8/27/17 - Fatality on Capitol Peak

[JROSKA]

So this guy's partner agreed to climb with him knowing he'd never done a 14er, was wearing inappropriate gear and they started very late? He's on my list of people I will never climb with that's for sure! Inexcusable in my opinion.

Out come the pitchforks. Nice first post.

I'm sure he feels badly about the way it worked out already.

I agree. I'm so sorry for the White family and their loss, but I'm also sorry for Wilhelm. That's got to be a tough thing to live with. Please keep it kind.

Yeah, I actually feel a lot of sympathy toward the survivor, Wilhelm. Would I have hiked with the young kid given the inexperience and improper footwear? Probably not. But I think most of us can at least relate to the situation. Looking forward to a big climb, Capitol, hiking partner bails, and this new guy probably seemed willing and enthusiastic. Putting myself in that situation I can see why there'd be a strong temptation to say "let's do this" despite any skepticism.

As for those criticizing him for leaving his partner on the mountain, again, I try to put myself in that situation. In all honesty I don't know what I'd do. It sounds as though he was making strong attempts to exert some leadership with some force, but the other guy just wasn't having it. That's a tough one. I don't know what I'd do but I do know that if a hiking partner was literally marching toward likely or certain death and would not stop despite my pleas, I would not blindly follow him. I'd probably be in a state of shock. Maybe stay on the mountain and hope he comes back up? But it was getting late, it's Capitol Peak. Seems like a really difficult situation all around.

The only thing I question a little is not calling for help right away instead of the next morning. But again, maybe there was some shock and irrationality going on. He may have been hoping against hope that the kid showed up in the morning with "hey there, I made it down".

Anyway it's a tough account to read. My condolences to the victim's family and friends, and the survivor.

[peter303]

Foc 31 news said the unfortunate victim was on his first 14er with a companion. The TV commentator (correctly) recommended building a learning progression of easier to harder 14ers. God rest his soul.

[MountainMetaphor]

This may be a view of the chute and slabby area described. Just out of sight: cliffs.

capitol ramp to nowhere.jpg

That almost looks too steep and loose to climb back up. I wonder if what happens is people go down there and then are unable to come back up. I remember with the aspen couple people heard rockfall and them screaming for a few hours, suggesting that they may have tried to get back up but couldnt. Especially if the loose gully gets even steeper before the cliff. Then when they realize they cant get back up, they face the 600 ft cliff which is unclimable, and end up falling to their deaths in a desparate attempt to downclimb it.

I thought the same. The Aspen couple were seen on the summit at around 11:30, and the screams and rockfall were heard by campers at Capitol Lake after 6:30. They must have spent those hours trying to find their way out of the bind they'd gotten themselves into by going off-route.

Hoping not to upset anyone by asking this, but... if either the couple or the 21-year-old had been able to use an SOS device to call for help while in this gully, supposing there was a small ledge or something where they could stay put for a period of time, would Mountain Rescue have been able to get to them in time? I ask because last summer I got cliffed out on a solo backpack--not anything nearly as austere as Capitol's north face but still enough to place me in a bind--and I considered using the SOS button on my Delorme. I had an emergency blanket and the ledge was big enough that I could have spent the night on it, which is what I figured I'd have to do if I were waiting for help. Luckily, I managed to find a safe way down. But in the recent Capitol cases, I wonder if calling for help would have been a viable Option C after A (climbing back up) and B (continuing with the down climb) proved impossible.

[Phill the Thrill]

Hoping not to upset anyone by asking this, but... if either the couple or the 21-year-old had been able to use an SOS device to call for help while in this gully, supposing there was a small ledge or something where they could stay put for a period of time, would Mountain Rescue have been able to get to them in time? I ask because last summer I got cliffed out on a solo backpack--not anything nearly as austere as Capitol's north face but still enough to place me in a bind--and I considered using the SOS button on my Delorme. I had an emergency blanket and the ledge was big enough that I could have spent the night on it, which is what I figured I'd have to do if I were waiting for help. Luckily, I managed to find a safe way down. But in the recent Capitol cases, I wonder if calling for help would have been a viable Option C after A (climbing back up) and B (continuing with the down climb) proved impossible.

Absolutely. If I remember correctly, I believe someone tried to descend the north face of Capitol several years ago, and managed to make a call with his cell phone while waiting on a narrow ledge till he was rescued.

[Phill the Thrill]

I agree. I'm so sorry for the White family and their loss, but I'm also sorry for Wilhelm. That's got to be a tough thing to live with. Please keep it kind.

Same here. I feel sorry for White's friends and family, and tremendous sympathy for Wilhelm. Both of these guys are in their early 20s from what I understand, and it sounds to me like Wilhelm did what he could to warn his climbing partner, and then searched for several hours after he returned to the lake. You can't blame him. How many 21-year-old men listen to the advice of their peers on proper clothing, gear, climbing routes, etc.? It's just a tragedy all the way around.

[mountainute]

Very sad news about the accidents on Capitol. Condolences to all friends and family of those who passed there. God with you all.

I'll start a new thread in another part of the forum.

Mountainute

[Candace66]

A rule of thumb I often use is "if you can't view rhe whole route down, stick with the devil you know."...

Yep. If you can't see the entire slope while looking down from the top of it, you have to assume there is a cliff band (or at any rate, something too steep to safely downclimb) in there.


at that article.

[illusion7il]

I sort of feel that most of the photos attached to this thread are only adding to the confusion, as they don't include a blue line drawn in to indicate the gully that apparently draws people in.

Here is your blue line. As stated by the CMC, All routes on the N. Face lead to a large cliff.

[SoCool]

Or maybe this purple line, or maybe in between, but yeah gullies of death to be sure.

IMG_1569.JPG (116.72 KiB) Viewed 2969 times

More purple lines:

IMG_1571.JPG (911.26 KiB) Viewed 2737 times

And even more purple lines:

IMG_1570.JPG (1.27 MiB) Viewed 2737 times

Hell I wouldn't be surprised if there was a false path AND false cairns at this stage.