauge their feedback; If they are genuinely, innocently naïve maybe that helps them make a more informed decision and they change their mind. In some cases, as I'm sure many here have experienced, people get belligerent and defensive.
+1. I also try not to judge, but its hard. In most cases "our first 14er" should be Bierstadt, Elbert, etc. On an early July morning with a good weather forecast. Ideally with someone with previous experience in the mountains.
All that being said, props to SAR and I am glad these folks made it out OK. Nice to see a happy ending after so many sad ones the last few months.

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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by pw »

nunns wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 10:34 am

+1. I also try not to judge, but its hard. In most cases "our first 14er" should be Bierstadt, Elbert, etc. On an early July morning with a good weather forecast. Ideally with someone with previous experience in the mountains.
All that being said, props to SAR and I am glad these folks made it out OK. Nice to see a happy ending after so many sad ones the last few months.

Sean Nunn
Likewise on the judging, but in this case, it's clear they were totally clueless and hadn't done one minute of research, beyond figuring out where the trailhead was. Any research at all would have told them they were outfitted incorrectly, were staring too late, and the weather was going to be bad. Not only did they put themselves at risk, but their poor decision making had the SAR guys out overnight in a storm, not safe for them either.
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by pw »

pw wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:05 am
nunns wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 10:34 am

+1. I also try not to judge, but its hard. In most cases "our first 14er" should be Bierstadt, Elbert, etc. On an early July morning with a good weather forecast. Ideally with someone with previous experience in the mountains.
All that being said, props to SAR and I am glad these folks made it out OK. Nice to see a happy ending after so many sad ones the last few months.

Sean Nunn
Likewise on the judging, but in this case, it's clear they were totally clueless and hadn't done one minute of research, beyond figuring out where the trailhead was. Any research at all would have told them they were outfitted incorrectly, were starting too late, and the weather was going to be bad. Not only did they put themselves at risk, but their poor decision making had the SAR guys out overnight in a storm, not safe for them either. Basically they did nothing right.
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by bluegrassclimber »

Carl_Healy wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 10:31 am Wondering if they tried GPS on their phone at all?

Don't even need a GPX track, if they had cell coverage the standard route shows up in Google Maps by default...
Your brain thinks differently in life or death scenarios, and without training/experience you may not remember things that are “automatic” under normal scenarios. Even experienced people encounter this phenomena. We read all the time about “target fixation” in airline accidents.

It’s possible they forgot - or never checked - which mapping apps have the trail on them. Or, one of the reports said they were on steep terrain aroun 12,800. Maybe they checked once it was clear the terrain was rugged, and then couldn’t find a route back to the trail. And of course, it’s possible that they only took guidance from social media, which makes Elbert seem like a walk up even to the uninitiated.

I’m glad the SAR teams successfully rescued the hikers.
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by Carl_Healy »

CaptCO wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:32 am
bluegrassclimber wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:29 am
Carl_Healy wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2020 10:31 am Wondering if they tried GPS on their phone at all?

Don't even need a GPX track, if they had cell coverage the standard route shows up in Google Maps by default...
Your brain thinks differently in life or death scenarios, and without training/experience you may not remember things that are “automatic” under normal scenarios. Even experienced people encounter this phenomena. We read all the time about “target fixation” in airline accidents.

It’s possible they forgot - or never checked - which mapping apps have the trail on them. Or, one of the reports said they were on steep terrain aroun 12,800. Maybe they checked once it was clear the terrain was rugged, and then couldn’t find a route back to the trail. And of course, it’s possible that they only took guidance from social media, which makes Elbert seem like a walk up even to the uninitiated.

I’m glad the SAR teams successfully rescued the hikers.
Maps won’t work without cell service. Glad they made it out alive and hats off to S&R
Good points, though the KDVR story there indicated they did have cell service the whole time.

Either way glad this story had a happy ending.
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If you can't walk, you crawl
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Re: Elbert S&R last night

Post by nyker »

Agree. And it only takes one wrong turn to get lost even on what's considered an easy trail. Then throw in deep snow, storm/whiteout, approaching nightfall, panic (missing a shoe?!) and probably cold and hunger/thirst then inexperience and all bets are off.

Good work to SAR.
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