Good job Dave! I am glad you survived the class 3.

”out of nowhere we heard an extended thunder burst.”

Dark clouds, rain, and snow and the thunder comes out of nowhere?

How much warning do you guys need to reconsider going higher?

You guys are lucky your decision making and haste only resulted in a turned ankle.

...and pics. Yeah--you definitely added some unnecessary distance and time to your ascent by going left instead of right at that trail junction. But props for persevering, and I‘m glad you made it down all right, in spite of the weather. FWIW, we had to abandon our plan to bag Uncompahgre on the same day as Wetterhorn last year because the weather moved in on us, despite a gloriously sunny morning, so it‘s not just you! Wetterhorn is a great intro to the serious climbing in the San Juans and, if you got through that, there‘s a whole galaxy of technical and semi-technical peaks out there that you can now reasonably aspire to. Climb on!

:roll:

Ryan, remind me to not hike with you anytime soon. Eeeek!
Dave, nice job, great report! Ignore the armchair QB-ing; most of us know how the weather can be unpredictable. We spent about 7 hours under clouds like that last week on Holy Cross, and barely got rained on at all, with no electricity. You just never know what‘s gonna happen. Congrats on your first ”big” mountain experience, isn‘t Wetterhorn an absolute blast! (No pun intended!)

Like Keith said ignore the armchair QB-ing. If you wait for perfect weather on every hike you would never make it up any mountain. You know that I typically spend my time on 14ers alone. I am solo by choice because I do not trust others decision making. You and a couple of others on here are an exception to that rule. I know that you are keenly aware of the changing weather conditions, your physical abilities, and your ability to adapt to changing conditions. Keep up the good work.

Since you have some class 3 under your belt now we should go finish up Crestone‘s before the road is closed. What do you think? :D

Keith and Chad, thanks for the support. I can write all day and show all the pictures, but it doesn‘t represent the conditions that led to our decisions.

As for the Crestone‘s I think they still maybe out of my comfort level at this time, but thanks for asking. Right now, I am looking at Longs and the Challenger/Kit Carson sometime before calendar summer ends (if you are interested).

Hey Josh, fair enough.

Your points are well taken from your second post. It was the curt and blunt delivery on the first post that hit a nerve. Unfortunately, a bad delivery can mask any good and helpful message trying to be conveyed. That‘s all, because I do respect your advise you have given over the last 2+ years I have been on this site.

Thanks for the clarifying remarks, Josh. I‘m ALL for learning/discussing mistakes, especially by relatively experienced site members/climbers, but agree with Dave: it was the delivery of your comments that kinda left a sour taste in my mouth. I‘m very self-deprecating with regards to my climbing mistakes and amateur status (as evidenced by my frequent documentation of them in the forum and my TR‘s), so I welcome comments, even ”calling out”, just don‘t think there‘s a need to be accusatory or degrading with which the way it‘s done! :D

Glad to hear you guys made it down ok. We were below the ridge when the lightning started and were wondering about you guys.
Congrats on the summit and it was nice to meet you up there!

Glad to hear you guys made it down ok. We were below the ridge when the lightning started and were wondering about you guys.
Congrats on the summit and it was nice to meet you up there!

Dave, AWESOME TR! :D You really captured all the good (and bad) points of this climb, and it made me even more excited to climb with you guys again! I had a fantastic time, and look forward to another adventure with you two!

CO Native...what gives? Sure, we knew that the presence of clouds and graupel/snow made even worse weather/static discharges possible, but it's not as if we charged ahead, unawares or ignorant of impending weather. Several times we discussed as a group the weather, surveyed the passing clouds, and made a group decision to continue. We are hardly professional climbers, but the three of us aren't beginners or novices, either. Had the conditions deteriorated as quickly on our way up as they did on the way down, I can say without a moment's hesitation that myself and my two partners (both of whom I trust implicitly, having climbed with and spent quite a bit of time with them both) would have quickly agreed to turn around, regardless of how close or far we were from the summit. While we did find ourselves in potentially dangerous and hazardous conditions on the way down, I would argue those are conditions that come as an "occupational hazard" for our hobby.
I have had some near-misses in my climbing "career", and have made some poor decisions in the past. I welcome criticism, whether it be constructive or downright rude and "snarky", but agree with my partner: either save your scolding for other, far less experienced climbers who make MUCH more careless decisions, or apply your guardianship and expertise to criticize everyone who has found themselves in a unexpected situation in an alpine setting. Otherwise, thank you for your insight, albeit abrupt and curt.

Ok, now that the unpleasantness is out of the way, how about something to lighten the situation:

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs188.snc1/6288_526906698321_73003459_31299013_3838692_n.jpg

(Slightly embarrassing/near NSFW, so I‘m leaving it in link form to avoid flashing my helmet-protected birthday suit to those who might not care to see it...) :roll:

You deserve a razzing after that trip. What did you expect me to just say, just the platitudes of the first 4 comments. It's not meant in anger or to pretend I've never made stupid decisions (I've made worse than what you did on this trip), just got to give you crap for it. I literally laughed outloud when I read the comment that the thunder came out of nowhere. I think it's great you posted the report, but to me it's a testimony to how the results of small errors combined with some decisions to push your luck can put you in very dangerous situations. Even your own party members agree the trip was dangerous:
""You know, I felt like I could die at any moment!" ...Zach - Talking to his dad about the lightning. "

I'm sick of this "don't armchair QB" crap too. What's the point, if we can't discuss. It makes us better, safer, smarter mountaineers to discuss what went right and what didn't. DCbates and COMedic made some good counter points that are good to hear. Why leave it unspoken?

Yours isn't the first TR I've "called out", and likely won't be the last. It's not disrespect. Rather the contrary. I tend to be on the conservative side, I know it. People make different decisions based on different comfort levels. I'd rather hear your response to my call out than a newbs.

I have met you and think you are a pretty good guy so I will clarify. If you focus on most of the pictures, they were not dark clouds until the later summit shots when we left. Also, the one incident of snow on the way up was less then 30 seconds. You had to be there. Finally, we were on top when it was decided to go lower because the clouds were building. We and the other group were paying close attention to the weather. Please save your scolding for the others who continued up as we were on our way down. I tend to ignore criticism, but I take offense to your assumptions based on the limited knowledge from this TR. I know you and others have made mistakes on different climbs. Our pictures prior to our early decent decision look very much like the ones you took on Windom. There are plenty of people who make bad decisions who are not called out. I believe our decisions were made based on the circumstances at the time and request that you call out everyone or don't call out at all.

Good writing and great pictures. Lightning is a scary thing. Overall, congrats on Wetterhorn!