Darwin award winner?

[Murloc]

Over the last ten years, I've known of at least 6 people dying in different incidents while camping in improved parks within 10 minutes of emergency help. Darwin awards are alive and well? I always do my best to spot folks who are clueless while camping and keep an eye on them.

plenty of people die because they fall at home.
Camping just increases the likelihood of stabbing yourself.

Besides, what can go wrong at an improved campsite? You fall in the shower?

 

[KB]

Why wouldn't you wait till summer? Hiking a mountain during record cold isn't a good plan.

 

[Markbnj]

Wait...how old is her husband? The VP of JP Morgan? He looks young as shit. WTF. I picked the wrong profession.

JP Morgan has about 10,000 VPs. It's basically a mid-level finance position in that bank.

 

[NetWareHead]

Why wouldn't you wait till summer? Hiking a mountain during record cold isn't a good plan.

Nothing wrong with winter hiking. Its another chance to bag a peak but in winter conditions. Its relatively safe as long as you dont try to summit during a winter storm or other dangerous conditions.

 

[Newell Steamer]

She wasn't exactly a total city girl. She seems to have had some experience in outdoor activities. And, she had a emergency beacon with her.

If she went off with just a windbreaker, sneakers and a bottle of water, yeah, she would be a total moron.

It looks like she didn't take into account the weather forecast,.. or didn't take it seriously.

Inexperienced; yes.

Raging moron who's lack of contribution to the human gene pool makes things better for everyone on this planet; no.

 

[NetWareHead]

This story started developing a couple of days ago.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...gency-beacon-saved-switched-cellphone-on.html

As soon as I read it I had to choke down an impulse to jump to conclusions. I mean it's just too horribly perfect. Pretty and privileged young banker who lives in a million dollar apartment in NYC buys herself all the best gear and tech and sets off to climb the Presidential Range... alone... in winter.

I had to figure there was something more to it. She was a world class mountaineer, perhaps, and all the other world class mountaineers thought she would make it, and were shocked when she didn't. What do I know?

Apparently I should just trust my instincts more. Darwin award? I'm thinking yes.

Living in NH, Im familiar with the White Mountains. They are dangerous when it is cold and they surprise many people. As mentioned there have been just as many deaths trying to summit Mt. Washington as Everest. Even the surrounding mountains, while not as tall can be just as deadly. Mt Washington held until recently the world record for the highest measured wind speed on earth.

More experienced people then her have been caught out there above the protection tree line offers. Numerous trailheads have warnings posted about the sudden deadly weather that can develop. Even in the summer, deadly weather can strike. At that elevation, if a thunderstorn/blizzard moves in, you will be at the elevation and within the cloud. Conditions at ground level are bad enough in a storm so can you imagine when a storm cloud runs into a mountain and you find yourself inside of it? Imagine the lightening and wind inside a cloud...

My Fiance and I recently hiked Mt Pierce in late January, 4310 ft elevation. Weather was forecast to be calm that day. It was cold as hell that day (high of 5 degrees) and some wind. What we didnt account was for the intensification of the mild (for January) weather the higher in elevation we climbed. We have a custom where we eat lunch at the peak of any mountain we summit and drink some beers. We came out of tree line and hiked the last remaining 100 or so feet in elevation to discover temperatures almost -40 and very strong winds/gusts.

We quickly scrubbed the idea of eating lunch and hanging out at the top of the mountain. We barely had time to snap a photo. 2 minutes of fumbling with the camera, hands out of my mittens felt like torture to my exposed flesh. A coldness that penetrated your chest and felt like it iced your lungs. A few minutes at the summit had coated my entire backpack and clothing in rime ice. Even my beard, eyebrows & eyelashes were accumulating ice; I could notice it slowly growing by the minute. You couldnt just remove it, the ice has mingled with the individual hairs and mixed with them like hair removal wax. The ice was there to stay until we got to warmer place; you couldnt just rip it out. It was the most brutal hiking conditions we had ever hiked. And funny thing about it was when we were within the protection of the trees we only felt some manageable cold & wind. That is what messes with people, the sudden and brutal change of conditions after emerging from tree line. You figure "oh I only have another 2000-3000 feet of climbing to do, have made it this far and Im doing pretty well". The real hike and grueling portion of the hike really begins after emerging from that cover and people fall to take this into account.

I think she was overly ambitious for the hike she had planned. Hiking 4 of the main peaks in the Presidential range: Madison, Adams, Jefferson & Washington in the winter. Starting at 5 AM and planning to finish up at 6 PM that day leaves no room for error and no room to stop and rest. By 6 PM you are already seeing falling end of day temperatures and darkness setting in. Its definitely doable in the summer but the winter needs far more time.

