Mt Whitney fatality early November

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Gandalf69
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by Gandalf69 »

I'm not sure what's sadder, the accident itself or some of the comments here
"There's always the possibility that some a**hole will be offended." -Clint Eastwood, Escape from Alcatraz
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by nunns »

Gandalf69 wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:54 am I'm not sure what's sadder, the accident itself or some of the comments here
Yeah, my bad. I am deleting my post in light of what the thread is actually about. I apologize for joining in.

Sean Nunn
"Thy righteousness is like the great mountains." --Psalms 36:6
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by Gandalf69 »

nunns wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:57 am
Gandalf69 wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 9:54 am I'm not sure what's sadder, the accident itself or some of the comments here
Yeah, my bad. I am deleting my post in light of what the thread is actually about. I apologize for joining in.

Sean Nunn
It's more the noob comment and the arguing when we should be thinking about the person who died
"There's always the possibility that some a**hole will be offended." -Clint Eastwood, Escape from Alcatraz
"Life is cruel, why should the afterlife be any different".-Davey Jones
"The decision to triage us to death...I understand. I don't know that I would agree with it. Certainly not in retrospect because obviously I made it."-Beck Weathers, Dark side of Everest
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by SephTR »

angry wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:31 pm
SephTR wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:47 am
Outdated. My strength doubles every day.
You asked about Shasta in Jan and wrote “I'm not an expert on winter mountains”. I’m curious what incredible feats of strength have made you an expert sierra nevada hiker in less than a year?
Oh nothing big. Just the white mountain peak forteener of the eastern Sierra.
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Jon Frohlich
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by Jon Frohlich »

SephTR wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:46 pm
angry wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:31 pm
SephTR wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:47 am
Outdated. My strength doubles every day.
You asked about Shasta in Jan and wrote “I'm not an expert on winter mountains”. I’m curious what incredible feats of strength have made you an expert sierra nevada hiker in less than a year?
Oh nothing big. Just the white mountain peak forteener of the eastern Sierra.
You mean the one with a road to the top?

You're not even a good troll.
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by Bale »

Weird how when someone dies falling down stairs it’s simply an accident, but when someone dies falling down a mountain they are ruthlessly scrutinized by strangers on an Internet forum. Again, may the surviving family of this woman find peace.
Edit to add; the “noob” comment is bad but we have all seen worse. Not only are these sentiments insensitive, they are just flat out bad Karma.
The earth, like the sun, like the air, belongs to everyone - and to no one. - Edward Abbey
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by Ptglhs »

One hopes SephTR and CoCo can go hiking together and enjoy some quality time overnight in a mine shaft.
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by d_baker »

Ptglhs wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:41 pm One hopes SephTR and CoCo can go hiking together and enjoy some quality time overnight in a mine shaft.
Maybe one is the sockpuppet for the other?
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by markf »

Jon Frohlich wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:55 pm
SephTR wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:46 pm
angry wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:31 pm

You asked about Shasta in Jan and wrote “I'm not an expert on winter mountains”. I’m curious what incredible feats of strength have made you an expert sierra nevada hiker in less than a year?
Oh nothing big. Just the white mountain peak forteener of the eastern Sierra.
You mean the one with a road to the top?

You're not even a good troll.
I think he means the one in the White Mountains, an entirely separate range from the Sierra Nevada.
mark
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by Scott P »

markf wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:03 pmI think he means the one in the White Mountains, an entirely separate range from the Sierra Nevada.
Correct; White Mountain Peak isn't in the Sierra Nevada. It's an entirely different mountain range.

Seph is either a troll and/or incredible stupid. I would guess both.

Anyway, Nyker has the best post:

I won't speculate on the how/what/why's but what I can say is even on the standard Whitney Main Trail, if conditions are cold, snowy and/or dark it can be very disorienting even for someone experienced in the mountains.
From what I understand she was just going for an afternoon quick day hike, not a summit climb and slipped and fell not that far out from the Portal and was apparently just off the trail.
Most people expecting to be on a short ~1hr hike probably won't be bringing a pack filled with the normal layers and additional gear you'd bring for a lengthy summit climb or late Autumn ascent.

I've been on the rock there in many different weather scenarios and when it's iced over, the ice is often not evident and its easy to slip even on route, if you stray off route even a few feet
you're likely to encounter cliff bands with 50-100ft or more drops. This area is often at a transition point where ice starts where even if you brought microspikes you might not put them on yet.
Accidents happen to the best of us and they usually begin with a simple slip or trip which then isn't stopped. I'd say 100% of us have had seemingly innocent "trips" or "slips" in the mountains at some point.

The fact that she survived two nights out before succumbing, after falling and very possibly seriously injured and scared, with minimal food and water, wearing summer clothes in below freezing temps / negative windchill in an approaching storm
tells me she was a tough determined person.

RIP Cassandra. To her friends and family, our thoughts are with you.


It is true that lot of climbing accidents are caused by inexperience, folly, or recklessness.

In this case at least, it sounds like she went for a run and slipped on the ice near the trailhead. That could happen to anyone. She was well below timberline and not making a summit attempt. She then crawled under a log to wait for help. She survived two days alone and injured before she succumbed.

I guess she could have been more prepared for the conditions, but many people just out for a short run or hike, usually pack pretty minimal. I know I often do on short hikes (I'm not a runner).

Anyway, RIP Cassandra.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by SephTR »

Scott P wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:29 pm
In this case at least, it sounds like she went for a run and slipped on the ice near the trailhead. That could happen to anyone. She was well below timberline and not making a summit attempt. She then crawled under a log to wait for help. She survived two days alone and injured before she succumbed.

Anyway, RIP Cassandra.
maybe she should have brought some more hand warmers.
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Re: Mt Whitney fatality early November

Post by Mtnman200 »

SephTR wrote: Sun Dec 06, 2020 2:05 ammaybe she should have brought some more hand warmers.
STFU, troll.
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