Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Climber fell on Russell.

Just ran across this in the paper this afternoon:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/29/BAT1RRKU3.DTL

For the family my condolences. For the rest of us a reminder to be cautious.

condolences to the family - very devastating.
we were supposed to be up there Sunday also but decided to call it an early day - wonder if we saw him coming up that morning

My prayers are with his family and friends. Like tomcat_rc I wonder if I saw them. I was on my way down on Sunday morning after guiding an East Face of Whitney climb the previous day.

Damn, what a shame. Condolences to his family and friends. Wonder if Tomcat and I may have seen these two early Sunday morning. We had intended to bag Russell that day and bailed.

Dangerous hobby we have......

Sierragator, Tomcat, Kurt,
Although I did not personally know Charles, over the years he and I have competed together in several distance running events.Since you all seem curious as to whether you saw him,go to www.brightroom.com, then click Find Photo, then enter PhotoID 2676-127-014. In this photo Charles is seen kicking it in at the end of the 2003 California International Marathon with a fine 3:04 at age 46. (He and I both qualified for the Boston Marathon at this race.) His last race was Aug 5, 2007 at the Skyline 50k at Castro Valley, near his residence. Again, he ran well.
Very sad to learn that such a young man has now reached the 98th (97+1) switchback.
Sincerely, Jim F

Does anyone know where the fall took place?

Rafael...

I always get a strange feeling when I hear about someone dying while doing something that I do as well, especially when they are more experienced and probably better at it than I am. Of course I feel bad for their family and friends, but at the same time I think since we're all going to go eventually, I'd much rather do it on the side of a mountain than a lot of other places.

I read over many of the comments that were posted after the article that was linked to above, and am amazed by some of the reactions. Clearly, people like me, or anyone else who would ever stumble onto this board, have a wholly different mindset than many others out there. I find some of those comments kind of disturbing.

I guess only in San Francisco do you see some responses so bizare. No wonder alot of people think that city is full of idiots.

Someone asked where the fall might've taken place. My guess based on what I'm reading is probably the Mt Russell ridge perhaps he went after the south-west part or it or something. My understanding was they made it well bast the Ebersbacher Ledges sometime back, which is the only other place where you can sustain a fall like that.

Ummm, could we slow down a minute here, gang? First of all, as a native of the Peninsula just south of the City, I really don't appreciate the generalization that "[it's] full of idiots". I think that vast portions of the population has no idea about what mountaineering means, espeically vs. 'just hiking'. My own father and I have had numerous conversations regarding this exact topic, especially concerning winter activities, and he really doesn't fully grasp the concept.

The responses are really par for the course, while disturbing. When I was forced to do an unplanned bivouac in the desert last winter, most people I talked to back home didn't know what the hell I was talking about. Nor did they make the effort to do further research on it so they could understand. It just wasn't in their radar. Such is the case with the negative responses to the article. It just hits home with us because we expect (and get) sympathy from our fellow climbers. This is a small segment of the population!

As Maureen O'Neill said: "I climb from a deep love for the wilderness, for my partners, and for my own body and its amazing strength. I don't climb because of the risk, although that element must be reckoned with."

My deepest sympathies are extended to this man's family and friends. You can bet that his story will be on my mind, along with other climbing incidents, when I hit it at any time.

-Laura

SF is a beautiful city. It doesn't seem to have any more "idiots" than any other city. Many people from all over the US seem to take the position that people shouldn't do risky things if they have families. When those guys died on Mt Hood last year(if I remember right?) wasn't there a bunch of mainstream media about how "risky" climbing is and why would anyone do it? I don't actually have a TV (if I did I would probably light it on fire or push it down the stairs) but I remember reading something about it.

Best wishes to Duerig's family and friends. There is very little in life that is harder to endure than the acute pain of losing someone you love.

from a SF native.

Whoa. As another person from the Bay Area, I too find the comment about weirdos in San Francisco smack of smugness. It does not matter what locale you come from, there are stange people everywhere. Most people that don't know anything about outdoors sports will never understand why we enjoy going out to the mountains. I just shrug my shoulders and try to explain. If they don't get it, oh well. Again, let's not be so prejudice about where one lives please.

Ken Helwig
Ex-San Jose now Scotts Valley, CA

Back on topic... as I understand this accident he was descending the route headed towards Upper Boyscout Lake. He was headed off the plateau below Mt. Carrilon and took a chute too far to the climbers left (too far right as he's descending). That chute would have led to a cliff. His body was recovered at the base of one of these cliffs.

