Eldo rescue?

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/COBOULDER/bulletins/3ff7d82

The above sheriffs report leaves a lot of unanswered questions: was this guy climbing The Naked Edge solo? What was the descent route? Anybody know what happened? There’s nothing on the RMRG website yet…but certainly a very unprepared climber…

—Rick

I’d assume he soloed it because he was alone and not returning home is what triggered a rescue response. Then he got caught in the dark on the east slabs…  I’ve done the edge 4 times, and I never really mastered coming down the slabs; I always ended up meandering a slightly different way. Always blew my mind climbing that thing, then picking my way down the slabs and knowing the fastest times were sub 30 minutes.

Rick Casey wrote:

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/COBOULDER/bulletins/3ff7d82

The above sheriffs report leaves a lot of unanswered questions: was this guy climbing The Naked Edge solo? What was the descent route? Anybody know what happened? There’s nothing on the RMRG website yet…but certainly a very unprepared climber…

—Rick

Free solo or Rope solo? The decent has never given us problems. As we use to use it for many different routes instead of rapping. The first time doing it we went way too far left. And we were very green. i.e. new climbers. And how can you be unprepared after climbing the Naked Edge? 

Chris White wrote:

Free solo or Rope solo? The decent has never given us problems. As we use to use it for many different routes instead of rapping. The first time doing it we went way too far left. And we were very green. i.e. new climbers. And how can you be unprepared after climbing the Naked Edge? 

The descent (east slabs) has claimed multiple lives. My first time coming down it was dark out and only had 1 headlamp for 2 people, and was honestly a nerve wracking ordeal, that took forever, required utmost care, and was still very high risk to mitigate. 

 I was climbing 5.12 on lead in the canyon at the time, and doing countless laps of 5.9 and 5.10 climbs, up and down.

Adam Stackable wrote:

The decent (east slabs) has claimed multiple lives. My first time coming down it was dark out and only had 1 headlamp for 2 people, and was honestly a nerve wracking ordeal, that took forever, required utmost care, and was still very high risk to mitigate. 

 I was climbing 5.12 on lead in the canyon at the time, and doing countless laps of 5.9 and 5.10 climbs, up and down.

Same here. (Edit: first time down East Slabs i only climbed 5.9. We got down the slabs. Didn’t take the easiest way) But 5.11 not 5.12. A few 5.12’s. No headlamp would suck for the first time down the East Slabs. So, How many lives has the East Slabs taken? And is there good beta in the most updated guide book to Eldo? I will check right now to see if there’s good beta on mountainproject.com. I probably don’t have to really worry since I can’t even currently climb 5.8. And maybe you should work on your slab down climbing. And not fall off the edge lookers right if you descend to far left. That would be extremely off route. 

https://mountainproject.com/assets/photos/climb/127162595_large_1729641855.jpg?cache=1750712987

Only a nice photo. No written description of what I could see. The photo makes it look kind of scary. If it’s wet or starts raining on you, probably should have an alternative plan if possible. It’s about 5.0 max, if you go the correct way. 

Chris White wrote:

Same here. (Edit: first time down East Slabs i only climbed 5.9. We got down the slabs. Didn’t take the easiest way) But 5.11 not 5.12. A few 5.12’s. No headlamp would suck for the first time down the East Slabs. So, How many lives has the East Slabs taken? And is there good beta in the most updated guide book to Eldo? I will check right now to see if there’s good beta on mountainproject.com. I probably don’t have to really worry since I can’t even currently climb 5.8. And maybe you should work on your slab down climbing. And not fall off the edge lookers right if you descend to far left. That would be extremely off route. 

I don't need to work on my slab climbing. The main issue is routefinding, as is the case with many routes. If you think it's easy to navigate the eastslab your first time down, and stay on route, you would be wrong. 

Adam Stackable wrote:

I don't need to work on my slab climbing. The main issue is routefinding, as is the case with many routes. If you think it's easy to navigate the eastslab your first time down, and stay on route, you would be wrong. 

+1
Adam is an extremely experienced climber and Eldo savant. I completely align with his stance and would encourage others to have more respect and empathy for other folk’s unfortunate outings.

I've been up and down the East Slabs dozens of times, including a benighted epic in my first trip to Eldo in 1985.  While we can't mark the route with cairns for obvious reasons, should we consider some other way of aiding navigation?  After all, the Green Spur Buttress walk-off is cairned.  Would be good to reduce risk to climbers and especially rescuers.

Case in point :-)

It’s all part of the adventure. Climbing is not easy. I wish everyone a safe journey. 

Circling back to the original purpose for the post: he was TR soloing on the Edge and got benighted. He was totally unfamiliar with the descent and rather than try to make it down in the dark, he was trying to wait out the night. Apparently he had contact with his family and they took matters out of his hands and called 911 for him at about 2am. 

Adam Parkman wrote:

Circling back to the original purpose for the post: he was TR soloing on the Edge and got benighted. He was totally unfamiliar with the descent and rather than try to make it down in the dark, he was trying to wait out the night. Apparently he had contact with his family and they took matters out of his hands and called 911 for him at about 2am. 

Just curious here, not directly related to the benightment/rescue, but how the hell does someone "top rope solo"  the Naked Edge??? I assume that he wasn't doing so by 'reverse pitching' ( from the top down), as to do so he would have had to have initially climbed up the descent route and would, therefore, have been familiar with it.

Alan Rubin wrote:

Just curious here, not directly related to the benightment/rescue, but how the hell does someone "top rope solo"  the Naked Edge??? I assume that he wasn't doing so by 'reverse pitching' ( from the top down), as to do do, he would have had to have initially climbed up the descent route and would, therefore, have been familiar with it.

He was lead rope soloing, not top rope soloing. (Source, I chatted with him)

choss pirate wrote:

He was lead rope soloing, not top rope soloing. (Source, I chatted with him)

Ok, thanks. That makes a lot more sense. 

Alan Rubin wrote:

Just curious here, not directly related to the benightment/rescue, but how the hell does someone "top rope solo"  the Naked Edge??? I assume that he wasn't doing so by 'reverse pitching' ( from the top down), as to do do, he would have had to have initially climbed up the descent route and would, therefore, have been familiar with it.

Utter speculation but I have seen top rope climbers with very long static lines rig from the top down at Eldo. Not on the Naked Edge per se, but certainly the entire Bastille etc. Kinda like cavers doing very long drops.

choss pirate wrote:

He was lead rope soloing, not top rope soloing. (Source, I chatted with him)

Ahhhh, my bad. That makes a lot more sense. I knew he was there pretty much all day, was wondering what took so long.

I got bored and annotated some Google Earth drawings. This is the fastest route down the slabs that is used during hot laps / by many familiar with the park. I can film a video next time I'm up there if anyone is interested, the below route takes about 5 minutes (for the slabs proper) and only requires facing in a few times

Hiking trails all over are marked with painted blazes. Its not rocket science... 

Jack Neus wrote:

I got bored and annotated some Google Earth drawings. This is the fastest route down the slabs that is used during hot laps / by many familiar with the park. I can film a video next time I'm up there if anyone is interested, the below route takes about 5 minutes (for the slabs proper) and only requires facing in a few times

That is super-informative and would be good to post to the route's page. The getting-down beta isn't as sexy as the getting-up, but it can be even more important since it's often less obvious.