Mt Hood Morning

D2x
f/8 @ 1/6 sec
28-70mm lens @ 60

Mainly worked in Bridge 3. Highlight and Shadow and Sharpened in LAB.

A pretty standard Mt Hood Morning shot actually taken a few weeks ago with Rick.
I like it but it's nothing special. The little white dots at the far end of the field are beehives, I could easily have cloned them out but for some reason don't want to.

I look at this shot now, and all I can think about is those guys who died up there recently.

I've done a bunch of hairball stuff in my life, I've dropped big ol rocks on my fingers half way up El Cap and have rapped off using only one piton as an anchor, I've soloed pretty difficult rock climbs, I've passed on blind corners and I've skied like a bat out of hell through the trees.
It's all luck. Those guys are no more smart or dumb than me, they didn't have a death wish and they were not selfish, they were just three guys out living their lives, doing what they loved, what they needed to do to make their lives worth living. They were just unlucky. Just like when you're sliding around a corner on the ice and then you straighten out and everything is fine, You could just as easily had your luck run out and gone off the road, hit a tree and be dead.
Next summer, when the snow melts, I'm sure someone will find their bodies and we'll know more about the accident. Beyond that though, don't be scared, take chances, go for it, don't be stupid, but live life, appreciate everyday.

Well said Mark!

Ant the picture is nice. The mountain really pops.

Nice words, thoughts and wishes..... nice photo too - I like that you kept the beehives in - sense of scale helps a lot. This image looks very nice, Mark.. I've thought some of your past photos you shared were a bit "flat" for the lack of a better word, but this is great.

Live Life Smart.

Well said. The image has pleasing natural colors, and the mountain feels like it's looming large against the muted foreground.
Harald

Extremely well said Mark. I couldn't agree more.

Well, I don't know. What they did was extremely dangerous. I myself don't think the climbers had enough respect for the mountain. I'm not saying they were selfesh or dumb. I just don't think you climb that rout, with a storm on the horizon with a minimal amount of gear during the worst time of year weather wise. I bet you anything alot of other climbers are going to learn alot from this. I agree you do have to live life to it's fullest but have a little common sense along the way.

"I bet you anything a lot of other climbers are going to learn a lot from this"

Not at all, Eric. Climbers won't take a thing from this. I speak from the perspective of a climber myself and one who is very familiar with the history of climbing. Climbing is about pushing limits, feeling alive as Mark says. Living life to it's fullest for these individuals means triumph, sacrifice, hardship, pain and suffering. What they did and the way they climbed the mountain was equally designed to minimize risk and increase their chance of success. Climbing in alpine style allows climbers a fast and efficient route to the summit and minimizes some threats associated with being on the mountain too long. They left on a Wednesday and intended to spend two nights on the mountain, tops, and there was no significant storm forecast until Sunday. Weather is too unpredictable. Being prepared for any possible outcome can be a huge impediment to climbers seeking success on a difficult route. It requires heavy gear, sometimes even ferrying loads to separate camps on the mountain or fixing ropes - practices that take many days and are not suitable for a mountain like Hood in winter. The fastest and most skilled parties rarely even use these techniques in the Himalaya these days. Many of the best climbers on the hardest routes have been climbing fast and light since the 70's.

There was likely an injury en-route causing the situation we have read about to transpire. Mountaineering is inherently hazardous and hazard equals challenge. To overcome obstacles is living life to it's fullest for climbers. You cannot climb at the highest level unless you can accept death as a possible outcome (not to imply anyone intends to die climbing). When you are staring death in the face you feel very alive.

First the image - I'm groovin plenty on the light on the East face of Hood Mark!! Very nice...

I agree that we all have to live life to the fullest. What I have noticed in myself is as I've grown older and raised kids, assumed a mortgage and built a career my taste for risk has diminished. It's all a matter of perspective I guess. My love of being out in nature though shall NEVER diminish!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Marc,
I guess me not being a climber I don't fully understand the motive for taking such chances. I recently finished watching the Discovery Channel's series on last springs quest of Mt. Everest. Folks were suffering, losing limbs, fingers, feet and dying. Climbers on their way down passed a person who was unconcious but still breathing They had no choice but to leave him there to die. I have a big problem with this. Of course they had no choice but to leave him but it will affect the climbers and many other family members and friends fore -ever.
I myself have tried to climb Hood before. I turned around at the 9000 foot level because of visibility problems. Some of these folks aren't living their lives to their fullest because they don't make it back. Their wasn't any sign of injury from the climber that was found. He died of the cold. That tells me he was grossly unprepared.
Like Rick say's, when you have a family and other responsibilities, you should really stand back and put your priorities in the correct order.