 

[Markbnj]

She wasn't exactly a total city girl. She seems to have had some experience in outdoor activities. And, she had a emergency beacon with her.

If she went off with just a windbreaker, sneakers and a bottle of water, yeah, she would be a total moron.

It looks like she didn't take into account the weather forecast,.. or didn't take it seriously.

Inexperienced; yes.

Raging moron who's lack of contribution to the human gene pool makes things better for everyone on this planet; no.

But that's the thing. You need a lot more than some 'experience in outdoor activities" to climb those mountains, especially in winter. Experts with years of experience in harsh environments, carrying exactly the right gear, with exactly the right team and every aspect optimized for success still go up in places like that and die. There really can't be any rational reason for thinking you could go up there alone on a day like that. A little knowledge, as they say, is a dangerous thing.

 

[NetWareHead]

She wasn't exactly a total city girl. She seems to have had some experience in outdoor activities. And, she had a emergency beacon with her.

If she went off with just a windbreaker, sneakers and a bottle of water, yeah, she would be a total moron.

It looks like she didn't take into account the weather forecast,.. or didn't take it seriously.

Inexperienced; yes.

Raging moron who's lack of contribution to the human gene pool makes things better for everyone on this planet; no.

I agree. She just had a dose of bad luck combined with a bad choice to hike in less than optimal conditions AND by herself. Look at this picture of her:

That is some serious outdoor gear she has on. She is not a North Face jacket sporting yuppie from NYC. She probably has between 3-4K worth of gear right there. Expedition sized pack, hard shell boots with ice crampons, gaiters, emergency beacon etc... This is a serious outdoors girl who did this on her vacation; not your average hiker here. Still, all of the best gear in the world cant make up for bad choices.

 

[Newell Steamer]

I agree. She just had a dose of bad luck combined with a bad choice to hike in less than optimal conditions AND by herself. Look at this picture of her:

That is some serious outdoor gear she has on. She is not a North Face jacket sporting yuppie from NYC. She probably has between 3-4K worth of gear right there. Expedition sized pack, hard shell boots with ice crampons, gaiters, emergency beacon etc... This is a serious outdoors girl who did this on her vacation; not your average hiker here. Still, all of the best gear in the world cant make up for bad choices.

All the experience in the world + the best gear + the best guides won't mean jack shit when things go wrong in the wilderness.

 

[rsutoratosu]

Extremely bad luck.. i like the cold and stuff but to go out on 100mph wind, its just not a good decision to make.

FYI, I was snow tubing over the weekend, it was about 27 and both phones I had would NOT turn on due to extreme cold. I'm assuming even at her temp, the phones wouldn't do any good

spec says -4 but I was only at 27, so it might not even save her life afterall

 

[Slew Foot]

Dead investment banker? Good riddance.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Sorry, I can't see how she isn't terminally stupid. I wouldn't want to walk in shady places in a densely populated city, much less trekking alone in wilderness in bad weather.

 

[SSSnail]

Should have watched a few Bear Grylls videos, could have been alive.

 

[Spungo]

Should have watched a few Bear Grylls videos, could have been alive.

Gonna die alone. Better drink my own piss.

 

[rudeguy]

I feel sorry for the family she left behind. Her stupidity caused a lot of hurt.


Stupid should be illegal. We must ban stupid now! (I'll be driving the bus to turn ourselves in)

 

[Markbnj]

This is a serious outdoors girl who did this on her vacation; not your average hiker here. Still, all of the best gear in the world cant make up for bad choices.

Sorry, but being able to go to Gander Mountain or Cabellas and drop a ton of cash doesn't make her a "serious outdoor girl." I'm not saying she wasn't, but that picture proves nothing.

 

[NetWareHead]

Sorry, but being able to go to Gander Mountain or Cabellas and drop a ton of cash doesn't make her a "serious outdoor girl." I'm not saying she wasn't, but that picture proves nothing.

True if going by a picture alone. The article lists her mountaineering experience as "extensive". That fact combined with the picture gives me good reason to believe she was not some REI shopper who maxed out a credit card and was hiking with crampons for the first time.

 

[Markbnj]

True if going by a picture alone. The article lists her mountaineering experience as "extensive". That fact combined with the picture gives me good reason to believe she was not some REI shopper who maxed out a credit card and was hiking with crampons for the first time.

Ageed, if that's true, and it wasn't just paid treks she went on, then she wasn't a noob. Just makes the decision all the more puzzling, though.

