Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Have you ever been really scared or in danger?

Here is a link to Bob R's experience on Denali:

http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Climbing/Ordeal_on_Denali.pdf

Great stories GB...thanks!

i'm a little spooked. i'm going to move into a bubble.

Good decision. Many have died trying to climb down El Diente via the north snow field. I assume that was your descent intention since you went up Wilson via the Navajo Basin.

When you go to climb El Diente I suggest you try the South
approach going in the Kilpacker Basin Route. Safer and many
think it is easier.

Mark Twight, Confessions of a Serial Climber is a good read; I can't remember who said it, but after an unbelievable epic one of his climbing buddies summed up the climb by saying it was like "having sex with death". Sort of sums up the essence of that end of the risk spectrum. It sounds interesting to me, from the safety on an armchair.

I guess the other end of the spectrum is never leaving the sofa, and we all come to some conclusion about where we are willing (or compelled?) to venture between the two ends.

I really appreciate the candor and sharing of everyones experiences. I have learned a lot. I am amazed and entralled by the stories and the great lessons learned.I also appreciate the advice.Thanks again.

I must be too careful. I've never been terrified in the Sierra. A couple of years ago at the base of the summit block on T-bolt, I was expecting to be blasted to smithereens by lightning, but wasn't really horrified by it. About six years ago we got caught by a hail storm at the summit of Humphries and while we were cold getting off the peak, we were equipped to do it safely, and I never thought we were going to die.

Unplanned bivvy on Split Mountain...in late October. Early stages of hypothermia. No matter what folks try to tell you, it would not be a peaceful way to die.

Scared? numerous times, mostly when first learning class 5 techniques with only a handful of nuts and slings, back many years... In danger, a couple of times. Very uncomfortable, certainly. Benighted on the mtn without proper gear, twice, in the early 90's and near misses in 2002, and one back in the 70's on Taquitz. I think I have weathered the storm, and am more cognizant of my own limitations now. Or maybe I'm just a cat with 9 lives, of which I only have a couple left. Like ClimbStrong, maybe during the dark months this winter I will have time to go into more detail... looking back is sometimes good.

In danger, but oblivious.

A long time ago, a group of us drove out to Frazer Park (NSW, Oz), near Newcastle, on the coast. We parked atop a ca. 200 foot cliff above the beach, and took the mile or so path down to the beach.

After dark, we figured we were a mile from the path end (2 miles from the cars), but only 200' away vertically. Magically, there was a sandstone column (about 20' X 20' section, 200' high) leaning against the cliff below where the cars were parked. And it sported an awesome chimney between the cliff & the column.

No ropes. No pro. No lights. We climbed the chimney using the flash from a nearby lighthouse (like every 8 seconds?) So we all scooted up & gained the parking lot & cars.

Several weeks later, we had a plan: Let's go out again & top-rope it for anybody who wants to try it - in daylight.

We drove up to the same limited parking place - and what do we see: A 200 foot long block of 20'X 20' sandstone lying in the surf! Oops!

Scared... sure, somewhat. In danger... a couple of times. Extricating one's self properly from the danger is the trick. Many years ago I was climbing a route on Tahquitz. My partner and I were so engrossed in the climb that we foolishly ignored the weather, specifically fast-developing cumulonimbus, directly over our heads. When we finally noticed the danger, we were up about 600 feet, it was too late to rap, so we covered up and hunkered down on a big ledge as the rain began to fall. Thunder, lightning coming from all directions, water pouring down the rock and shooting into space as mini-waterfalls below us, we squatted on our coiled ropes to somewhat insulate ourselves from lightning. Fast-moving clouds totally obliterated our view of the ground. It was quite the epic that lasted for about a half hour. When it finally let up, thank God, we made several long rappels back to the ground, hiked out, and then dried out at a local pub in Idyllwild. Lesson learned, be aware of your surroundings, don't get in neck deep to begin with, but act intelligently and calmly when things go south.

