Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

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Hungry Jack
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by Hungry Jack »

Hate these stories. It's a sure sign of hiking season that I could live without.
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by IkeB »

Sad news.
Alpinista
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by Alpinista »

Alpinista's first law of mountaineering: "shortcuts rarely are."

RIP to the unfortunate hiker and condolences to friends and family.
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Johnson
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by Johnson »

Very sad to read this. My condolences to his family and friends.
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by Honeybush »

Being a novice climber, what is the protocol when hiking in groups in regards to letting one of your team venture off alone?

Sorry to hear of his tragic death.
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unclegar
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by unclegar »

Very sorry to hear of this accident. My condolences to his family and friends. Those Mountain Rescue Aspen folks sure have a tough job living in that area. (and they do a great job) Thanks again!
...the mountain peaks belong to Him. -- PS 95:4

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ameristrat
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by ameristrat »

It's been a tough year. Praying for the family and friends of Mr. Palmer - May God give you peace and healing as you grieve.
You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know. - Rene Daumal
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toekramp
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by toekramp »

Alpinista wrote:Alpinista's first law of mountaineering: "shortcuts rarely are."

RIP to the unfortunate hiker and condolences to friends and family.

Terrible to hear this news. Heart goes out to the community around him.
Last edited by toekramp on Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time.
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by smrcka »

Very sad news...RIP Ryan. Eerie that while climbing today my partner and I talked about the N Face of Capitol and how difficult it is. Condolences to family and friends.
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. - Mahatma Gandhi

To be aware is to be alive!
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fevercity
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by fevercity »

Tragic season indeed.
RIP, Ryan.
Condolences to the friends & family.
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shearmodulus
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by shearmodulus »

Honeybush wrote:Being a novice climber, what is the protocol when hiking in groups in regards to letting one of your team venture off alone?

Sorry to hear of his tragic death.
First rule of safety - the only person that is ultimately responsible for your safety is YOU.

First rule of hiking/climbing in groups - stay together and defer to the weakest climber/hiker.

Unfortunately, the scenario described is not uncommon, namely "We decided to split up because [reason x] and never saw him/her again."

I climb solo in the winter all the time, but to prevent the same outcome, I am extremely risk adverse for route-selection, weather conditions and other objective hazards. I also keep to a rigid timeline so as to prevent an unnecessarily long delay in rescue operations should I go overdue, several people know my detailed itinerary and I carry a SPOT to check in with.

Bottom line is that you can never be too careful, but being in a group mitigates some of the hazards (and creates some of its own with groupthink, ego, pride, etc).
"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads...."
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Re: Capitol Peak Accident 7/19/2013

Post by djkest »

Rest in Peace, Ryan. I'm hoping my mom doesn't see this. She's already giving me a hard time about wanting to do Capitol Peak.
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