Fatality on Crestone Needle

[ylingli]

@Wolfman_CO, the rescue on Humboldt was a woman with acute mountain sickness. A helicopter was in the process of air-lifting her off the mountain.

My condolences to all his friends and family, and I'm still in shock about what happened. I wanted to share my story because I believe I was the last person to speak to this group:

My climbing partner Pete and I met these guys on the summit, but I decided not to hang around for too long because it was very windy and I told Pete that I wanted to allow plenty of time to descend (we left the summit at 12:30 pm). We had climbed the class 4 variation, but Pete let me decide which way to descend. We had seen where to cross from the east to the west gully on the standard route, so I thought it would be safer descending the standard class 3 route which neither of us had done before. I led the way down but after about 200 ft, the terrain got more difficult and it didn't seem like class 3 terrain. Pete and I assessed the conditions and when I checked my GPS, I told Pete that we were off-route. At this point, we saw the three guys who had followed us down. After some discussion and assessing of the conditions, I said to the three guys "the GPS says we're off-route, we don't see a safe way down, we're going back up, turning right, and then heading back down the way we came up". One of the guys said "you're right, we're going back up too". We climbed back up, and then descended the way we came up. I looked back occasionally and didn't see them and on the descent, we looked out for them but didn't see them below us so assumed that they had found a safe way down.......

[GA_peach]

This is always sad to read, RIP Mr. Hunt.

I climbed the Needle on Saturday and met up with two others in the East Gully but we could not find the spot to cross over to the West. The only option I saw was going 'vertical limit' and jumping across and I wasn't doing that.
Two others caught up and 5 of us all went up the East Gully fairly easily, later 3 of us decided to descended the East Gully all the way and felt pretty safe doing that.

My thought here is, should someone who knows the East/West crossing points exactly, mark them with paint like all the bullseye's on Longs Peak?
I know some may consider that heresy but if a few painted circles would save someone from going over a cliff, it would be worth it.

Alan

[onebyone]

This is always sad to read, RIP Mr. Hunt.

I climbed the Needle on Saturday and met up with two others in the East Gully but we could not find the spot to cross over to the West. The only option I saw was going 'vertical limit' and jumping across and I wasn't doing that.
Two others caught up and 5 of us all went up the East Gully fairly easily, later 3 of us decided to descended the East Gully all the way and felt pretty safe doing that.

My thought here is, should someone who knows the East/West crossing points exactly, mark them with paint like all the bullseye's on Longs Peak?
I know some may consider that heresy but if a few painted circles would save someone from going over a cliff, it would be worth it.

Alan

I'm usually not for marking trails like this, but in this case I'm all for it. The danger level justifies it. I'm pretty sure I missed the crossover myself because we ended up ding a bunch of down climbing. The crossover is very difficult to find if you do the traverse b/c you obviously have zero familiarity with the route.

[spiderman]

So sad to hear about another fatality on the Needle. It is easy to get off course on this peak, especially on the way down.

[ezabielski]

This is always sad to read, RIP Mr. Hunt.

I climbed the Needle on Saturday and met up with two others in the East Gully but we could not find the spot to cross over to the West. The only option I saw was going 'vertical limit' and jumping across and I wasn't doing that.
Two others caught up and 5 of us all went up the East Gully fairly easily, later 3 of us decided to descended the East Gully all the way and felt pretty safe doing that.

My thought here is, should someone who knows the East/West crossing points exactly, mark them with paint like all the bullseye's on Longs Peak?
I know some may consider that heresy but if a few painted circles would save someone from going over a cliff, it would be worth it.

Alan

The crossing was marked lightly in 2014 with reflective foil and a few flags mostly on the West side for you to see when going down. Not sure on the current status of that. GPS and altimeter was also extremely helpful when I did it in the fog.

[XterraRob]

I'm usually not for marking trails like this, but in this case I'm all for it. The danger level justifies it. I'm pretty sure I missed the crossover myself because we ended up ding a bunch of down climbing. The crossover is very difficult to find if you do the traverse b/c you obviously have zero familiarity with the route.

The Needle's gully jumping can be tedious, especially if you're exhausted from a long day. IIRC, heading down the "Class 3" gully there was a small cairn high on the left side that you had to watch for and that was basically the marker. Missing it and descending further I'd imagine would be a pretty distressing situation. The climb up and down the rock that separates the gullies and crossing over to the original gully felt like the crux to me, especially if ice is present. Just part of the inherent danger associated with climbing these peaks.

RIP Stephen

[painless4u2]

This is always sad to read, RIP Mr. Hunt. My thought here is, should someone who knows the East/West crossing points exactly, mark them with paint like all the bullseye's on Longs Peak?Alan

As sad a situation this is, placing bulls-eyes on a mountain is not the solution. We need to keep our mountains as "natural" as possible, even if that includes assuming the risk along the way. Cairns are a less-permanent, but effective and preferable method.
My condolences to the family for their loss.

[alsrun]

The East/West crossover concern is understandable especially when descending the West gully on the way out. I would suggest a climber carry a strip of surveyor's tape with them and when they get into the West gully on the way up wrap it around a rock and leave it at the spot where they entered the West gully. It can be cleaned up by the last person on the way out. I am really saddened by these accidents that happen to people at the very moment they are experiencing the joy of being in the mountains.

[bjkent76]

Deepest condolences to the family and friends. This just rattles me every time I see a report of a fatality. Thoughts and prayers to all personally touched by this terrible loss.

This hits home even more as I am planning on climbing the Needle next week (with my normal hiking buddy). We are fit and pretty experienced, but neither of us has been on the Needle. I have been scouring trip reports looking for a definitive picture of the point where people get off trail on the descent and can't find what I think is the right shot. Does any have a pic of this juncture?

Again, so very sorry to hear of a loss in our climbing community.

Be safe everyone!

[TallGrass]

Regarding "marking" the gulley cross over... Think this would be best brought to the attention of the Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI). Met some last week at their base camp near Willow Lake for current work on Challenger. Met someone with Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI) who said RMFI covers the Sangre 14ers and they the rest in CO. Heard stories last year too when up in SCL, like a hiker and parent who resorted to rapping, bivouaced for the night, then continued and got out the next day.

Had the Needle among loop options (Horn Creek to SCL, cut short due to time, water) and would have descended that gulley without ever having gone up it. My plan was if I couldn't cross over, reascend and take the Class 4 option over to it from the summit, not unlike taking Capitol's C4 ridge back versus traversing its loose face. Had a print of the route description from here, including some beta photos of the crossover looking down the gulley as well as the C4 option. I tend to hand them off to those inbound when I'm outbound.

Hope the climber didn't suffer. Thoughts with his partner and respective families. Guess SC works that side versus CC SAR, but appreciate all their work and patience.

[highpilgrim]

My condolences to the lost climber and his family.

It is easy to get off course on this peak, especially on the way down.

There is no need to crossover into the west gully. There is a mostly class three route through the east gully with short relatively easy class 4 sections.

http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... one+needle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Wish I lived in CO]

Deepest condolences. I cannot even begin to imagine the horrible grief and sense of loss that there may be.

I have been scouring trip reports looking for a definitive picture of the point where people get off trail on the descent and can't find what I think is the right shot. Does any have a pic of this juncture?

Here you go, when descending the west gulley, look for this view:

WEST GULLEY TURN-OFF.jpg

A wider view:

DSC02836.JPG