With respect to wilderness pursuits, many of us have pushed the envelope quietly, whether prepared or not;only those who have failed have made headlines.

I think the injury theory remains unresolved, but you're probably right that it wasn't significant if there was one. It's really strange, because a party of three would rarely make the choice to split up except in dire circumstances or an accident out of their control - which the Sunday call for help would suggest. We will never know exactly what happened up there. I'm positive no one would have died from cold if things had gone as planned. They certainly were prepared enough to spend a couple nights on the mountain.

Erik,
That Discovery channel show was total BS! All those wankers had paid 65 grand to get guided up Everest. Only the guides are climbers none of the clients are climbers.
If I was a wanker-Everest-wannabe and had no experience at high altitude, and very little real climbing experience, and I found your passed out body on the slopes, I'd think, "bummer man, I'll go get his guide, his sherpas, the guys he paid 65 grand to, and tell them to come take care of him, I ain't wasting my 65 grand to rescue his sorry ass, I paid for it, I'm going to the summit." Money changes everything.

Mark,
I agree there were some wanker wanabees. But there were also quite a quite of few world class climbers. One fellow in the group climbed the highest peak on every continent. The Dr. from OHSU was an experienced mountaineer, to name a few. They paid $40,000 apiece to get up there. It's pretty crazy stuff nonetheless.

Don't get me started about present day Everest "climbers". Climbing the highest peak on every continent is the very definition of wanker.

Don't get me started about present day Everest "climbers" either. Climbing the highest peak on every continent is the very definition of wanker, especially when you're paying anything to be guided up all of them.

Hey, you know, Marc, you and I could really get along. Do you drink Scotch?

Did you know I have a bottle of 30-year Jamesons and a titanium flask? Annie and I might have a sip if we make the summit of Steens mountain via a steep NE ridge above the Alvord this January.

Are you inviting me?

Aren't you too old Mark? - kidding, of course. I've heard more than a few good things about what a strong hiker/climber you are these days. This is one of those her and me type things. We've been planning to be by ourselves out there for months. If it were just me, I'd definitely extend an invitation. I do hope it works out for us to head upwards together in the near future though, and I doubt Annie and I will be drinking all the Whiskey.

Well, I ain't gettin' any younger, that's why I asked!

I figured as much, actually, but I've always wanted to get out to the Steens so keep me in mind next time you go, I'll try to keep up.

I'll probably be there again in April. I'll keep you posted. Hopefully we'll be able to get up something else even sooner though.

I guess since I'm not a Mountain climber I don't fully understand. I don't agree with folks killing themselves climbing Everest, but I ask myself what's wrong with being guided up a mountain? Aren't these guys living life to it's fullest in their own way?

A key point here is personal responsibility. Getting guided up a climb is, essentially, giving up all personal responsibly. Money changes it entirely. If it were you and me, I'd get really close to sacrificing my life to save you. You and me would be buddies, we'd have the same dream of the climb, we'd work towards the project together, neither one of us would be happy if the one got to the top and the other didn't. If you were on a guided trip with me, I might feel bad if you didn't get to the top, but damn sure I'd abandon you and tag the summit by myself if it came to that. At home at the slide shows I'd be giving of my successful climb, you would be described as "that dipshit who was not in shape and not prepared, I've forgotten what his name was..." (You have to understand the level of ego of the person who would pay that kind of money to get to the top of Everest.)

If you want to go get guided up Everest, sure that's an impressive feat of human endurance, you'll be all the rage at the cocktail parties. If you're sitting around the campfire at Camp 4, the climbers camp, in Yosemite, I'd suggest you don't mention it if you don't want to be laughed out of camp.

One is earning the experience the other is buying it.

Mark,
Thanks for the explanation. I do have more of an understanding of what you and Marc have been saying. I think the folks Climbing Everest are, for lack of a better word "Idiots". But for them, it's a personal thing they need to do. I personally think that a 105 lb person eating 59 hotdogs in one sitting is a more impressive feat.

I wouldn't exactly call them idiots but I can't call them climbers either. Climbing Everest now is more rightly "extreme backpacking" than any form of climbing. Sure, they are living life to their fullest limits according to them but 'climbing' is not what they are doing. To put them in the same sentence as the guys recently on Hood is a great disservice to the Hood climbers.

