Lightning

[two lunches]

having grown up in the midwest where storms last for days and sometimes weeks, i don't think twice about below treeline hiking in a storm. in fact, i often seek out sub-alpine rainy hikes during the spring and fall. sure, there is some risk, but i personally perceive an equal amount of risk driving my car to the trailhead.

however, above treeline i am incredibly conservative in my decision-making when a storm approaches. i could care less about turning around 99% of the time; excepting our friend Bartlett, the mountains will always be there.

[Eli Watson]

Lightning in the mountains is one of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful, powerful, and terrifying forces of nature. In all my years of being a headstrong 20-something in the mountains, I only experienced lightning above treeline twice. The first I turned around immediately while ascending the shoulder of Redcloud, and the second I was already down in the valley on Hwy-82 running through aspens in May. I've played Russian Roulette at times, but I've never been casual about hearing thunder above treeline.

Playing good Samaritan this past summer to call in a rescue kept me on a ridge longer than expected, and a storm snuck up behind me. No thunder, no precipitation warning - just a flash and a crackle at 14,272' that sparked the binder clip I wear on my visor. I looked at the trail runner I had just met on the summit and said, "Oh, we need to get down now." Another simultaneous flash-boom with bass on it while we were running down the trail as fast as possible. I jumped on a snow slope and ripped a glissade to get down to 12.5k in 12 minutes total. There were a lot of people still up there that day, and they weren't exactly running.

I know what lightning tastes like. I don't want a second helping.

[HikesInGeologicTime]

I played chicken with lightning enough when I was early in my fourteenering that it's no small part of the reason I became a chicken about forecasts and consequently took 18 years to finish. I'm slow and miserable at scrambling, so I knew I would need a full day of sunshine for most Class 3-4 peaks. I'm enough of a danger to myself as is without adding potential electrocution into the mix. If I see dark(ening) clouds looming in the distance despite predictions of blue skies, I'm out.

[Hungry Jack]

Sometimes - S*it happens.

We were half way across the Wilson - El D traverse when an electrical storm blew up close by.
The "snapping" of electrical sparks between the tip of my ice axe strapped to my pack and my helmet REALLY got my attention.

No retreat - no escape possible. Fortunately - we made it safely across.

A different snow climb - between Harvard and Columbia - total white out and snowing
when the lighting started booming somewhere close but nearby.

We bailed off the ridge immediately and eventually made it back to the trail head.

Yes, Sometimes - S*it happens.

Jeebus

[nyker]

Read " Shattered Air"

[ikwahr]

Some scary footage of people getting struck by lightning while sheltering under trees in seemingly urban settings:

... is the danger really limited to being above treeline, on ridges and summits?

I'm starting to doubt it seriously. At least we have this advice from the article about those poor hunters... what an awful loss.

Never shelter under an isolated tree. If you’re in a forest, find shelter beneath lower trees, the CDC says.

[nyker]

That's scary.

Where are those taken out of curiosity?

[ikwahr]

That's scary.

Where are those taken out of curiosity?

If you watch on YouTube, the description says it happened in Gurgaon, India. I have a vague memory of reading about it in the news when it happened and was captured by some CCTV.

Not sure of the location of the FB one (guys in red T-shirts on the golf course). The way the guys almost leap and fall seems so weird whereas in the YouTube one, they seem to just go limp and collapse.

[SkaredShtles]

That's scary.

Where are those taken out of curiosity?

If you watch on YouTube, the description says it happened in Gurgaon, India. I have a vague memory of reading about it in the news when it happened and was captured by some CCTV.

Not sure of the location of the FB one (guys in red T-shirts on the golf course). The way the guys almost leap and fall seems so weird whereas in the YouTube one, they seem to just go limp and collapse.

Yeah - it looks weird because it's AI horseshit.

[Fast Jimm]

Based on what we know about trees, and lighting, and people, and India, and AI...

I'd say being outside in an electrical storm is inherently dangerous and unpredictable and- probably- stay TF away from tree trunks.

[dstonebass]

Reading this thread brings up a question I've always wanted to ask on this forum - as someone who lives in Texas and has minimal experience with higher elevations is there any way to tell, or estimate, if any given cloud cover might be a lightening risk?

If the way I'm phrasing this doesn't make sense - a few years ago I had driven up to Telluride for some car camping and day hiking. My first day a big rainstorm hit - 100% cloud cover, off-and-on rain, windy. I decided to forgo any hiking as I didn't want to risk anything (I wound up driving to Utah to visit family instead) but have always wondered if ANY clouds, or any rainy weather in general, can suddenly produce lightening? Or are there times where you feel safe going up to elevation in cloudy or rainy conditions because you can tell from experience that the weather conditions won't necessarily lead to lightening-producing thunderheads?

[cottonmountaineering]

Reading this thread brings up a question I've always wanted to ask on this forum - as someone who lives in Texas and has minimal experience with higher elevations is there any way to tell, or estimate, if any given cloud cover might be a lightening risk?

If the way I'm phrasing this doesn't make sense - a few years ago I had driven up to Telluride for some car camping and day hiking. My first day a big rainstorm hit - 100% cloud cover, off-and-on rain, windy. I decided to forgo any hiking as I didn't want to risk anything (I wound up driving to Utah to visit family instead) but have always wondered if ANY clouds, or any rainy weather in general, can suddenly produce lightening? Or are there times where you feel safe going up to elevation in cloudy or rainy conditions because you can tell from experience that the weather conditions won't necessarily lead to lightening-producing thunderheads?

there are a lot of different types of clouds that pose no thunderstorm risk, if you see tall clouds with a dark bottom (cumulonimbus) those are the ones that pretty much guarantee thunder. generally in the mountains in summer thunderstorms will just happen most days in the afternoon

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