Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Conditions On Baldy

Thank you for always sharing your kindness and wisdom, Doug. We always feel the comradeship of the climbing/hiking community with you up there at the Whitney Portal Store.

In response to the fatal accident on Mt Baldy, January 8th, 2023.

First and foremost deepest condolences to Crystal’s family and friends. She seemed a vibrant force in the community and her positive energy will be missed in the mountains. I hope you find some peace knowing she was surrounded by people who also shared a similar love for wild places, and who did all we could to save her. Please reach out to get the help you need to grieve.

Second, I would like to acknowledge all of those involved who rendered care. To the Physician on the mountain who led a heroic effort to preserve life by initiating the CPR response. Under his guidance, I was the woman who initiated compressions when vitals were loss. The Physician truly exceeded the standard of care under dire circumstances for several hours. To the Accountant who calmly read off time intervals during our CPR response. To my two friends who jumped in the CPR rotation so we could sustain the effort for as long as we did —intermittently for close to two hours. To everyone who responded under dangerous conditions, helping lower Crystal in the liter out of the bowl and to the Hut, all while being pelted by rock & icefall. It was one of the strongest displays of community and compassion in efforts to save one of our own.

Third, for our climbing community:
-Consider taking a Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder course if you are often in the backcountry. CPR is exhausting to sustain for extended periods of time, and the help from others was greatly appreciated. Sometimes you and your friends are the only help until advanced life support arrives; consider being prepared to help others when needed.

-Minimum helmet, ice axe, crampons & solid mountaineering skills with risk-management consideration when tackling an unforgiving objective such as the Baldy Bowl in Winter conditions.

-Please be kind in your comments as the ones left behind are the ones reading. Be safe and take good care of each other.

—Laura Wong

Do you have a link to that post? I couldn’t find anybody named Luara.

The post is now on our page one post above Looks like I spelled Laura wrong try this

Thanks. She must have posted while I was typing.

Correction of Photo link for 01/02/2023:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3GfgwyJV2dwtuZ7M8

Saturday was a bit better weather condition than Sunday.

Please look at the 4th and 5th picture of the 01-07-2023 album.
Many climbers were direct line of rock and ice falls or avalanche.
It is a very good idea to avoid climbing in congested line.
It is almost impossible to avoid rock or ice falls. They hit you like a shotgun blast.

It is a good idea to climb with a few members in a team watching each other for safety by taking turn, while one climbing up, other stop and watch for the falling objects if one sees them coming down warn others. Climb like a inchworm fashion.
Some climbers are yelling and screaming out every loud totally something else. This kind of NOISE confuse other hikers.
It is a good idea to maintain safe distance among the team member or other teams or climber. I have experienced that one climber was climbing too close and bumped in a climber ahead of him, he fell and went down the slope. Nobody could stop him.

I have seen many groups congregate in the middle of bowl.
It is hard to move around to avoid if rock or ice shooting down towards them.

Some people stop and change microspike to crampon or adjusting crampons or changing clothes in the middle of the bowl.
It is very hard to make even small adjustments on anything under cold and windy conditions on icy steep slope. It takes longer and harder to do. Try not to stop in bowl climbing. The sooner you climb out, it is safer for you.

It is a very good idea to prepare the bowl climb at Ski-hut for installing crampons properly, choosing right clothing for the condition, getting some snacks for hard climb up, putting sunscreen on, go to outhouse.......
Once you step out from Ski-hut, just focus to keep on climbing up and get up to the middle of the bowl as soon as possible then mentally process the remaining bowl climb which is steeper and icier.

I have seen and experienced many situations where many people were encouraging other people to climb or hike even though other people didn't have a gear or experience or will. Encouraging other people is good things but it is depending on the situations.

The team leader should be responsible for individual members safety for the entire day. Any member shouldn't be left behind.

I always check the weather pattern, before or after, of hiking day.
I will prepare my hike depending on the weather.
No hiking on rainy days, snowy days, super windy days, or changing weather pattern days.

For many advanced hikers or mountaineers, my personal opinion sounds
silly, but these are the personal opinions based on my past experience. I hope these things may help to enjoy the mountains a bit better. Myself, I am a weekend hiker living at sea level with no formal training of any kinds, so I am very careful about safety for me and people who I hike with. I want to go home safely and have a nice dinner at the end of the day.

Richard,

I now most often refrain from talking to hikers on Baldy who are slipping in microspikes or heading to the hut in tennis shoes. I have found that most don't want to hear what I have to say and the few that let me speak always say, "I'm OK." The forest service is trying to spread the word with the large yellow and black sign at the ski hut TH, but people attempting the bowl in micros and the aforementioned sneaker wearing hikers last weekend, saw it and continued on.

