19 year old Emily Sotelo died of exposure on Mt. Lafayette, NH last month. An avid hiker, she was trying to summit all 48 peaks over 4000 ft by her birthday. It seems that she had only gotten into hiking a few years ago, and had no experience with winter hiking. Here is a (partial) list of survival gear that she did not have:
- Hiking boots (she wore "off road" sneakers)
- Map
- Compass
- Matches
- Flashlight or headlamp
- Winter coat (she had a light jacket)
Not mentioned in the article from the UK Daily Mail, she almost certainly wasn't carrying a knife. When the temperature drops to zero and the wind gusts to 60 mph, you can build a shelter of pine boughs covered with snow that will keep you alive - you burrow into the pine boughs and the snow will act as insulation.
If you have a knife.
Her mother had dropped her off at the trailhead before first light, planning on picking her up before noon. When Emily was late, her mother reported this and a search party went out on a four day rescue effort. They ultimately returned with her body. The whole situation is a tragedy which - sadly - is entirely due to Miss Sotelo's woeful lack of preparation.
The mountains of New Hampshire are deadly, despite their low elevation. The first weather station on the peak of Mt. Washington was chained to the rock to keep it from blowing away. The new station looks like a medieval castle tower, built to resist 300 mph winds. Its highest recorded wind speed of 231 mph was a world record until 25 years ago.
When I was a lad in Boy Scouts, winter (heck, and summer) survival readiness was hammered into us by the scoutmasters - all World War II veterans. We always had all the equipment that Miss Sotelo left behind. Heck, we would have winter campouts in February. In Maine. Everyone came home, with all their fingers and toes.
But we were ready, because our Scoutmasters made sure we were. They knew that the Universe didn't care how nice we were.
Same thing happens in the desert here in the Wild West; especially in the mountainous areas. They leave their cars with shorts, T-shirts, and a couple of bottles of water. They often die with towns in view, but with several miles of unforgiving terrain, high temperatures, and low humidity between them and life. Then there are the ones who set out in 100*+ heat with those same clothes, and don't realize the temps drop like a rock at night!
ReplyDeleteIn short, KNOW your terrain and prepare accordingly!
People who think wilderness these days never read a single article on wilderness survival or preparedness and the Boy Scouts don’t teach it anymore. See the same thing with modern motorists that take everything out of their car at the end of each trip because they think a messy car is a sign of mental illness. No layers of clothing, coats, gloves, blankets. Most have no idea what it is like to go into shock on a snowy mountain.
ReplyDeleteDarwin’s work is never done.
Darwin won't be denied. And doesn't care. Failure to plan means Darwin will show up and do what he does.....thin the herd.
ReplyDeleteUgh, disappointing.
ReplyDeleteHow can you be into hiking for a year and not pick up at least some of these?
I presume she only hiked, she never camped.
I wonder if the legendary fog in that area for her turned around? The lack of compass would have made any directional confusion worse...
Darwin Award, first class.
ReplyDeleteWatched a rather interesting video of Jordan Peterson interviewing Bjorn Lomberg (don't worry, I won't make this too long).
ReplyDeleteThe two were discussing how a hundred years ago, everyone knew that nature was out to kill you, wild animals didn't behave like the Disney cartoons and the outdoors were hostile. The modern environmentalists have reversed it and now nature is this beautiful virginal world that we have to protect from nasty, dirty humans. A hundred years ago, "the wolf at the door" wasn't a cute puppy, it was a vicious predator that was going to kill you.
With that attitude, the "how could nature want to hurt me? I'm here to protect her" is a natural corollary. I bet that the idea that there was any danger out there in the real world was completely foreign to her. It's a pity.
I've thought about the Hut in the Clouds hike in NH, but I don't think I'd do it without a guide of some sort. I hear it's quite the workout.
ReplyDeleteIt started in Scouts for me, too. Be prepared.
ReplyDeleteFours years ago I hiked a week on the Appalachian Trail in Massachusetts and Vermont the first week in November. I remember sitting in a coffee shop in North Adams, Mass. looking at the weather forecast, considering the gear I had, thinking about how much worse it might be at elevation, and just how my friends would talk at my funeral if I died of exposure.
I went on, finished the hike, and was fine. But there were three nights where I had every layer of clothing I had with me on, in a 12 degree rated sleeping bag, with the sleeping bag wrapped in a foil emergency blanket. There were points where I crossed open ground and had photo opportunities I did not stop for because I wanted to get back into the trees where the wind was less.
I was wearing wool and synthetic clothes, long johns, insulated hiking boots, wool socks, a down puffy jacket, ski mittens, etc. I had three regular ways to make fire before I got into the emergency kit. I had food, shelter, a marked trail, a map of the area I was in and a compass. I had a phone, but did not rely on it.
And my post hike assessment was that I had just enough gear, with no margins, and I would not hike that late in the season again without rethinking my kit.
The trend to ultralight backpacking is likewise dangerous. The push to earn bragging rights by having the lightest pack is merely a push to be the least prepared.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go on 5 day backpacking trips, my pack often approaches 75 pounds. I take no pride in packing light. My source of pride is being physically fit enough to carry the weight (especially given my unfortunate health record).
I'm by far the most prepared hiker in any backcountry situation, and have often found myself bailing other people out when they turn out to be woefully unprepared. I generally have a rule, if you don't pack your own and you end up having to use mine, you get to pack it from then until the end of the trip.