About Over four years ago, I read “Touching the Void” and I was always intrigued by situation hikers find themselves in and the incredible things they do to stay alive.
This blog is about learning from other people’s mistakes, so you don’t make the same ones.
“Better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat”
|
Who: Two men
Where: Elephant Trunk, Kitt Peak, Arizona
Their mistake: It’s unknown
What happened: Two men were rapelling off of the Elephant Trunk on Kitt Peak and somehow became stuck. It is unclear what stopped them from completing the rappel.
Fortunately the men had a cell phone to call for help. The Southern Arizona Rescue Team and [...]
Who: A husband and wife, both 44 years old
Where: Powder Mountain, Utah
Their mistake: They wanted to get one more run in and got caught in fog
What happened: A husband and wife wanted to get one more lap in at Powder Mountain in Utah. Their plan was to follow the same line as the previous run. [...]
Who: A 23-year-old male
Where: Between Summit Cove and Keystone, Colorado
His mistake: He was alone and wearing tennis shoes despite the cold weather
What happened: A man was at a house in Summit Cove and decided to walk back to his house in the Keystone area. It is unclear how far the locations were. Despite the cold [...]
Who: 19-year-old Steven J. Strygulec of Rogersville, MI
Where: Buffalo National River, Arkansas
His mistake: He got separated, then lost a bunch of his gear
What happened: A group of five college students went for a camping trip through Buffalo National River. At some point during the hike, one of their friends – a hearing impaired, inexperienced outdoorsman, [...]
Who: A male ice climber
Where: Officer’s Gulch, The Shroud, Colorado
His mistake: It’s unknown
What happened: Two men were ice climbing on The Shroud route near Copper Mountain and Frisco in Colorado. At some point during the climb, one of the men fell 40 feet. His friend called 911 and 22 volunteer rescuers responded. Rescue teams used [...]
Who: A 20-year-old Austrian snowboarder
Where: Obertauern, Austria
His mistake: Being stupid
What happened: While snowboarding with some friends who were heading down the mountain, the young snowboarder lost his snowboard and climbed down alone to retrieve it.
When he never showed up an hour later his friends called the police. A group of 12 volunteers from the [...]
Who: A teenage boy
Where: Center Hill Lake, Austin Bottom, Tennessee
His mistake: Bad luck
What happened: A boy was hiking with companions when a large icicle dislodged above him and struck him in the leg. The boy was unable to continue on the hike. Friends alerted authorities. It took three hours for crews to package the boy [...]
Who: A 17-year-old female and 20-year-old male
Where: Appalachian Trail the towns of Beekman and Pawling, CT
Their mistake: They got lost in the dark
What happened: Two young hikers were on the Appalachian Trail and took the wrong trail at dusk. When they realized they were on the wrong trail, they used a cell phone to call [...]
Who: A 26-year-old man
Where: Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona
His mistake: None here. Just bit off something bigger than he can chew
What happened: A man was free climbing a section of the mountain. He was not using ropes, but it is unclear if he was wearing a helmet. During his ascent, the man lost his grip and [...]
Who: 26-year-old Joshua Carter
Where: Mt. Mansfield, Underhill State Park, Vermont
His mistake: He went alone in bad weather, but he did a lot of things right
What happened: A man set out for the summit of Mt. Mansfield on his own. Although the weather was good when he left, bad weather quickly came in before he reached [...]
|
|
Submit Your Hiker Hell Story
If you're into the outdoors, why not think of going on a caravan or RV trip? Better make sure you get caravan insurance first, though!
|
Recent Comments