There are large number of inexperienced or mildly experienced hikers, who are like you said, completely unaware of the melt/freeze cycle and what harsh winds do to snow. I can only imagine they think the snow they see on Baldy (or anywhere for that matter) is the soft fluffy stuff that fell from the sky. They are not aware that with certain conditions snow becomes ice. It breaks my heart when I hear of another unprepared hiker getting into trouble or worse. I doubt our local forest service has the manpower and funds to initiate and monitor a permit system like the national parks and the Inyo.

Education is the answer, but how do you educate these wanna be mountaineers. I hear over and over on social media to learn from a friend and don't spend the money for a mountaineering course. Of course if I have the time, I comment to please buy and read Freedom of The Hills and yes, take a mountaineering course from a reputable eastside guide service. I can't stress enough that the money spent on a snow travel/mountaineering course is "priceless" when you consider it's skills you will learn to save your life.

Thank you Laura for providing some details of Crystal’s accident.
Kudos to you and the other volunteers that rendered care and providing the gallant CPR efforts.
Also thanks for the wise climbing-community recommendations for anyone heading up Mt Baldy or any other mountains.
My condolences to Crystal’s family and friends. RIP Crystal.
Rick G

More sad news; British actor Julian Sands missing on Mt Baldy. Last seen on Jan 13th (Friday) 2023 in the Baldy Bowl area. Another hiker is missing in the Mt Islip area.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/actor-julian-sands-missing-in-mt-baldy-area/?ipid=promo-link-block1
I was up on Baldy that day (Friday 13th) and did the 3-Pin Alley slope. I choose 3-Pin Alley because there was lots of ice-chucks coming down the center routes from the rhyme-ice trees that rim the top of the Bowl. The conditions on 3-Pin Alley were as difficult as I’ve ever seen; with very hard pack snow and a glaze of ice on top. There were very strong winds coming from the West. I hiked down the Ski Hut Trail and there was one tricky section on the off-camber slope above the airplane wreckage ~9500’. It was hard to descend this section even in crampons. Descending this section in micro-spikes would have been extra spicy. Here are my photos
https://grahamcracker.smugmug.com/2023/Baldy-3-Pin-Alley-Friday-the-13th-Jan-2023/
Here are the folks I saw that day:
a. I saw 2 climbers heading up one of the Western chutes (maybe Hourglass or Girlyman) @ ~9:00am. They summited before me.
b. I saw 1 set of fresh crampon tracks on the upper portion of the Devil’s Backbone trail near the summit ~10:45am. I didn’t see anyone else heading up the right-side of the Bowl, so I figured these tracks were from someone that came up Register Ridge, but never saw the person that made these tracks. I didn’t see anyone on the summit @10:50am
c. Saw 2 hikers (both men w/ microspikes) coming up the Ski Hut Trail at about ~9400 @ 11:20am
d. Saw 2 hikers (both women w/ microspikes) coming up the Ski Hut Trail at about ~9200’ @ 11:25am
e. Saw 1 hiker (male) on the Ski Hut Trail in the trees below the West Ridge ~8800’ @ 11:30am
f. Saw 3 climbers heading up either Zen or Procrastination Chute @11:45am. I believe they cleared the chute by ~12:15pm
g. a group of 4 Asian hikers at the Ski Hut.
h. I didn’t see any other hikers below the Ski Hut and got back to the car by ~1:00pm
I didn’t see any of the climbers face-2-face and didn’t see anyone that I recognized as Julian.
As others have said, Mt Baldy can offer very challenging & serious conditions in the Winter time.
Stay safe and take care,
Rick G

Thanks for the excellent report, Rick. Answered many questions raised by the media reports on the Julian Sands case. Wonder why the authorities in charge of the SAR have not called on people who were on Baldy that day to report what they saw. Also wonder why it took so long to find Sands' car. If he was reported missing Friday evening, you would think that searching Manker Flats on Saturday morning would have been a no-brainer.

I started hiking Baldy again in January 2010 after an absence of 32 years, and was stunned by the number of people. In the 1970's, the number of people who went above the snowline in the winter was much smaller, and it was not called 'hiking'.

I read Shin's 12/18/22 post, and thought 'this is the Star Wars Bar crowd in Baldy Bowl'.

