Eldo rescue?

Mike McHughwrote:

I stand corrected. Embarrassed that I forgot about that one!

Yeah I got the grant for that sign & put the data together, ACE did the heavy lifting on content, and Shelley D from Neptune did the design and more editing. I'm just not sure it reaches a lot of people (and I need to get it reprinted after it cracked). I can imagine that a 5 bullet point sign above the TP rolls might reach additional folks with some time on their hands. I'm trying to think about things outside of cairning or marking descents that can contribute to a reduction in benightings, but spitballing on MP wasn't a good choice on my part.

Thanks for all you do, Mike, including spitballing on MP! Your perspective holds a lot of weight. The benefit of being benighted in Eldo is you get to look for the ringtail cats! Everyone should have that opportunity at least once. I would hate to take that away from folks.

Mike McHughwrote:

Yeah I got the grant for that sign & put the data together, ACE did the heavy lifting on content, and Shelley D from Neptune did the design and more editing. I'm just not sure it reaches a lot of people (and I need to get it reprinted after it cracked).

For those of us who haven't climbed in Eldo in over 40 years, could you post a pic of that sign?

I can think of two times when climbers have died on walk-off descents in Eldo:

1 - A climber fell on the walk off after free soloing Werks Up (Bastille).

2 - A climber fell on the Bastille walk off near the cable.

In both cases, paint marks would not have helped because the climbers knew exactly where they were going. Both were experienced climbers who knew the canyon well. Unfortunately, shit happens.

And I don’t see how paint marks would have helped in this situation.

My understanding of what we know from the report and first-hand comment:
 -Climber takes longer than expected to climb (rope solo) the Naked Edge.

 -Climber’s phone and headlamp batteries die.

-Climber is several hours overdue; his family calls for a rescue. This is important; the climber didn’t yell/ask for a rescue. It’s entirely possible he would have been fine chilling with the ringtails.

Even if we had painted blazes leading the way down the East Slabs, this climber would have had a tough time locating the blazes without a headlamp.

Mike McHughwrote:

Yeah I got the grant for that sign & put the data together, ACE did the heavy lifting on content, and Shelley D from Neptune did the design and more editing. I'm just not sure it reaches a lot of people (and I need to get it reprinted after it cracked). I can imagine that a 5 bullet point sign above the TP rolls might reach additional folks with some time on their hands. I'm trying to think about things outside of cairning or marking descents that can contribute to a reduction in benightings, but spitballing on MP wasn't a good choice on my part.

Thanks for doing that, Mike! I definitely read it the first few times I went to Eldo. People are just so good at ignoring signs and not reading things, but it's possible a bullet point sign like you mentioned with questions like "Do you know your descent route?" could at least get some people's attention.

Something like the PSAR they have in the Grand Canyon could be interesting since it actually engages people in conversation, but I'm sure there's no budget for it and probably not high enough visitation to justify it (and it would certainly piss some people off).

I’m struck by the fact that the subject was fully willing to endure the consequences of his misjudgment.  Let’s not forget that this was someone also able to lead solo, rap and follow the Naked Edge. 

As one who has, more than once, endured similar consequences, I can attest that 1) the sun also rises and 2) I am now much more careful to plan my deproaches with the same consideration I put into getting up there.

Spending the night out is not necessarily a death sentence.

My errant judgment does not necessarily constitute an emergency on anyone else’s part.

The consequences of this type of misjudgment might actually constitute a learning opportunity, if permitted to run their course. Might even prevent worse situations in more distant venues.  I bet he brings a headlamp next time, for starters. 

Me? I’m glad rescue services exist, and I’m aware that they are a legitimate need. I’m just impressed that homie was willing to tough it out and let those resources remain available for more dire situations. 

The best way to assure a peaceful night stuck on a descent is to tell no one where you are going!

Its worked for me, quite. a few times now.  

Marc801 Cwrote:

For those of us who haven't climbed in Eldo in over 40 years, could you post a pic of that sign?

Here ya go. MP cranked down the resolution, PM me and I'll send you a higher res version. Edit to add just the "safety" portion.

Rob Dillonwrote:

I’m struck by the fact that the subject was fully willing to endure the consequences of his misjudgment.  Let’s not forget that this was someone also able to lead solo, rap and follow the Naked Edge. 

As one who has, more than once, endured similar consequences, I can attest that 1) the sun also rises and 2) I am now much more careful to plan my deproaches with the same consideration I put into getting up there.

Spending the night out is not necessarily a death sentence.

My errant judgment does not necessarily constitute an emergency on anyone else’s part.

The consequences of this type of misjudgment might actually constitute a learning opportunity, if permitted to run their course. Might even prevent worse situations in more distant venues.  I bet he brings a headlamp next time, for starters. 

Me? I’m glad rescue services exist, and I’m aware that they are a legitimate need. I’m just impressed that homie was willing to tough it out and let those resources remain available for more dire situations. 

+1000.

