Mt. Massive rescue

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Dan_Suitor
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Mt. Massive rescue

Post by Dan_Suitor »

Just saw this on Denver 7 news. Glad all are safe.
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/l ... mt-massive
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by nmjameswilson »

Man they must have headed out later in the day to climb ... 8pm is very late especially this time of year.
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by Slawson405 »

Rescued from a ton of poor decisions. How does that happen in that area…
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by SamWerner »

"By 11 p.m., rescuers found the hikers in the Half Moon Lakes Basin. They were cold, hungry and thirsty, but otherwise in good condition after spending 34 hours in the backcountry without shelter."

That's a long time to be outside this time of year with no shelter, I'm surprised it turned out this well.
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by Salient »

SamWerner wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:25 am "By 11 p.m., rescuers found the hikers in the Half Moon Lakes Basin. They were cold, hungry and thirsty, but otherwise in good condition after spending 34 hours in the backcountry without shelter."
Yeah, it also implies that they had slept outside with no shelter the night prior as well.
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two lunches
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by two lunches »

how do you get into to halfmoon lakes basin? is there a trail that splits off the SW slopes route? is it possible to get directionally confused and bang a right after the descent if you're coming down in the dark instead of going left back to the TH?

also how's the fishing :roll:
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by JQDivide »

stephakett wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:38 am how do you get into to halfmoon lakes basin? is there a trail that splits off the SW slopes route? is it possible to get directionally confused and bang a right after the descent if you're coming down in the dark instead of going left back to the TH?
Just going west off Massive can take you into the basin, especially if you come off N Massive.
And anything is possible at night when you are tired.

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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by Slawson405 »

stephakett wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:38 am how do you get into to halfmoon lakes basin? is there a trail that splits off the SW slopes route? is it possible to get directionally confused and bang a right after the descent if you're coming down in the dark instead of going left back to the TH?

also how's the fishing :roll:
There’s a 4x4 road that takes you into the basin to access Oklahoma and Massive’s south slopes. If you went right coming down, you’d be heading uphill. OT sure how they got so lost. It’s not a hard basin to navigate
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two lunches
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by two lunches »

i'm making the assumption that they went both up and down the SW slopes route, as it is noticeably different from the standard route, but sincerely curious if there's a "well-beaten path" that leads north instead of south once you get into the basin.

and if anyone has ever caught anything over there. google says there is trout, but google also says there is trout in Bear Lake and i'm not buying it.
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by timisimaginary »

Slawson405 wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:01 am Rescued from a ton of poor decisions. How does that happen in that area…
which poor decisions? the article posted doesn't give nearly enough information to pass judgment on whatever actions or decisions they took.
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by timisimaginary »

Midwestlungs wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:07 pm
timisimaginary wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 1:39 pm
Slawson405 wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:01 am Rescued from a ton of poor decisions. How does that happen in that area…
which poor decisions? the article posted doesn't give nearly enough information to pass judgment on whatever actions or decisions they took.
Although I understand your point, unless someone got hurt (no mention of this) then they made the poor decision of not knowing the area or starting too late or both.
that's the point. how do we know when they started? how do we know they don't know the area? the article doesn't say anything about what time they started, only what time they called for help. plenty could have happened in that time that led to their situation deteriorating, that may or may not have been within their control. it's entirely possible they made poor decisions or were unprepared for this hike, but we shouldn't make those assumptions without more information.
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Re: Mt. Massive rescue

Post by mtn_hound »

timisimaginary wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:43 pm
Midwestlungs wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:07 pm
timisimaginary wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 1:39 pm

which poor decisions? the article posted doesn't give nearly enough information to pass judgment on whatever actions or decisions they took.
Although I understand your point, unless someone got hurt (no mention of this) then they made the poor decision of not knowing the area or starting too late or both.
that's the point. how do we know when they started? how do we know they don't know the area? the article doesn't say anything about what time they started, only what time they called for help. plenty could have happened in that time that led to their situation deteriorating, that may or may not have been within their control. it's entirely possible they made poor decisions or were unprepared for this hike, but we shouldn't make those assumptions without more information.
Well they were rescued at 11 pm after spending 34 hours in the backcountry. Sounds to me like they started at 1 pm the previous day.
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