Hi Edw,
I have seen and experienced many situations beyond our common sense. Unfortunately, we tend to emphasize our successful adventure rather than the actual experience of pains and suffering or failure or shortness of skills. We are so accustomed to denying the reality. So, we never learn from our past experiences. It is very hard to change our culture.
But, we can help each other to improve ourselves on the tail rather than the after the accident happen. Some people may give you a nasty attitude back to you. Ignore them. At least, you did a right thing to prevent a thing happens.

Trail conditions on Ski hut trail early in the morning:
Fire road to Ski hut: Hard packed deep snow and some sections were icy. There were three small scale of avalanche with ice from Register ridge hillside. ( Microspike or crampons and poles are recommended.)
Main bowl: Icy. No track. 12 climbers went up right hand side in single file on avalanche line.
West bowl: 3 climbers on Hourglass chute direction.
Ski hut to the west ridge: Hard packed/frozen snow. Icy.
The west ridge to 9200 feet: Hard packed deep snow.
9200-9400 feet: Very icy. One section of trail was very dangerous.
West facing hill was frozen solid.
9500-summit: All trees were covered with ice. Large chunk of ice everywhere. The summit area was frozen solid all directions and super strong wind from west. The wind was gusting over 40 mph. I couldn't stand up straight for a long time. I had to kneel down to avoid being blown. It was very cold.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dV3jyHDaGmd4ABZC8

Have a safe hike.

Thanks all that are reporting Rick . Shin and all others,By the local media coverage and social media coverage munber of hikers to Baldy may be less .

Update: Jan 26, 2023
Looks like the search for Julian is being conducted by Air only and using RECCO tech
https://twitter.com/sbcountysheriff/status/1618377875270561793?cxt=HHwWgsDT_cuG0fUsAAAA
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/26/1151642667/julian-sands-search-update-mt-baldy

Curious how many folks carry SPOT or InReach devices or have RECCO reflectors?
https://www.amazon.com/RECCO-Ski-Reflect...la-576894580986

I've carried a SPOT since they released Gen 1. I don't even remember when that was.

Funny thing is, the one time I REALLY would have liked to send out an OK, it had died... (not batteries) the company was cool in replacing it for free. They also had no interest in publishing the story I sent them about the failure...(Is there an emoji for gutless?)

Thanks for the links.

I bought and still carry a SPOT Gen 2. Not only to call for a rescue, but to prevent an unnecessary and embarrassing SAR operation by sending an OK, if I am running late. Is the Baldy area still a dead zone for cell phones? I have not been on Baldy for some time. If my wife called and left a message, my phone would not ring until I was nearly back to Upland.

I wonder if Sands had both a helmet and a satellite-based SOS device. If you have both, I would estimate the chances of surviving a fall and calling for rescue to be at least fair.

I had never heard of RECCO before.

The office said it was working with legislators to try to secure more funding for the USFS in order to implement a permit process for local hikers and boost wilderness education.

You down south people better start getting involved in this (with your input)...

This ought to scare you even more: ...former Sheriff John McMahon to meet with members of Congress about increasing weather closures...

(Redacted some comments about gov't overreach...something along the lines of stupid people making decision on things they know nothing about...)

Mt. San Jacinto State Park has closed the upper part of the Skyline Trail. See the Mt. San Jacinto Discussion Board.

Something should be done about winter 'hiking' in Southern California. But perhaps the forest service could start with less expensive measures, such as writeups on winter hazards and volunteer rangers.

The biggest problem I have with closures is that inexperienced people will give them a binary interpretation. I.e., when an area is not closed, they will think it is safe.

There were two signs saying, "Icy trails Hiking Not Advised." along Mt. Baldy Road. The fire road to the Notch was roped up and closed at the junction of Baldy Bowl/Ski hut trail. There was another warning sign for Alpine condition of the mountain. I was hiking solo, so I joined with Yi, Bill, and Rick for an entire day.
The trail was covered with consolidated snow and some sections were very icy early in the morning. Some climbers went up east side of bowl with dogs. There were several climbers and skiers in the bowl. I didn't feel comfortable to stay long at Ski hut listening and watching what was going on.
It may be a good idea that Politian, officers of parks and forest service, and SAR member to listen in at Ski hut what kind of conversations are exchanged among hikers and climbers or watch how peoples are preparing for the winter snow hike or climb. They may get a clear idea about the real situation of mountains.

We ran into a rescue operation of a snowboarder broke his leg being supported by a Ski hut host waiting for rescue helicopter in the Rock Garden at the bottom of west bowl. Two helicopters took part in the operation.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KuxLaBUub14h5GfR8

Have a great hike.

It bothers me beyond words that people are taking their dogs up there during such a dangerous conditions. If they want to put themselves in danger that’s their choice but taking their fur babies is just so irresponsible.