Rescued hiker on Mt. Defiance
Posted: February 7th, 2019, 10:14 am
https://katu.com/news/local/raw-intervi ... ed-in-snow
Kudos to the hiker for being willing to share her story in such detail. It is interesting how a few relatively minor problems combined to lead to a truly life threatening situation. A navigation misstep led to being in steep terrain where she slipped. Sprained ankle leading to reduced mobility. Wet clothes and lost gloves increasing the risk of hypothermia.
She is clearly a very fit and determined person, who was experienced and reasonably well equipped, but her efforts at self rescue ultimately put her in a really precarious position.
Different people may draw different conclusions from this...my observation is that the situation would likely have been much less dangerous if she hadn't been hiking alone. And obviously, for someone hiking alone in winter, ALL of the ten essentials are truly essential.
Kudos to the hiker for being willing to share her story in such detail. It is interesting how a few relatively minor problems combined to lead to a truly life threatening situation. A navigation misstep led to being in steep terrain where she slipped. Sprained ankle leading to reduced mobility. Wet clothes and lost gloves increasing the risk of hypothermia.
She is clearly a very fit and determined person, who was experienced and reasonably well equipped, but her efforts at self rescue ultimately put her in a really precarious position.
Different people may draw different conclusions from this...my observation is that the situation would likely have been much less dangerous if she hadn't been hiking alone. And obviously, for someone hiking alone in winter, ALL of the ten essentials are truly essential.