Mt. of the Holy Cross Trip Report 09/07/2008

Peak(s):	Mt. of the Holy Cross - 14,007 feet
Date Posted:	09/07/2008
Date Climbed:	09/07/2008
Author:	pyraxans

Septerm 5-6 2008, Holy Cross rescue
I post this so others may learn from my mistakes (yes, i made bad choices), but let me first dispel any myths you may have: 1.) I am not a rookie nor a beginner. I have 800+ miles of hiking under my feet. I worked for a season on a back country trail crew in the San Juans, I've hiked much of Colorado's CDT, and hiked numerous 14ers. I'm not an expert but somewhere around intermediate hiker. 2.) I was not lost, just stupid. I knew exactly where i was (map, gps, and compass). I climbed above and beyond my ability, and vastly above my intellect. 3.) Many of you can't comprehend 'getting stuck' on a mountain, I didn't understand how it could happen till yesterday. Ignorance is bliss, i can't explain it, I hope you never understand how one 'gets stuck'. To what happened... My partner, David, his dog, and I hiked up to lake Patricia on the 5th and camped the night. Our original plan was to hike down from Patricia to the standard route and ascend. We instead decided to try the Angelica Coloir. This route should never be done without adequate snow/equipment (I found this out the hard way). The coloir splits midway, standard ascent takes you left (South) while straight (West) is non-standard however it is easier when snow is absent. I was lead and tried going the standard way. David also attempted but found it too difficult and turned around. I was too far away to hear him say this (mistake #1) and kept going believing he was behind me. I recently have become good at bouldering/climbing due to picking up the hobby in a gym. I started making more difficult moves that I did not realize I could not repeat downward. I got about 500 feet up the coloir with the rock getting worse and moves getting tougher (class 4+). Eventually, I made a move that stuck me in a spot i could no longer ascend and descent was too risky. I sat back and thought out my options, i called my girlfriend to buy time, gave her my gps coordinates, and then dialed 911. Three hours later, eating a snickers and remembering TalusMonkey's and other's stories I thought to myself, this could be the last snickers I ever eat. It was at that moment I heard the propellers of a blackhawk helicopter. My first thought was thank you Lord, then this will be expensive, How humiliating what a joke. Vail Mountain Rescue is an excellent crew that acted professionally. Rescue was very difficult for them, Headquarters never gave them my gps coordinates, go figure.... I was eventually spotted by the blackhawk by attaching my bright yellow rainfly to my tent poles and waving it like a flag. It became obvious on my way up i made the right decision because it only got harder. David and his dog summited up the non-standard coloir and were later taken to Eagle airport as was I later. While I am embarrassed and did make bad decisions I know i eventually made the right one, Steve, my rescuers said its better to be rescued unscathed than recovered from the bottom. Always carry an ice axe and a clear mentality, both can save your life. My clear mentality kicked in late, but better late than never. An ice axe would have easily gotten me out of my situation by giving a self arrest advice. Challenge yourself, but think, I didn't do the latter. I am extremely lucky and you can think what you will of me, it can happen to anyone. p.s I left my entire backpack of gear on the ridge. Cash reward or a piece of gear to anyone who finds it and returns it to me, here is the location via SPOT http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ryoOp7VZYehXbRDJF9SWgJVLdElvxGTk here are the coordinates:39.46825N 106.48327W, elev 13,016ft Don‘t attempt unless you want a helicopter ride or its snowed.

Septerm 5-6 2008, Holy Cross rescue

I post this so others may learn from my mistakes (yes, i made bad choices), but let me first dispel any myths you may have:
1.) I am not a rookie nor a beginner. I have 800+ miles of hiking under my feet. I worked for a season on a back country trail crew in the San Juans, I've hiked much of Colorado's CDT, and hiked numerous 14ers. I'm not an expert but somewhere around intermediate hiker.
2.) I was not lost, just stupid. I knew exactly where i was (map, gps, and compass). I climbed above and beyond my ability, and vastly above my intellect.
3.) Many of you can't comprehend 'getting stuck' on a mountain, I didn't understand how it could happen till yesterday. Ignorance is bliss, i can't explain it, I hope you never understand how one 'gets stuck'.

To what happened...
My partner, David, his dog, and I hiked up to lake Patricia on the 5th and camped the night. Our original plan was to hike down from Patricia to the standard route and ascend. We instead decided to try the Angelica Coloir. This route should never be done without adequate snow/equipment (I found this out the hard way). The coloir splits midway, standard ascent takes you left (South) while straight (West) is non-standard however it is easier when snow is absent. I was lead and tried going the standard way. David also attempted but found it too difficult and turned around. I was too far away to hear him say this (mistake #1) and kept going believing he was behind me.

I recently have become good at bouldering/climbing due to picking up the hobby in a gym. I started making more difficult moves that I did not realize I could not repeat downward. I got about 500 feet up the coloir with the rock getting worse and moves getting tougher (class 4+). Eventually, I made a move that stuck me in a spot i could no longer ascend and descent was too risky. I sat back and thought out my options, i called my girlfriend to buy time, gave her my gps coordinates, and then dialed 911.