I also flew quite some time ago. My "best" adventure was on my third solo in a C-152. The tower had called an extended downwind, and by the time I was on final, I discovered that someone else had missed the call for the long downwind, had turned the base leg early, and was turning to final right on top of me, never seeing me because he was a low-wing Piper. Instead on calling the tower for advice, I decided to act on my own, not exactly legal, but, under the circumstances the correct thing to do. I sideslipped a little to the left to move out of the guy's way, gunned the engine, climbed back into the pattern, and advised the tower what happened. They cleared me to land, which I did on the next pass. My instructor saw what happened and complimented me on clear thinking. Again, calm saved the day.

I think adrenaline can be fun as long as you're not addicted to it, and don't let it get you and others into trouble. The adrenaline junkies are better off on theme park rides. Let your brain and experience rule over your glands, otherwise stay at home and let the S&R team have the night off. Right now I'm giving thought to climbing the Nose on El Cap. My plan? Lose about 20 pounds, be in shape, like be able to run a marathon, take a big wall class or two, do all the prerequisite climbs, hire a really good guide who's been up the route a few times, and, above all, keep my head on straight. Cheers!

BOO !

Hi We know you have no fear, work on that beast inside that keeps showing up and saying you may have a little . Thanks Doug

I now consider what I did last summer a classic example of nearly screwing up. A friend and I went up Thor Peak via the SE chute. This was my 4th time up that route. On the way down, I started daydreaming, and then started wondering if I was even in the correct chute. So I started ad-libbing my way down instead of stopping and confirming that I was on the correct route. I ended up on the edge of a cliff and realized that I might not be able to retreat back up and that I could fall at any moment, ~ 300 feet down. So I sat down, grabbed a 2 foot tall pine tree, and yelled for my buddy. He didn't hear me. I used the next 15 minutes to get my mind right. I then let go of the tree and climbed a steep, smooth boulder behind me. Wasn't sure that I could do that and I don't think I have ever felt so lucky .

However, yelling for my friend did cause a large SAR effort, one that I did not request. However, Doug was part of that effort and I have tremendous respect for his abilities.

Bob R- I am the one you referred to as William Dully.

Hi I somewhat recall that day Thank you for the words. As we were going up a standard is we ask if.... at the first section of the trail everyone had hear something some said help other were not sure what the sound was and reports from Lone Pine Lake Area to somewhere on Thor,


About the log crossing area we have had hikers go off trail to do #1-#2 and end up finding a ledge system that takes them onto the east face of Thor, and we have gone up and walked them down, things were turning bad the closer we got no reports of yells or any sightings , I had already thought we would start up the se side of Thor and work back and forth until we located a fallen hiker. Above the logs I called out and got a responce followed the sound and we found each other, the ranger and I. He had come down from trailcamp and was also searching. We started up the SE side ,up some distance I hear yelling not from above but below I worked around until I could get in a chute that lead down to see what was going on .The firecrew had just arrived and the hiker we were looking for had down climbed and was safe back on the trail. These are the good days a positive outcome, S&R did not have to make the drive from Bishop and we had alot of hiker reports that something was happening around Lone Pine Lake which made all this happen during the daylight hours with many people on the trail if help was needed, and we still had cell phone coverage to Earlene at the store and she was in touch with S&R, Dispatch, with udates.

We had talked with Bob R on the way up,he had also heard the noise and spent time looking but could not find anything and gave us the best location he thought the sound may have come from ,again this is the area of the phantom ledges (hint the wives of the top climber found these one night, they exist, how they find them is still a puzzle ) Thanks for the message it shows a common event we see often. We and Doug (another hint "we" took his daughters up Rattlesnake mountain twice one summer Doug

For me, it was the early 80’s, mid-winter and I was leading a group of about 7 cross country skiers over Mammoth Pass to the Red Cones for a day outing.

The day started out beautifully, very high clouds and no wind. As we crested Mammoth Pass, the clouds thickened. We started down the backside of the pass, down the canyon toward the Red Cones. About a mile from our destination, snow started falling. We continued. We reached the Red Cones as heavy snow began to fall. The winds picked up. The situation took on an air of seriousness.

