Hiker's Body Recovered In White Mountains

Each situation is different, Magic. It doesn't make sense to generalize here. There are different degrees of inherent risk to mountain "sports" and at some point, it's time to make a responsible decision. Take the yellow warning signs at treeline that urge you to turn back at the first sign of bad weather. Do you ignore those in favor of the summit if the weather looks bad? It's about evaluating the situation and acting accordingly.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree here...

Greg said:

Take the yellow warning signs at treeline that urge you to turn back at the first sign of bad weather. Do you ignore those in favor of the summit if the weather looks bad? It's about evaluating the situation and acting accordingly.

Click to expand...

Yes Greg, some ignore them and some just don't know how to evaluate themselves in a given situation. I've always gone by this rule of thumb: If you think you're in trouble, it's already too late. The trick is to get out while you're still able to make that decision. If you find yourself saying "Just a little further, if I can just make the summit I'll be all set." you probably should be calling it quits because you still have to get down safely.

I don't fault Ken for hiking in the extreme cold. It is risky, but we all take risks. I take the risk of getting run over by a dump truck or bucket loader every day I'm at work (I work at an asphalt plant), but I still go to work. Statistically we have a greater chance of getting killed on our way to the mountains than we do in the mountains. However, I think he left himself in too remote an area on Mt. Bond with no realistic bail-out in conditions where minutes, not hours, can decide your fate. I think even if he had a friend or two with him it may not have done much good. The distance to shelter was still too far and we probably would be talking about multiple victims instead of one. In those conditions frostbite on exposed fingers can happen in seconds and it's my guess that Ken was getting cold trying to get over the ridge but did not want to waste precious minutes and risk rendering his hands useless in an attempt to get warmer clothes on. Was it irresponsible considering he had five kids? Maybe, but a void is still left in someone's heart when a single 25 year old dies. Ken was doing something that fullfilled him, and I think that when a man is happy it makes him a better father, husband, and person than someone who feels trapped and unsatisfied with life. Sure they may be angry at him for leaving us so soon, but in time they will likely come to realize he lived his life the way he wanted to and he left this earth with few regrets.

We only get one shot and time waits for no man, so we must spend each day wisely. Just my $0.02

See you on that eternal trail in the sky Ken!

Smitty

I get both your and Magic's points, Smitty. But there are different degrees of risk. Is skiing risky? Sure, it's pretty risky. Is driving to work or boarding a plane risky? I guess so. Probably risky. However, I think putting oneself in one of the most isolated areas in the Whites, by yourself, and during the coldest weather seen in years is a hell of a lot more risky than any of that. I don't think Ken would have been any less happier as a man, a husband, or a father had he waited until things moderated a bit.

With that said, perhaps the outcome could've been the same had he waited until it was warmer. I suppose if it's time to go, it's time to go. I also shouldn't fault Ken for going and I certainly don't think he deserved what happened, but for me, I would've erred on the side of caution. I suppose as a new father, my views on things have changed. My daughter just turned one year old and for me, something as risky as a winter overnight like that is not something I would consider doing.

There's always a lot of speculation when someone pushes the limits and doesn't succeed. A lot of the little things we do while on an overnight trip can be tremendously magnified in extreme cold and wind:

