[HitTheTrail]

Three hoisted off Mount Stuart, none injured by Pete O'Cain Sept. 9, 2018, 5:50 p.m. LEAVENWORTH — Three climbers were hoisted by helicopter early Sunday morning from Mount Stuart after they rappelled to an area from which they couldn’t advance. The group began the hike about 6 a.m. Saturday from the Longs Pass, Ingalls Creek area at the base of Stuart and called for help about 11 p.m. at the 8,800-foot level, said Sgt. Kent Sisson with Chelan County Emergency Management. The climbers hadn’t reached the summit when they decided to turn around due to waning daylight, Sisson said. The climbers attempted to rappel down a route on the northwest side of the mountain when they reached a spot where they could go no further. Sisson added that it’s not typical for climbers to rappel down Stuart — most hike out. “It was pretty obvious right away they were pretty inexperienced,” Sisson said. Stranded without overnight gear, the climbers contacted authorities and huddled under an emergency blanket for warmth. A helicopter from U.S. Naval Base Whidbey Island plucked the climbers off the mountain via hoist about 2:45 a.m., Sisson said. None of the climbers were injured during the climb.

[Just_Some_Hiker]

I guess they realized that pulling plastic at the gym is a lot different than climbing in the alpine.

[joker]

It's hard not to wonder if FOMO and "social proof" kindled by social media had an influence on this event Social media is changing our relationship to risk, with deadly consequences. In any case it's good that it ended without any harm to the hikers/climbers or to the rescuers.

[Silvatici]

[slabbyd]

A similar rescue occurred just a couple years ago on the northeast ridge of Black Peak (which is easy) where one of the rescued definitely had a quote along the lines of "It wasn't the same as the gym."

[Silvatici]

This was an even more egregious example since those climbers were part of an official club organized trip. Individual idiocy is one thing, institutional idiocy is another.

[Randito]

[Silvatici]

[Ski]

[Schroder]

From the altitude and direction it sounds like they were on the West Ridge in the same spot as the previous group was at when they got stuck.

[Silvatici]

[DIYSteve]

FWIW, Stuart West Ridge is very complex and routefinding is difficult for even the most experienced alpinist. I wonder why they rapped? W Ridge is a committing route, i.e., top out and descend via the standard SE route. And the party had better be in tip top shape because it's a long athletic route. I cannot imagine backing down the W Ridge route. (Yeah, I read about Steph's party descending the W Ridge, but her party was an outlier and her account underscores the dubiousness of descending the W Ridge)

[Ski]

[Yana]

The problem is that if an entity (National Park, Sheriff's Office - as in this case) declined to rescue someone because they were uninjured, if they subsequently were injured or died attempting to self-extricate, that would be a huge liability issue. And, yes, there is substantial risk. An NVG mission involving hoisting is about as risky as it gets for air operations. Add in the altitude for bonus added risk.

[DIYSteve]