Of course it is silly to assert that any city would have a monopoly on bizarre responses. You could find responses like that anywhere. Bizarre as it may seem, you can also find people who need, but fail to use, spelling checkers just about anywhere also.

Dealing with San Francisco in particular: Since so many innovations in the semiconductor, computer, and telecom industries originated in the Silicon Valley, financed by VC firms with offices in San Francisco, perhaps people who can't stand San Francisco should demonstrate their resolve by boycotting the Internet.

Kurt is this a case as you understand it, of someone "off" course who got in over his head or someone who made a technical mistake? The paper says that he fell aprox. 100 feet after trying to anchor himself to a rock. Either way it is frightening for those of us, less skilled and experienced, to hear of deaths like this.

read this post = Quentic (larry) can probably relate to this accident very much

http://www.highsierratopix.com/community...asc&start=0

I'm guessing here. Perhaps he was in the vicinity of or looking for the Rockwell Variation.

Rafael...

I was thinking the same thing, Tom. The location sounds earily similar to what the Topix poster encountered a few weeks ago. I'm sure most of us have picked the wrong chute before, been cliffed out, and by luck and/or effort gotten ourselves out of trouble. I always try to go with someone who knows the route, if possible, the first time I climb a peak. Or at least look at lots of pictures. Of course even then, fatigue, darkness and weather can foil our plans. Someone said this is a rather dangerous sport we've chosen and I guess I would have to agree. To everyone except my wife, that is; but let's not get into that!

I feel very sorry for his family. One of the things I always leave behind for my sons, should I meet with misfortune in the mountains, is a passage from the Mountaineers Will that I hope will give them some comfort:

I know not whether or not you, my children, will follow in my steps to the Alpine world, and yet, knowing all too vividly the mountain dangers, I also fear that you will. But whether you go to the high places or view them from afar off as the sunset paints a crimson glory across and as the light slips from the mountain meadow, remember the restless spirit of your father amid the moss and heather seeking ever his eternal rest with God.

My prayers are with his family...the ones left behind to deal with the pain. Hopefully, they will see each other again in a much better arena. I am sure he accepted his risks as we (climbers) all do. May he rest in peace without much unnecessary discussion.

Well, my sincere condolences to the family, and I'm glad to hear he was doing something he loved to do. Personally, I'd rather be eaten by a shark while surfing, or fall off a mountain I was ascending, than die of a heart attack (fully insured, of course) while watching the superbowl in a responsible, toned-down way with my family. Of course, for me to watch the superbowl, I'd have to be dead already, but...

What's the big deal about San Francisco? I lived there many years, love the city and still go there quite often, but it definitely does have a more than normal proportion of wackos and loonies. Just walk down Market St., or Castro, or most anywhere else, it's obvious. We always stereotyped LA, they always did the same and called us Frisco, so what, why so sensitive???

Never mind SF, many of those comments sound like they're written by a bunch of stockbrokers whose only adventure is paying their insurance premium online while at Starbucks (responsibly, of course). Their exercise, if it exists, probably consists of lifting their portfolio, along with personal trainer-supervised visits to the gym (after of course checking with their medical professional and undergoing extensive tests). My sympathies to them, too, drowning in their own security.

I know this wasn't addressed to me, but if you don't mind I'd like to offer a few thoughts.

Since there were no witnesses, we will never know exactly what happened. But there are several possibilities worth considering. It may have been a simple accident--he stepped on something or held onto something that broke free, and he wasn't able to regain control. Testing holds is absolutely necessary when climbing on exposed terrain. But we're all human, and when you're tired, afraid, or otherwise distracted it's easy to forget.

Another possibility to consider is that he didn't discover that his route cliffed out until he was committed. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that it's better to stick with the route you're on than give up and turn back. Maybe you just don't want to climb all the way back up, or maybe you're too scared to try. Maybe you just can't help but be convinced that you really are on the right path, no matter how bad it looks.

The point I'm trying to make is that there are usually a number of factors that lead up to an accident, and they may well have started even before the trip began. That's true of accidents involving experienced climbers as well as novices.

A certain amount of fear that something similar might befall you is probably healthy, but it needn't stop you from climbing. There are a lot of things you can do to manage your risk. One thing this party might have done that would have made a difference would have been to stay together. Since I wasn't there, I'm not judging their actions--it may have been done for very good reasons, or for reasons beyond either of their control. But with two people, you can help each other maintain good situational awareness, and improve the chances that you will make good decisions. Should the situation deteriorate, you will at least have someone there to help you.