Three hours later, eating a snickers and remembering TalusMonkey's and other's stories I thought to myself, this could be the last snickers
I ever eat. It was at that moment I heard the propellers of a blackhawk helicopter. My first thought was thank you Lord, then this will be expensive, How humiliating what a joke.

Vail Mountain Rescue is an excellent crew that acted professionally. Rescue was very difficult for them, Headquarters never gave them my gps coordinates, go figure.... I was eventually spotted by the blackhawk by attaching my bright yellow rainfly to my tent poles and waving it like a flag. It became obvious on my way up i made the right decision because it only got harder.

David and his dog summited up the non-standard coloir and were later taken to Eagle airport as was I later. While I am embarrassed and did make bad decisions I know i eventually made the right one, Steve, my rescuers said its better to be rescued unscathed than recovered from the bottom.

Always carry an ice axe and a clear mentality, both can save your life. My clear mentality kicked in late, but better late than never. An ice axe would have easily gotten me out of my situation by giving a self arrest advice.

Challenge yourself, but think, I didn't do the latter.
I am extremely lucky and you can think what you will of me, it can happen to anyone.

p.s I left my entire backpack of gear on the ridge. Cash reward or a piece of gear to anyone who finds it and returns it to me, here is the location via SPOT
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ryoOp7VZYehXbRDJF9SWgJVLdElvxGTk

here are the coordinates:39.46825N 106.48327W, elev 13,016ft
Don‘t attempt unless you want a helicopter ride or its snowed.

Comments or Questions

ajkagy	good to be safe 9/7/2008 8:45pm Not trying to criticize or anything, but did you do any research or gather detailed beta on the route before attempting the route? Why did you decide not to bring an ice axe? Have you attempted any other snow climbs with slopes of 40+ degrees?
pyraxans	re: good to be safe 9/7/2008 8:59pm I only had Roach and my previous experiences, it was a terrible decision. I didn‘t have an ice axe because i was expecting simple class three scrambling and this was not the route i originally planned to take.
Jack	good ending 9/7/2008 9:17pm After all of the things that have happened this year and last, it is good that you were able to keep your ego in check and make the safe decision to ask for help. Trouble often ensues when individuals try to get themselves out of these difficult positions. I am glad to see a rescue with a positive ending. I am sure that you have learned much from this experience and hopefully others have too. gook work by the rescue crew as well!
ajkagy	:) 9/7/2008 10:15pm It was a good decision to call SAR if you knew it would have been too risky to downclimb. I‘ve been in a few sticky situations myself so I can relate. Luckily I was able to get out of them without further assistance, including when my g/f broke her foot on pitch 5 of a 8 pitch climb.
vmr_1	From the CP 9/8/2008 4:38pm Hi, as the Incident Commander of this incident I just wanted to say the coordiantes we got third hand put us on the back side of the Cross. As the cell phone connection we had was intermittemnt we did it the old school way. We looked until we found the signal flag. Always remember that technology is no substitute for a signal mirror, or a flag or something to get the pilots eye. Stay Safe everyone, T Cochrane Vail Mtn Rescue Group
14er_Crazy	Comment from a Class 4 n00b 9/8/2008 7:00pm Just curious. Did you have rope? Would it have helped as an emergency descent option? I haven‘t done any class 4 (difficult class 2 being my hardest) so forgive the question.
akmpolsen	Thanks for candid honesty 9/9/2008 1:22am I was up there Saturday evening, saw the Blackhawk down in the valley and figured there was a SAR mission. It gave me a little knot in my stomach, hoping that there wasn‘t a recovery mission happening. So I was quite relieved to find out it was a safe and successful rescue. I do know what you mean by ‘getting stuck‘ -- it happens when we push our envelope too far and the envelope becomes a bubble that pops, leaving us in a state of near paralysis. Everything looks steeper than it is. Not to say you weren‘t in steep terrain, but trying to negotiate it was clearly not an option. You did the right thing given the situation, and have openly admitted the mistakes you made in getting into that situation which takes courage and humility.
coloradonative	Humility is better then the worst 9/9/2008 6:47pm I camped at lake patricia this summer, and was very tempted to take angelica coloir. From that point it seems like the fastest route, and it doesn‘t look that difficult. We opted to take an easier route up to the ridge to gain the summit. On the way out we tried to make our own route out by lake patricia, and ended up getting cliffed out, and had to back track a ways. My dog took a beating on this hike. Sounds like you have been humbled by the whole expirience, and you made the right decision.
coloradonative	? 9/9/2008 6:49pm BTW how much did it cost?
climbedout	Me Too 8/30/2010 3:00am R.S., I have your camera and compression sack (REI), VMR has the rest of your pack (all contents should be there). Thanks for the rain fly. You signaled with it and we slept under it. I'll leave the rest for a personal chat. PM me and I'll give you your camera and the rest of our story, which is only slightly different than yours. Amazing, 2 years later and your pack gave me (and my hiking partner) great pause then great comfort on that ledge for a night. Wish I had read this report before heading up Angelica without snow. Thank you VMR and R.S.!
Gueza	$ 3/4/2012 6:31pm I‘m glad you are safe. You made a good call about contacting SAR. Just out of curiousity how much did the whole rescue cost?

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