[Kat]

I'm always grateful for a discussion of the technical possibilities behind an accident. Even if that isn't what happened. I feel it keeps myself, and others, more aware of particular risks from folks who have been in that exact same locale. I really don't recall anyone posting in the last couple of years being distasteful, or not respecting families who have lost someone. I can only think that these families hope their stories help prevent a tragedy for someone else. I know some of these incidents have personally reshaped my risk factor.

[gorp]

i was thinking it sounded like he fell into (what i think is) isolation lake

[Tazz]

gyngve I was not speculating or saying he should have done anything. I was more or less wondering how it could have happened. I am a peak bagger/climber and I unfortunately learn from accidents like this. I order to learn from it I discuss it or get more info. There was no info in the article to go from so I was just wondering how he fell. It is a sad day when a person dies in the mountains. I don't think the guy did any thing wrong. It happens and there is nothing to change that except learn from it and move on. maybe it was the way I worded things. I am not the type of person to say he should have done............. So please don't take it that way. sorry if i upset you. Tazz

[gyngve]

T&M -- all is cool. There are definitely things to learn from an accident. Perhaps it's best to discuss such issues in a thread separate from the one mentioning the accident and to describe hypothetical situations without referring to the subject. One must be deliberate about wording so as not to imply anything about the circumstances of the accident. "If he had an ice axe he might have been able to arrest." Your sentence directly implies as fact: "He was sliding uncontrollably down snow/ice." "He did not have an ice axe handy." It's not much further for someone else to augment your assumptions and suggest something about equipment and experience, and next thing you know, through word of mouth, the speculations have written themselves into history.

[Tazz]

thanks gyngve I did word it incorrectly. Sorry if I misled anyone into thinking that was how it happened. That was not my intent.

[ActionBetty]

[Backpacker Joe]

By LET I meant how he got himself into that situation. We all have made mistakes in route finding, but you have to use your head too.

[Snowshoe Hare]

Yes definitely some misunderstanding comes easily on message boards and Tazz needn't apologize, as her post wasn't disrespectful at all. AB yer blunt and to the point. Now BPJ seems to continue judging the guy without ANY facts in other than the vague "he fell off Little Annapurna" I read at that news link. Maybe you should have used "got into the situation" in the first place. Remind me never to make an error in judgement or do something stoopid around you. (Or be a Frenchman )Unbelievable.

[Tom]

Accidents happen. For all we know he just caught a bad break. Last year I slipped on some black ice in the enchantments. I didn't see it. I wouldn't have expected it, but it was there, and before I knew it my feet were in the air. It's way too early to speculate about what he did right or wrong.

[Blue Dome]

Condolences to the family and friends of the victim.

[Jeff R]

I think everyones concerns should be above whether someone made a mistake, or was unfortunate, unlucky, media discrepancy's, or any other variables that are part of the risks that are involved with a passion to enjoy the outdoors. This is truly saddening, and this bickering is unproductive to all people concerned. My thoughts and prayers go out to him, his family and friends, May he Rest in peace.

[Blue Dome]

T & M, I don't think you posted anything accusatory here. My post was not directed at you.

[#19]

I think the lower slope of L Annapurna is steeper right above Brynhild Lake. I remember ascending E of the lake, not right above it. In no way is that a criticism - but just an observation.

[ragman and rodman]

If the accident occurred on Friday, July 22, weather (rain and very poor visibility) could have easily been a factor in this accident... rodman and I intended to go to the upper Enchantments on Friday from the Stuart trailhead... we arrived at Colchuck around 11:00 a.m. and did 2 hours of tent time during a downpour... the conditions in Aasgard Pass looked terrible... the rain stopped at Colchuck by 1:00 p.m., but the visibility at Aasgard was very marginal until around 7:00 p.m... The weather on Saturday, July 23, was ideal and while descending Dragontail Peak at 6:30 p.m. we saw the helicopter arrive to retrieve the young man's body from the small lake (definitely not Isolation Lake) due north of the Annapurna summit...

[Moleman]

I was up in the Enchantments last week, and to the top of Little A on Wednesday the 20th. Ladgunn Lake still had some ice along the south shore and also in pieces near its outlet at its northeast corner. The Snow Creek Glacier (north side of Little A) had some parts which were more silver / shiny than the rest (i.e. ice and not snow). Not to speculate and state that the accident happened this way, but if a person stepped onto that ice, they would have been headed downhill very quickly, and the slope above Ladgunn is about the steepest part of the north side of Little Annapurna. I went up the northeast walk-up route, following the cairns, and went down (as suggested in "50 Scrambles") the obvious paths to the northwest. I would suggest that anyone else thinking of taking that route down, wait until August . . . finding a route down between Brynhild (aka Isolation Lake) and Olrun Lake made for an interesting afternoon. If I had given up on that route, and headed back east, and tried to cut across the top of the Snow Creek Glacier (instead of heading toward the summit of Little A to find a snow-free passage), I could have ended up in Ladgunn also.