[KillerCharlie]

holy crap

[peltoms]

It is great to have an uplifting ending. The one line that cracks me up in the press is that along with eating centipede's he drank creek water. They throw the creek water in there as if it is just as foul as eating a centipede.

[forest gnome]

I haven't read this thread...but let me guess another "experienced"...."climber"....with out the 10 essentials... I don't care if he climed adams 100 times ....no one mentioned if he had ANY GEAR..... how about a map?? this guy is just lucky...sounds like a day hiker that decided he had enough "experience" to become a climber. NO gear? give me a break. oh and another thing....without reading the posts....GLISSADING WITH CRAMPONS prob. broke the ankle.....hmmmmm psyichhick gnome strikes again!! ....bet he takes a stove and bag next time.... oh and yes props to surviving...sar.....ect ect......blah blah blah seriously though NO GEAR??.....personal locater beacons are still available for rent......just takes a lot of planning to solo.....

[Go Jo]

Glad that someone opened up this "can of centipedes". We saw him as he passed us above lunch counter at 9400ft, he was under dressed, carrying a tiny day pack and was walking strangely on his crampons. He was aware that he was climbing into deteriorating weather and everyone on our team noted that he looked the least prepared for what he was getting into of the three single climbers we saw heading up as we descended. Our member who stayed at base camp even asked us if we had seen him because she wondered if he was actually going to climb or was just lookylooing. Where he fell was near where we made our navigational mistake, one that was rectified by comparing way points on the 2 gps units that we had on our team. I don't think you need to clean out the shelves at REI and carry all your gear up the mountain, but we had a stove with us in case our water froze or we got caught in a tough situation, on top of the layers (including goggles) that we ended up needing. Experienced means understanding your limits, reading the weather, listening to other climbers, being prepared for an injury if you choose to climb alone... I would not have classified him as any of those things, each individual on our team noticed him and discussed him long before he was reported missing. I'm glad he was found safely and I know the mountain can be a fickle beast, but you must respect it or you will pay handsomely. Note:newest articles refer to him drinking his own urine, so now the stream water doesn't sound nearly so bad!

[Slide Alder Slayer]

I Sooooooooo wanted to stay out of this, obviously this individual has a tremendous survival instinct and positive attitude, and thank god he was found alive and there was a group of highly trained and dedicated volunteers and professionals to find him, be that as it may, it this the Melakwa Lake syndrome revisited? Is it don’t worry about it, don’t think about it, it can’t happen to me, and then it does? The gentleman in question did one important thing correctly, he survived, but an ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure. I hope the full story is revealed so we all can learn how best to avoid this happening to one of us.

[Backpacker Joe]

Am I missing something? I didnt see anything mentioned about his PACK or gear that HE SHOULD HAVE HAD WITH HIM EVEN IF HE WAS ON A DAY HIKE! Right?

[Blue Dome]

[Lono]

[forest gnome]

yep ya gotta be prepaireed....hope no one thinks me to harsh in judgment....and so far no one has called the guy names ect... amazing what 4-5lb. of gear can do for ya .......or a cell phone hehehehe or a 20$ radio...or ...or ....or REALLY great suggestion to carry garbage bags, stove, fuel, pad, and extra clothes....granola.....SOMETHING!!! EDIT:..HE MUST HAVE HAD AN ICE AX RIGHT??....oops shouting sorry.

[ilsa817]

I too am glad he survived. I was expecting the worst but elated that he is fine. On the other topic this brings up, I am often surprised to come across hikers with one bottle of water between the two of them and think that somewhere in their future is an SAR. Michael & I never leave home without the 10 essentials and a few extras even if it means we have the biggest packs on the trail. I can remember one hike where our daypacks were large and someone asked if we were staying overnight. Our reply was that we hoped not, but were ready if we did.

[boot up]

and isn't there something about staying put, once you are lost, so SAR is not chasing your trail? Thats something drilled into MY kids since they were about 5 years old. ....especially if you didn't even bring along a map and compass on a mountain you have never climbed before, and on a snow covered mountain on a Fall day no less. No mention of map in any reports. as in "he finally had to eat his map". And it sounds like he would have been found even sooner, maybe even by days, if he had stayed put. (weren't the "scratches in the dirt" found before the last day?) much else obvious stuff has already been pointed out.

[huron]

Stories of the lost and injured are interesting because we can learn from the mistakes of others. Too many here and on the news seem to want to make fun of a victim. What we should be doing is understanding what went wrong. The news didn't spend any time at all explaining how he got from the false summit to 6400 feet somewhere down the white salmon glacier, exactly how the ankle was broken, why he simply didn't re-trace his steps or how to find a centipede when you are hungry. BTW, congrats on your summit J&S. That mountain takes a Lykken and keeps on tikken!

[Go Jo]

I agree with what is being said here, but in a side note about staying put: that is rather hard to do at 11, 600 ft with 50+mile per hour winds and dropping temperatures. It looks as though he spent a good portion of the time he was missing trying to get below the snow line. Granted he may not have been in this position had he chosen to climb with a partner or with adequate gear, but in this case I think sitting and waiting for SAR would have meant certain death. I don't believe the search even begin until Monday.

[Go Jo]

[touron]