14ers.com

https://www.outtherecolorado.com/news/c ... 17515.html

Bivyed at 13,850' after two downclimb attempts failed. Article doesnt says how SAR was contacted. But SAR injected some climbers by helicopter the following morning to guide the downclimb.

I wonder if the difficulty was in choosing a different downclimb path than the upclimb path?
Article also doesnt mention weather. Some peaks got a snow dusting that weekend.

peter303 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 24, 2021 4:58 pm https://www.outtherecolorado.com/news/c ... 17515.html

Bivyed at 13,850' after two downclimb attempts failed. Article doesnt says how SAR was contacted. But SAR injected some climbers by helicopter the following morning to guide the downclimb.

I wonder if the difficulty was in choosing a different downclimb path than the upclimb path?
Article also doesnt mention weather. Some peaks got a snow dusting that weekend.

article says they climbed ellingwood. though i suppose you could rap the route, it would be a pain and walking off the standard route is much preferred. people get lost descending that route all the time as the route finding is not trivial.

This is very odd - if they had gear they could have rapped down the standard route - or at least give it a little look-see. If they made a mistake, they could just simply climb up again. I guess the big takeaway is don't top out the climb in the dark.

good for them for at least having the gear to safely spend a night out. Most day hikers would die of hypothermia at 13k overnight with what they typically carry.

They were in the wrong gully. It rained and hailed from about 1730 to 1830 and then winds were blowing very strong all night. Given that it was night, on wet rock, windy, and not sure of how they felt physically, I can understand why they bivyed. I saw the climbing pair on Sunday at about 1130 coming down from the traverse. They were n a relatively safe area below the summit ridge but clearly in the wrong gulley. Glad they had the right gear to bivy and made it out safe. Not second guessing the pair, because obviously they had the skill to climb a big route with Ellingwood Arete, but a good reminder, the summit is only half the climb. Glad Custer SAR was able to help them to get out safely.