It seemed not too long ago when I started training to climb higher mountains that I see the importance of safety awareness for the entire group.
New generation of mountaineers oftentimes, lacked the ability of staying safe. It may be due to the fact that technology and route is available by simply googling all related information.
I tend to follow the wisdom of David Wilmott and Chris Mattos because they have decades of experience and have had seen the troubles of mountaineers who does not abide by safety rules.
Intro
In Northern California, I joined several outdoor meetup groups. I was even called the meetup bee hog because of the more than 60 meetup group I signed up for. At the start it was fun but then it became too much receiving several emails in a day. One time, Mike Brinkley telephoned me to clarify which group I was going with because apparently, it was evident that I signed up for two meetups that Saturday. Since then I made sure my meetup groups were invisible to members. I also narrowed the settings to receive only emails from activities I'd like to do and that is hiking and climbing higher mountains and would check from time to time other activities of running and cycling.
In mid-2010 I had to pre-qualify to become a peakbagger (part of Western States/WTC trails). The trails in Auburn, particularly Training Hill and Kick-ass were the most popular. To ensure that a peakbagger can traverse to the base of a mountain, one has to do several repeats of these hills. And I made it. I graduated to become a peakbagger - beginner level.
Castle Peak
It was Chris Jenter Castle Peak attempt that I had my first glance of mountain dangers. I slipped on the pocket of I-80 road and we just started. It was probably a good that it happened. It made me aware how slippery the snow and ice can be.
We were near Castle Peak when we encountered too icy slope. Our snowshoes couldn't handle the job. We had to negotiate to make it one step at a time in a safe manner. We made it to the peak but the group decided to use alternative route because of the icy slope the way we came up.
Pictures here
https://picasaweb.google.com/112364082721983243207/CastlePeak#
My carpoolers were Maddie and Cindy. Maddie opted to follow Chris Jenter, whilst Cindy, I and another male hiker opted the same route we came up. We survived the danger part. Cindy and I were already in the safe zone when I heard her scream. She passed infront of me, fell in more than 200 feet and disappeared. This was my first grasp of watching a climber fell in real time. I was frantic, terribly shaken by the whole thing and not knowing what to do. The first thing that came to mind was to find Cindy. I brought her to Kaiser in Roseville with a head-injury. Cindy was later then received several stitches and was never been the same Cindy again.
The Shasta Inclement Weather
Week after week I kept on climbing. Several incidents happened but nothing major until the last summer trip to Shasta. In this one day assault, everything was fine until after the summit bid, the fine weather turned hail in less than an hour. My group could not descend.
Robyn was particularly impatient. I was not expecting that she's going to take the fall because, not only that she's experience mountaineer but also she had done first aid and safety courses. Shasta is a different beast. At altitude 13000 ft the whole avalanche gulch turned ice. We had no gear brought that could help us descend the Red Banks chute. However Robyn thought that it was safe enough until I heard a scream. It brought me the memories of Cindy. I hurried to the spot where Robyn was last seen. I called her name several times and it took time before she responded. Robyn yelled that she lost her ice axe. I asked another group who were descending the chute to assist her immediately while Im tieing my crampons.
I had not reached the bottom of the chute yet and I heard this commotion. Luckily I looked up what it was and immediately lifted my left leg. It was actually Hank. He rolled under my leg. Hank could have taken me into his fall and I could have been injured right there. Imagine what scenario would have been if Hank and I were severely injured ? But I was safe. We were lucky that a break in the weather melted the icy gulch, which gave us time to glissade. That window of opportunity was only 15 minutes or less. We dropped down over 2500 ft in 20 minutes to Helen Lake. All four (Al, Hank and Robyn, Ingrid) of us got back to car parking safely.
Pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/112364082721983243207/MtShasta11Sep2011#
Mt. Williamson and Tyndall
Of all big mountains in California that I've attempted, these two peaks were the most memorable. Marek, Art, Bill and I were off to Shepherd Pass. Started 4AM to attempt Williamson (or famously called Big Willie). The bouldering to Williamson Bowl was enough to make you cry. It felt the never ending of talus hopping up and down. Sure there was another way up but I was with a group of stubborn men! I stayed as much as I could with them.
When we started the climb to Big Willie, it was already visible that the weather would be bad. Marek and Art insisted to climb rather than attempting nearby Tyndall and put Willie a day later.