Feature this, Erik. Lisa Rust, a woman who lives here in Hood River, who has guided Rainier a number of times, who is not much more bigger than me, was invited to "guide" another group of women up Everest. One of the women who Lisa was guiding was not, according to Lisa, reliably able to put a rappel setup on the rope to descend. Lisa felt she would have to watch this woman every step of the way. If this person had gotten into the situation were she had to descend by herself or help another person she would not have been able to do it.
Pretty much, the first day of rock climbing school you are taught to set up a rappel system. This lady was not even that good.
If you were lying half dead in the snow, what kind of help could this level of "climber" have given you? Sure, maybe she was a doctor, but lacking a well stocked first aid kit (guided clients don't carry well stocked first aid kits) what help could she have give you? She could have stayed with you till your lungs filled up with fluid (pulmonary edema) or you froze to death but she sure couldn't have helped get you down! The people climbing Everest these days are simply incapable of initiating a rescue!

This thread has given me some real insight. I Have sat and thought long and hard about what weve discussed. I see what your saying and agree totally. Everest and other guided climbs are pale in comparision to the people who go solo or in small groups. Thanks!

Amazing what folks will do with too much $$$$ in their bank accounts!!! I watched the whole series on Discovery and for sure it's nothing more than extreme backpacking with an extreme price tag. There were lines of people backed up at the technical spots of the climb all because some wanker was stuck. Imagine sitting at 26,000 feet for 3 hours doing NOTHING while you waited for this wanker to figure out how to climb up a ladder!!!! No thanks man, Everest is a lost cause.

In another show where Tenzing and Hillary's sons were climbing Everest, Peter Hillary is ascending a fixed rope up the Hillary (named after his Dad, of course) Step. There are a dozen ropes fixed up the Step and Hillary is on one of them when someone else clips his ascenders onto another rope and started to ascend. Trouble is, his rope is on top of Hillary's rope, thereby pinning Hillary to the wall, Pete Hillary is now unable to move. Well the wind is blowing, it's cold as hell, time is running out, there are people above Hillary waiting for a free rope so they can rappel off and get the heck out of there, and there is a line of people below the Step waiting for Hillary and now this other guy to get up there and get off the ropes. Hillary is yelling down to the guy that he can't move and for him to go back down and get off the rope. Add to this cluster the fact that the guy is a non-english speaker and doesn't know what the hell Pete Hillary is even saying!

This is such a good discussion, and really interesting to read. As the other Rick said...It's all a matter of perspective. Here's mine:

I totally respect all levels of climbers, but I dont share the sacrifices they endure. To me, I get greater joy out of having a better chance to see my daughter graduate high school, college, providing grandchildren, getting to travel around the world, spending time with friends and family...you know all that kinda stuff.

Who are we to really say who is stupid and who is not? We all take our chances and make our decisions on what is more important in life. From my viewpoint, and from what I think my bro was trying to say was that those climbers on Hood expected to be out for 2 days, and prepared for little more. I understand it's all about packing light whenever possible, but they might be alive today if they prepared themselves a little better. Even one of those transmitters I mentioned in that other thread would have saved them. Did they know about it? Did they consciously make the decision to not carry one because of the weight? Did they make that decision of a long life Vs. 12 onces of extra stuff to carry? We'll never know, and assumptions will be our only thought process now.

I dont feel sorry for any climber or risk taker that loses their life (if it happened to someone I know like Mark or Marc, I would surely mourn their death, but also be happy that they died doing something that they loved). I feel more sorry for the victim's families. Sure, I was sad to hear and watch what happened, but my thoughts went towards the families. I actually wonder what each of the 3 were thinking as they knew their lives were slipping away. Was it regret? Did they wish they prepared for more? Were they proud of their accomplishments and centered on that? Did they wish they never took up climbing in the first place? ...all interesting phsycological stuff.

I love a good discussion, and this has been one of those. Seriously though...it's not right to second guess someone else's life and their decisions. I also dont feel that sorry for the climbers in the story Mark just told. They knew it was a cluster f$#@ with all those people up there, and made the decision to climb anyway. If it bugs them that much, they should find another mountain...you know?

Rick,
By the time they needed a rescue, the bad weather had come in and getting to them was impossible, beacons would have helped locate the bodies, but little else.
I don't know if they had a stove and extra food or what. No one knows that right now. "Going Light" doesn't mean "Going Stupid". If you were out on a three day trip and had packed an extra day's worth of food you would be considered well equipped. If you broke you leg and took ten days to crawl out your one's day's worth of extra food wouldn't do you much good.
It's all calculated risk, they calculated and it didn't work out.

True, good point. I also guess I shoulda have said the transmitters COULD have saved them, not WOULD have.