Oregon Hikers

The notoriously treacherous Monitor Ridge route on St Helens has claimed another victim. I'm not being completely flippant; it does seem weird that somebody could die on a tourist route, but at the same time I do recognize it's sad, and I feel a little bad about it. As usual, not a lot of details, but apparently there was a fall and a head injury. There's really no snow to speak of up there (based on available facts, but of course I wasn't on the scene) so one has to wonder how this occurred. People literally slip and fall in their kitchens with tragic results though, so I guess it's bound to happen on mountains too. Condolences to family/friends. I hate the "thoughts and prayers" cliche, but know that we're reflecting on this.

KATU story:
https://katu.com/news/local/man-dies-in ... -st-helens

[Notice KATU knowingly utilized a file photo of the opposite side of the mountain, even though pics of the Monitor Ridge route are in the millions. Sloppy sloppy sloppy journalism. They might as well have featured a picture of a random rock, with the caption "this is a rock, possibly similar to the rock which impacted the deceased climber's head".]

edit: A minor detail caught my attention: "The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office said they received a call..."
Did somebody actually call the Sheriff’s office rather than 911? I tried that once, found it a hassle to wade through the list of extensions that went nowhere, gave up and called 911.

Chip Down wrote: ↑

October 19th, 2018, 6:31 pm

one has to wonder how this occurred

From what I've seen a couple of places (eg, kgw) the fall was a result of a "medical event," which also seems to have been the actual cause of death.

Chip Down wrote: ↑

October 19th, 2018, 6:31 pm

As usual, not a lot of details, but apparently there was a fall and a head injury. There's really no snow to speak of up there (based on available facts, but of course I wasn't on the scene) so one has to wonder how this occurred.

Any place there are rocks, gravity, and bad luck, there can be fatalities. Just yesterday I was rock-hopping across the Sandy River and thought, "If I land on a wet rock and slip the wrong way, I could whack my head and drown in six inches of water." So I was pretty careful about my landing spots. But sometimes shit just happens.

adamschneider wrote: ↑

October 19th, 2018, 9:26 pm

Just yesterday I was rock-hopping across the Sandy River and thought, "If I land on a wet rock and slip the wrong way, I could whack my head and drown in six inches of water." So I was pretty careful about my landing spots. But sometimes shit just happens.

This reminds me of those Final Destination movies