Bill and I were above 13000 ft when it started hailing, thunder and too much lightning. Billy decided to turn around and I was somewhat "its just up there - let's go get it". However Billy led this climb so I had to stick with him. Then the hail started pounding us turning the whole mountain into "white-out". Nearby Tyndall was unrecognizable.
I got separated from Bill. I was in a hurry to reach the campsite because the freezing temperature and painful hail kept hitting my head were unbearable. As it turned out I ended in the wrong lake. I circled the lake already several times and could not find any tents.
I then called 911 but no luck. I called my mother in her grave then called god to help save my dear life. I yelled Bill's name several times. Lighting, thunder and hail terrified me a lot! Then from a distance Bill saw me and I had never been thankful that day :)
Back to the tent, I already had slight hypothermia. It took two sleeping bag and requested Bill to boil me some drinking water. I was shivering for hours.
The following 4AM - we attempted Tyndall. Again being with a group of stubborn men who wont listen to a lady's words of wisdom. The icy slope of Tyndall was already visible yet we went on. We climbed all the way but we could not descend the same way. Apparently a big rock fell into Art's leg that no more ascending of nearby peaks is possible.
This time however, the trio stubborn men listen to the lady's word of wisdom. Because they needed help to return back to Shepherd Pass - Ingrid knew the way. We went down the beautiful lake and hike the used trail. Once we reached the safe area - stubborn Art and Marek opted for longer way or should I say - we dont really know where the used trail would lead us to, that the safest bet is to hike to Tyndall junction. The supposed one mile return to Shepherd Pass became 14 miles.
I lost my toenails and my feet were blisterrie! Its the reward I received that weekend. As what many mountaineers saying "if you dont get along in sea level - you're not going to like each other at that altitude". I still kept my cool.
https://picasaweb.google.com/112364082721983243207/WilliamsonTyndall2011#
The Whitney Zone and Mt. Langley Summer 2012 and death of Tom Heng
Friends of Tom received the dreadful news http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Coroner-San-Rafael-hiker-died-from-fall-3750126.php
At first we could not believe it or refused to believe the news. I received a text from Tim if my friend came back from Mt. Langley. At first I was alarmed because Tom's facebook page was quiet but because it was Monday, it could have been that Tom was just resting. However being too quiet is not like Tom. In the typical world of mountaineers, no announcement are usually made until after a summit bid. I learned this through experience. Why ? Because its a different sport where a lot of unknown variables and we have no control over it such as weather, terrain and acclimation, etc.
Then I received another news from Hank - the URL of the news itself "missing hiker from Marin area". I called Tom's wife to check and she was already hysterical.
A week before, we attempted and summited Mt. Russell and Mt. Carillon. I remained in Bishop that week to do more training. The weekend Tom attempted Langley was the week I tried to complete my last TRT segment. I was getting myself ready to run the San Francisco Marathon. My plan was to finish the marathon in under 4 hours.
For days friends of Tom were glued if Tom was found. The search and rescue already closed the Langley trail and no friends of Tom could do but sit and wait. By Wednesday, the news came - that Tom's body was found nearby Old Army Pass.
Many of us wished we could have been in the Langley trip, that the ending could have been different. That's all we could wish. The fact remains that Tom Heng died on the mountain of Langley and our pursuit of completing California 14ers in 2012 is no longer possible.
Pics https://picasaweb.google.com/112364082721983243207/WhitneyZoneRussellCarillonJuly2012#
Since this incident, I tried to limit my exposure climbing 14000 foot peaks a.k.a 14er and devoted more of my time running ultras.
My last big event was Desolation Death March consist of major peaks in Desolation Wilderness, Tahoe. In that trip, a member broke into tears for she thought she would die on that day. This happened when we were descending from Mt. Pryce to Lake Aloha Basin. It was very gnarly that we had to really really take precaution on our every down-ward steps.
Just this Monday (11/14/2013) - I received text from my phone, requested me to stand by. Another mountaineer friend attempted 14er and got separated from her group. Luckily she was found before it got dark. Another reason for me to stay from mountaineering.
Lastly, the rewards of mountaineering could not be explained. The view from the top were not just breathtaking but a whole paradise. Although mountaineering is a great sport, one would weigh in not just the cost but also the dangers, risk and other things associated with the sports.
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