El Diente Rescue

[timisimaginary]

this article on Outside gives a first-hand account of an accident and rescue on El Diente this past July:
https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-a ... -colorado/

[climbingyogi]

I'm a little confused. He said he was at 14,100 when he took a left instead of a right. If he took the Navajo Lake approach (as he says he did), then he either had to do the standard North Slopes route or the North Buttress route, correct? I haven't done the Wilson Group yet so excuse my ignorance, but if he took the North Slopes route, then where did he accidentally go 'left' instead of 'right' at 14,100? He would've been on the ridge or close to it at that point, right?

[Tornadoman]

I would think 14,100' would be on the ridge (or right below it). That's an incredible rescue story, hats off to SAR, and also seemed like a well-prepared climber who kept his cool in a tough situation!

[hellmanm]

I'm a little confused. He said he was at 14,100 when he took a left instead of a right. If he took the Navajo Lake approach (as he says he did), then he either had to do the standard North Slopes route or the North Buttress route, correct? I haven't done the Wilson Group yet so excuse my ignorance, but if he took the North Slopes route, then where did he accidentally go 'left' instead of 'right' at 14,100? He would've been on the ridge or close to it at that point, right?

I could see it. You gain the ridge in different ways depending no the route you take, but both the N and S Slopes get to the same area before the final push. I've only done the S slopes, but the route description explains it. You have to do some gully-hopping, then there's a notch around 14k that forces you to pick a side. You're supposed to head right, then around and up to the summit area. If he went left, it would get into steep and loose terrain quickly. It's at photos 22/23 on the N slopes description, and at photos 18/19 on the S slopes description.

[climbingyogi]

Gotcha, thanks!

[Trotter]

Glad he made it out ok. He was very lucky SAR was able to get to him, as he wouldn't have survived the night.

[SchralpTheGnar]

I would think 14,100' would be on the ridge (or right below it). That's an incredible rescue story, hats off to SAR, and also seemed like a well-prepared climber who kept his cool in a tough situation!

Hats off to SAR, but that dude was not well prepared

[Tornadoman]

I would think 14,100' would be on the ridge (or right below it). That's an incredible rescue story, hats off to SAR, and also seemed like a well-prepared climber who kept his cool in a tough situation!

Hats off to SAR, but that dude was not well prepared

Fair enough, he should have had better clothing. What I was implying was he was prepared with an emergency beacon and did a nice job of keeping his cool in a tough situation.

[John Landers]

I would think 14,100' would be on the ridge (or right below it). That's an incredible rescue story, hats off to SAR, and also seemed like a well-prepared climber who kept his cool in a tough situation!

Hats off to SAR, but that dude was not well prepared

Fair enough, he should have had better clothing. What I was implying was he was prepared with an emergency beacon and did a nice job of keeping his cool in a tough situation.

Happy things worked out for him, and that he was rescued. But I have to agree this guy was not well prepared and may very well have died from hypothermia if not for technology. Thus, it raises the question, at least to me, are people going less prepared with what they are carrying in their kit because they have an emergency beacon with them?

[hellmanm]

Happy things worked out for him, and that he was rescued. But I have to agree this guy was not well prepared and may very well have died from hypothermia if not for technology. Thus, it raises the question, at least to me, are people going less prepared with what they are carrying in their kit because they have an emergency beacon with them?

I don't think so. Even in the article, the guy references how averse he was to using his beacon. I think it's more of a superman complex. I love to pick on trail runners for this one, as they (generally) seem to be the least prepared and mistakenly think that a faster pace reduces risk, but it's the "I'm fit/strong enough to get out of anything under my own power if things go wrong" line of thought. Remember, he had wet clothes the night before and decided to soldier through the misery.

Nobody plans to get injured, regardless of whether or not a rescue is feasible. Plenty of us have a high tolerance for discomfort and a poor assessment of what we can get away with, though. There's also the sunken cost fallacy (e.g. "I drove 7 hours for this, and despite missing items X,Y, and Z I am NOT turning around").