 

[NuclearNed]

Are you familiar with those mountains? They're not the Rockies, but you don't have to be a dipshit to die in them. Not that she wasn't, because it certainly appears she was at least undeservedly arrogant.

I saw a documentary on the Weather Channel just last week that ranked Mt. Washington as the harshest climate in the U.S.

 

[Gunbuster]

This is clearly an aberration, rich people are invincible and normal rules do not apply. Had she lived I would expect to see her in an upcoming episode of Stop a Douchebag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHJxIwvFIGY

 

[NuclearNed]

I agree. She just had a dose of bad luck combined with a bad choice to hike in less than optimal conditions AND by herself. Look at this picture of her:

That is some serious outdoor gear she has on. She is not a North Face jacket sporting yuppie from NYC. She probably has between 3-4K worth of gear right there. Expedition sized pack, hard shell boots with ice crampons, gaiters, emergency beacon etc... This is a serious outdoors girl who did this on her vacation; not your average hiker here. Still, all of the best gear in the world cant make up for bad choices.

Your point is valid - she apparently wasn't the usual casual hiker. But I don't see 3-4k worth of gear in that pic... I'm a seasoned mountaineer and something of a gear snob. I see several hundred dollars of stuff from her local REI. I also don't see hard shell climbing boots, and there are no crampons in that pic... those look just like ordinary hiking boots to me. Another giveaway is the sleeping mat she is carrying - that accordion style is pretty cheap and crappy. All in all, at just a glance I would say she does *not* have the proper gear, which I guess was proven by the way her life ended.

 

[NetWareHead]

Your point is valid - she apparently wasn't the usual casual hiker. But I don't see 3-4k worth of gear in that pic... I'm a seasoned mountaineer and something of a gear snob. I see several hundred dollars of stuff from her local REI. I also don't see hard shell climbing boots or crampons... those look just like ordinary hiking boots to me. Another giveaway is the sleeping mat she is carrying - that accordion style is pretty cheap and crappy. All in all, at just a glance I would say she does *not* have the proper gear, which I guess was proven by the way her life ended.

Pic came from the article so perhaps not the pic on the day she died?

Article also mentions mountaineering boots with crampons. Proper pair of hard shell boots. anywhere from 500 and up. (take your typical pair of Asolos, Scarpas etc...) Crampons = 150-200. The expedition pack..lets say $500. Thats over a grand right there at least. I was figuring for stuff within the pack too. Who knows if she had a stove, winter sleeping bag in that pack. Emergency beacons are expensive too. Anyway it was a quick glance estimate.

 

[Gooberlx2]

that accordion style is pretty cheap and crappy

It's a thermarest z-lite sol. It's not really cheap or crappy, and pretty commonly used by backpackers. That said, for as bulky as it is and with an R-value of only 2.6, I do doubt it's really appropriate for mountaineering. Maybe she was on planning stacking it on top of another pad.

Then again, as netwarehead mentioned, that pic may not be from this particular outing at all.

 

[NuclearNed]

Pic came from the article so perhaps not the pic on the day she died?

Article also mentions mountaineering boots with crampons. Proper pair of hard shell boots. anywhere from 500 and up. (take your typical pair of Asolos, Scarpas etc...) Crampons = 150-200. The expedition pack..lets say $500. Thats over a grand right there at least. I was figuring for stuff within the pack too. Who knows if she had a stove, winter sleeping bag in that pack. Emergency beacons are expensive too. Anyway it was a quick glance estimate.

Sorry to be contentious about this; my wife threw this girl's death into my face a few days ago and I'm still a little bitter about it... One of my climbing partners and I did a hike last Wednesday, late in the afternoon. Temps were below zero, and we planned to hike into the western North Carolina mountains to a waterfall that we hoped would be frozen. The wife wigged out and didn't want me to go. Mrs Ned had read about this girl and tried to make the case that we, too, were going to die because we don't know how to take care of ourselves in the wild. Nevermind that for many years we've been climbing together in much more extreme situations in similar temperatures...

 

[Ns1]

Sorry to be contentious about this; my wife threw this girl's death into my face a few days ago and I'm still a little bitter about it... One of my climbing partners and I did a hike last Wednesday, late in the afternoon. Temps were below zero, and we planned to hike into the western North Carolina mountains to a waterfall that we hoped would be frozen. The wife wigged out and didn't want me to go. Mrs Ned had read about this girl and tried to make the case that we, too, were going to die because we don't know how to take care of ourselves in the wild. Nevermind that for many years we've been climbing together in much more extreme situations in similar temperatures...

the obvious question is: dear mother of god why