Journal
An Avalanche
Here is some of my bold yet exciting commentary about recent news items:
Avalanches: An avalanche survival story caught my attention recently. Alex White and Joe Philpott were backcountry skiing near Cameron Pass when they were caught and buried by an avalanche. Both were buried and Philpott did not survive. White, on the other hand, survived for over three hours before he was dug out by rescuers. This is nothing short of amazing. Avalanche victims are killed by either the trauma of the washing machine effect of an avalanche, or buy suffocation after burial or both.
While snow is flowing during an avalanche, it is like a powerful river flowing over boulders, cliffs and through trees, an irresistible force that carries victims like flotsam. When the flow stops, the snow “sets up like cement.” During the flow stage, the snow particles are almost in a state of liquid water that flows yet the overall temperature is below freezing. Once that snow stops, it’s like a pool of water that instantly freezes, solidifying more tightly than it had been prior to the avalanche. And like a frozen pool of water, almost all the air pockets in the snow are filled in. If your head is under the snow level when the snow stops, you are likely stuck in a solid tomb. Many victims are found with their mouths and noses filled with snow.
This isn’t always the case, though, which gives hope to victims and rescuers alike that survival is possible and searchers should continue until they find the victim. Surprisingly, there have been more than a few recent survival stories after long-term burial. Other strange things have happened in avalanches over the years, I wrote about one at Yankee Doodle lake, possibly the strangest avalanche in Colorado history, in Playing for Real.
By the way, the pic above is an avalanche on Mount Hunter in Alaska. On two of my trips there I witnessed big avalanches coming down this same chute, so large that the snow plume ran completely across the valley and covering our tent, a mile away, in a layer of snow dust. A spectacular force of nature.
Solo Survival: Never underestimate the power of the wilderness to make you suffer for your mistakes, or the strength of will to survive, or the consistency of human nature to produce endless stories of how these two interact. This story about Mary Owen who recently survived a week-long ordeal on Mount Hood in Oregon is one of the latest. Unlike the avalanche survival story above which was nothing short of amazing, this one is nothing short of predictable.
The inevitable story line is as follows:
- A plan is made to accomplish something.
- Events lead the plan astray.
- A chain of mistakes and bad decisions are made.
- Intense determination and single-mindedness blind the victim to all warning signs that things are going wrong.
- An accident happens.
- Great human suffering follows.
Then, either
A. The victim survives with at great story to tell, or
B. The victim dies.
This is the story told in The Endurance, Touching the Void, 127 Hours, etc. The great willpower that enables a victim to survive injury and starvation is the same willpower that blinded them to their mistakes in the first place. Of course, because this kind of story is captivating, I tell similar tales in Colorado 14er Disasters, where I try to put focus on the chain of mistakes being made. A great number of mountaineering disasters are not the result of a single bad event but rather a series of smaller events that add up to badness.
To me, the most interesting aspect of Mary Owen’s story is how she interprets her view of God in relation to her ordeal. It was understandably a life-changing event to her as it would be to anyone; to be injured, lost, and alone with the threat of death very near and then to be saved. But I don’t see anything miraculous. I don’t mean to single her out but the unfortunate thing for anyone caught in a mountain accident is that their story usually becomes public knowledge. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and I am certain she will learn from her mistakes and maybe others will as well. She really did nothing that all dedicated climbers do at some point in their lives, and the good part is that she lived to tell her story. Which is…
…A strong-willed young climber determined to summit decides to solo a difficult mountain at a dangerous time of year. Ignoring or ignorant of easily available information about necessary and prudent equipment, she goes up alone without properly informing anyone about her plans. She gets lost in bad weather, not unusual for a person of this type of attitude. She is injured, which is not unusual for someone who is tired in difficult terrain, and survives several days in harsh conditions, which is difficult but again not unusual. She is missed at some point and a search team is dispatched to find her. And they find her.
Not a single aspect of her ordeal was unexpected.
Posted in Journal by Mark with comments disabled.