missing mountaineer found

[drndr]

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/i ... -huascaran

This story on espn mentions mt baldy so I thought I'd post it. I hadnt heard about it anywhere else

[Ed]

I knew a number of people who climbed Huascaran in the 1970's. I also knew of a group who left someone to die there. Given the account I heard, I do not blame them, as I am a sceptic about risking lives trying to save the life of someone who is likely to die anyone. The group were highly experienced mountaineers from the LA area, with one exception, the brother of the trip organizer, who was from Ohio. Descending the mountain, he slipped and fell. He was roped up to a young woman who was from a famous SoCal climbing family. Since she was far more experienced, she should have been at the uphill end of the rope, but she was not. There was about 60' of rope between them, so he had 120' to accelerate before she could try to self-arrest. The self-arrest failed, and they both fell a long distance. Gail's injuries were serious, but she was mobile. He was not, and perhaps not conscious. There was no such thing as SAR in those days. They saw signs of a coming storm, and were concerned about getting medical care for Gail. They left the poor guy in his sleeping bag in a tent. One can only imagine how the trip leader explained it to their parents.

Yerupaja, the second-highest mountain in Peru, is considered more dangerous than Huascaran. One day in the late 1970's I was drying off in the locker room at UC Riverside after a swim. Another man was drying off a few yards away. He had crew-cut gray hair, which I thought made him look like a retired air force colonel. Then I noticed his toes. Or rather the lack of toes. The front ends of his feet were brick-red bumps. So I rather awkwardly started a conversation by saying 'I take it you have done some mountain climbing.'

His name was Dave Harrah, he was a professor of philosophy at the university. He lost his toes making the first ascent of Yerupaja in 1950. Below are the Wikipedia write-up on Yerupaja, and Dave's write-up on the climb in the American Alpine Journal. No SAR in those days, I don't even think there was another group of climbers in the region. Just a group of Harvard and Stanford students making a first ascent of a dangerous mountain in a remote area, completely on their own.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerupaj%C3%A1

https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12195102200/Up-Yerupaj

[drndr]

That story on Harrah is crazy and a reminder why I don't play in the snow.