As we headed back up the canyon, the snow and wind picked up even more. Near whiteout conditions prevailed. As I led the group up, I would stop and watch each skier go by then ski to the front. We finally reached the Pass and headed on down toward Lake George and the road. All safe.

It was without a doubt a stressful situation that could have turned out the other way.

paul

In my almost 40 years of outdoor fun, I have 3 instances that will be forever burned into the data banks. First one was back in the early 70's on a May climbing trip of Middle Pal. We met John and Ruth Mendenhal on the M.P. glacier, and thought we were following the route up the peak that they pointed out, but we missed by a ridge or two. What was supposed to be a 3rd class climb turned into 5th,( luckily we had ropes and a rack along),and we ended up spending the night at 14,000 feet with no sleeping bags or other overnight gear. Except for being cold for what seemed like forever, the experience was one that has stayed with me to this day.
Second experience was with a life long climbing friend and invoved a climb up the north face of San Jacinto. Back when this took place, people did the climb mostly as an over nighter, not running up it in 12 to 14 hours like is done these days. We spent the night out on the face, and the next day the weather changed and added to the all around ass kick that the climb was, the situation turned ugly for the friend I was with. I remember having to do all I could to keep him from just wanting to sit down and giving up on making the top when to do so would have meant spending another night on the face, but this time under very bad conditions. It was all I could do to keep him,(and myself for that matter) moving up the face. When we finally made the top, he for all intents collapsed once we got inside the cabin on the summit. I remember making something for him to eat, but was unable to keep him focused and awake long enough to get some badly needed food into him. Long story short, we made it through the night and got to the tram the next morning and made it home all in one piece. This was the only time I was ever really woried that something bad could happen on a hiking or climbing trip.Funny thing was, I was more worried about the friend than I have ever been for myself. This guy is to this day the one person I would trust my life to in ANY situation in the mountains. Over the years,we have climbed in the Sierras, Yosemitte Valley, the local San Gabrial mountains, mountains in Oregon and Rainier in Washington, out at Tahquitz, J Trees and more places than I can possibly remember, and he remains the one person that I would trust to get me out of harms way if it came down to it. Not only a true climbing partner, but the best friend a person could ever hope to have.
The third incident was on nothing else than everyones favorite peak, Whitney. We had started doing trips around the time of my birthday (November) just to keep things exciting. This one year(early 90's) we brought along another person , and this turned out to be his very first overnight backpacking trip. We spent the first night at Out Post and got up early to start our try for the summit. The third party in our group ended up not feeling well, so he stayed at OutPost, and Stan (never been overnight) and I took off for the top. Another long story short, we got to Trail Crest and the weather that the Forest Service had told us was going to be great all weekend, turned bad. I have been to the summit more times than I can remember, so I left the decision on wether to turn around or continue, up to Stan. As it turned out, this was a major mistake on my part. Being as close as we were, Stan of course choose going to the top instead of turning around with the bad weather getting worse. Well, we made the top, but by the time we were back to Trail Crest, it was dark and the storm was at full strength. We some how made it down the switchbacks with only one headlamp,as Stans had stopped working just after taking off from the top. To say we came down under bad conditions is an understatement to the max. All the way down we never could see more than 10 feet in any one directions, due to 50 mph winds and literly blinding snowfall. After taking almost 4 hours to get down from Trail Crest, I, as the more exoerineced one in the twosome, decided that it would be safer to spend the night where we were rather than wander around in the almost complete whiteout conditions we were in. We found a large boulder we were able to crawl under and spent the night, sans sleeping bags and proper overnight gear, colder than anyone could possibly imagine. Around midnight it got to the point the only way we could stay warm was to, every 15 minutes, crawl out from under our boulder and do jumping jacks till we warmed up. We would then get back under the boulder, only to repeat this every 15 to 20 minutes through the night till the sun came up the next morning. Once agin due to vast experience( I doubt that), the mountain gods (quite likely), or just pure good luck( the most likely answer), we made it through the night and got down the mountain the next day. To be honest, I never was really worried that night that we wouldn't make it, but I was thinking , what a way for the friend I was with to spend his first onvernight backpacking experience.