If the dude had no functional headlamp, no kind of trail signs would have helped lest we build one with flashing lights similar to a nighttime airport. As someone else mentioned already, arranging an "official downclimbing trail" across 4th/low 5th class terrain might be legally sticky if/when things go wrong.

If unprepared benighting is a "thing" in Eldo (even though our longest routes are only about 6 pitches ...), I saw a neat solution in Red Rocks recently. To reduce cost/risk of rescues, they had installed a lockbox with a phone number near the topout of a popular route/peak. Calling in a rescue without any injuries would presumably give you the code (at least on a cold night) and you get a sleeping bag or whatever was in that box. *

*Edit: Since I didn't call to check what's in that box, the above is speculation. It could have been stashed rescue equipment for the rescue team so they didn't need to haul it up there at the next rescue. I really hope it was filled up with "self-rescue" equipment. Had it been gear for the rescue team, you'd think the whole rescue team would know the code and there would be no need for a phone number to call.

Kate Sedrowskiwrote:

Mike McHughwrote:

Thanks for doing that, Mike! I definitely read it the first few times I went to Eldo. People are just so good at ignoring signs and not reading things, but it's possible a bullet point sign like you mentioned with questions like "Do you know your descent route?" could at least get some people's attention.

Something like the PSAR they have in the Grand Canyon could be interesting since it actually engages people in conversation, but I'm sure there's no budget for it and probably not high enough visitation to justify it (and it would certainly piss some people off).

Although my season is over, I'll still use the royal "we" and say that we do try to do some PSAR as Rangers. It can certainly be tricky, though, and many people don't really want to engage. Lots of people are just trying to get to their climb. Not everybody gets that sometimes the friendly Ranger really is friendly and just wants to live vicariously through you while you climb on a splitter fall day aaaaaand make sure that you actually know your descent route, etc. Which I get; it can be hard to believe that a person in an enforcement role isn't just looking for something to get you in trouble for. But regardless, roles aside, I would say that all the staff in Eldo does their best, whenever possible, to make sure that people are prepared. Staff tries to be on top of this because, yeah, there's really no budget for a dedicated PSAR team. Of course, as we know, there is no silver bullet for the topic at hand and things will happen no matter how many signs are out, how helpful staff is, or, at times, how well a visitor has actually planned.

Adam Parkmanwrote:

Although my season is over, I'll still use the royal "we" and say that we do try to do some PSAR as Rangers. It can certainly be tricky, though, and many people don't really want to engage. Lots of people are just trying to get to their climb. Not everybody gets that sometimes the friendly Ranger really is friendly and just wants to live vicariously through you while you climb on a splitter fall day aaaaaand make sure that you actually know your descent route, etc. Which I get; it can be hard to believe that a person in an enforcement role isn't just looking for something to get you in trouble for. But regardless, roles aside, I would say that all the staff in Eldo does their best, whenever possible, to make sure that people are prepared. Staff tries to be on top of this because, yeah, there's really no budget for a dedicated PSAR team. Of course, as we know, there is no silver bullet for the topic at hand and things will happen no matter how many signs are out, how helpful staff is, or, at times, how well a visitor has actually planned.

Hi Adam! Definitely appreciate your perspective as a ranger. It's great to hear how you & your fellow rangers try to do PSAR as much as you can, and I also totally understand that many climbers just don't want to engage with you at all. As you said, I don't think there's a simple solution here, but thanks for all that you do!

Edit: I’m in support of not making it too accessible as new folks move to Denver and want to go “check” all the classics. 

And, I wonder more than half of dangerous things come out of ego in North America. Adding a simple via Ferrata on the descent defines a path and lets the climber put guards down after very hard pitches.

The climb could involve areas where the only “pro” that’s keeping you safe is your movement quality and composure. I support that. That’s climbing and we sign up for that.

But for something like descent, we’re not onsighting or redpointing it. Neither we track descent and want to come back to project it. 

Yo, just came across this thread now, I was the "subject" of this rescue! Seems like this thread has moved on but if anyone still has any questions feel free to ask! Or criticism that they feel is relevant : )

Just looked at the sheriff report and guess I'll add/correct a couple of things: 

The headlamp was not out of battery, just low enough for the brightest setting not to be available. 

I did find what I figured was the likely descent but thought it looked a little scary to do in the dark and so decided to wait for dawn. While I was looking for the descent I had chatted on the phone to a friend of my dads who grew up in Boulder about the descent beta. (Maybe some of the older people here might know him? Thomas Cosgriff?) We had a pretty mellow chat, mostly talking about how cool the route was. I noted that the phone was low on battery but said I was gonna be careful making my way down. When he hadn't heard from me for a few hours he talked to my dad who got super worried and called rescue. Met the rescue team in the morning while on my way down the top gulley towards the descent. Was initially very embarrassed but also blown away by how good the rescue infrastructure is! If anyone from the rescue team sees this, you guys do amazing work!!