Mountaineering experience
"What you need is combat experience. That's what keeps you alive in real combat."
"OK, but how can you tell the difference between combat experience and real combat?"
"Simple. If you're alive at the end, it was combat experience."
(From The Ballad of Halo Jones)
Saturday's trip to the hills started inauspiciously: I slept through all my alarms, and ( Read more... )
"OK, but how can you tell the difference between combat experience and real combat?"
"Simple. If you're alive at the end, it was combat experience."
(From The Ballad of Halo Jones)
Saturday's trip to the hills started inauspiciously: I slept through all my alarms, and ( Read more... )
And I think you did very well after the accidents started.
Things to consider from my perspective are:
If you reach the summit only by 3 (which is late in this time of year), go down the way you came from. Any surprise that might hit you, can turn into a nightmare. If you're on the summit by noon, you have the time to try out something else for going down.
Would Jo have been fine glissanding without the ice axe? Ending up like a ragdoll but unharmed? In hindsight, I think it was a strike of luck that she didn't use the wristband, so the axe hit here only once. Of course, the best would be if she knew how to use an ice axe when glissanding. This is your responsibility, whether you let people do such things.
This has nothing to do with the accident but made me think:
Leading with crampons when your colleague is unexpierenced and has no crampons is potentially dangerous.
(1)Stomping steps into the snow for the one coming after you, would have maybe smoothered up the path for her.
(2) When it gets difficult for you leading without crampons, it is necessary to either find an alternative route or to turn back.
Bridges are there for a reason, mostly.
I didn't understand your description completely. Did you have a plan how to cross that river again on the way back? Either head for the bridge which you missed by 1km when going up. This means you should have gone back from the top the way you came from anyway. Or head for the bridge at Dalrigh, but then it is not necessary to go down the steep slopes. Consequently heading east straight to the bridge is shallower than going north (at least that's how I remember it).
Good job about rescuing! Thinking clearly in these circumstances and not screwing up the situation even more is not obvious. I'd feel proud in your place.
Philipp
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