1. You start off on a 2 day trip. It's cold but you've been doing this for years in temps down to zero degrees, maybe even 5 or 10 below. This time you spend a night in the tent in temps below -25 degrees. You're 10 miles from the nearest road. Despite your equipment, you lie in the bag shivering, waiting for morning so you can get moving and get out of the woods.
2. Morning comes. Even though you are cold in the sleeping bag, you now have to get out, put on boots that may or may not be frozen from the sweat of the previous day's hike. It's so damn cold that you can't even change to dry clothes, you're still in yesterdays gear, only slightly damp as it didn't dry completely last night, even though you slept in it.
3. At these temps and with every chore needing to be done with a full set of mittens and overmits, lighting a stove, getting out the cooking gear, boiling water, opening food packages, cooking and eating the meal is just too much, you're shivering so badly you can barely tie your boots.
4. You open the door to the tent and despite how cold it is inside, the 20 degree difference outside hits you like a sledge hammer. Tasks like zipping up your wind shell take 5 times as long as normal. And you still have to take down the tent, pack it into some semblance of a bundle that will fit on the pack, organize the poles, deflate and roll up the thermarest, pack away the sleeping bag. And you still have to do all this with full mits and overmits on. You still have not eaten anything. In fact you can't even have a drink because the water in your bottle is frozen...you forgot to put it in the bag at night. Your only source of liquid is to boil it, but lighting the stove now and melting snow is impossible. Your only chance is to get out of the woods as fast as possible.
5. You're shivering lots harder now, you hope that by hiking you will start to warm up. By the time everything is packed and you're ready to go, you are shivering uncontrollably.
6. You start hiking out, not the way you came, but by another route because you believe it's the quickest way to the road. You leave your snowshoes on your pack because it was so difficult to strap them on with your full mittens, and the bindings were caked with ice from yesterday's hike. You tried taking the mittens off to make it easier, but after 15 seconds the skin on your hands started to flash freeze. You swear, you start getting anxious, it wasn't supposed to be this hard, you've done all these things before, just not in -35 degree temps with the wind blowing 20 mph or more.
7. You travel 30 minutes from your campsite, you've covered barely 1/2 mile, as every other step you sink into your thigh in the drifted snow. No one has been here to pack out the trail. Another 30 minutes go by, a quarter mile more covered. Your energy and fluid levels are dangerously low, dehydration and hunger from not eating or drinking in over 12 hours make every step seem like torture. You can't believe you aren't getting any warmer.
8. In desperation you begin to jettison things, taking off your pack, dumping your tent, sleeping bag, snowshoes, all extra gear in a last attempt to lighten the load and make things easier. Another half hour, another 1/8 of a mile. You stagger off trail more often, you're uncoordinated, each time sinking into spruce traps that become more and more difficult to get out of.
9. Tears come to your eyes which freezes your eyelids so it's nearly impossible to see. You think of your family, loved ones, cursing yourself for doing this stupid trip. You'd give anything if the road were only 5 minutes up the trail. but it's still 8-1/2 more miles over 2 more summits and 5 brook crossings. What are your chances?
10. In desperation you lie down and curl up into a fetal position, trying to find some bit of warmth to protect your vital organs. You realize suddenly it's too late. But it's been too late all day, you just didn't see it coming. You thought you could beat it. You lie there screaming at the freaking wind, it is sucking the life out of your body and the determination out of your mind. You know it's over but you wish it didn't take so damn long to end.

Think before you go out in dangerous conditions, think what you are leaving behind, about those that depend on you to come home again. The mountain will always be there. If you must throw some extreme risks into the mix, have a safety factor built in, a no-fail bail out point, extra companions, water and food that can be relied upon NO MATTER WHAT. Be fastidious about keeping your equipment in top notch condition, things like snowshoe bindings that can be manipulated with full mittens on, change to dry clothing immediately after you stop hiking for the day. Be an expert in packing and repacking, keep high energy foods in the bag with you, eat and drink something before you get out of the bag in the morning. Have a plan and stick to it. And realize what can happen when you don't.

Keep it safe out there!

Max

Wow, Max. That was truly haunting...almost like you've experienced it before. Your post really solidifies why I wouldn't have taken the risk Kenneth did.

Thanks Max. I have been following this story on all three boards and yours is by far the most accurate and graphic description of what probably happened to Ken than all the other accounts, even the ones from his ranger friends. I’m sure it was difficult for them to imagine how their friend died, so putting it to words was probably too painful for them to express. I have been in a few situations where I was cold to the bone, but never trapped within a wilderness area with no help in sight. I can only imagine the horror of his last hours/minutes.

After that re-creation from Max, does anyone really need any more convincing.......???

Max, Thank you. I read that post three times. It even made me come out of lurkdom and find my password. Greg has the word, "haunting".

Greg said:

Wow, Max. That was truly haunting...almost like you've experienced it before. Your post really solidifies why I wouldn't have taken the risk Kenneth did.

Click to expand...

Yeah Greg, he has some stories after 30 plus years of backpacking. Even when I didn't go with him, he always erred on the side of caution so that he could come home to a wife and two boys Sunday night.

Please don't get the wrong idea about my post, as I share your sentiments about having a family that needs me and there are many things I would not even attempt now that I am the only breadwinner in the house. That being said I was just trying to shed some light on why he may have gone out in such conditions. It's the only reason I can think of that causes Ken and countless others to push the limits of human endurance. I guess they see it as a calling, something that gives their life purpose, or something that makes them stand out from everyone else. Many others, myself included, don't share the same "urge" to conquer.

Of course, it could be as simple as underestimating just how cold it was going to get and what happens to you and everything around you when it is that cold. They say your spit will freeze before it hits the ground when it is -30. I don't want to personally find out.

Smitty

Hey there Smitty,
Thank you for all your posts.
And I mean all of them!
_______________
Thank You, new friend!