Getting it from SAR makes it a third-hand story by the time we read it. So who knows what her version would be. Sure would be interesting to hear.
I agree - I'd really like to hear some of the first-hand details about this. The whole episode just doesn't parse as reported. Yes, strange and unusual things can happen to even the most experienced people in the mountains, but there's usually a wild card factor involved. I think specifically of Richard Piotrowski's ordeal on Whitney a while back in a white-out. He's one of the last people you would expect to be trapped in a winter storm on the mountain, but it happened.
In this case, it appears she got ledged out. As a certified, practicing mountain guide without rope, harness or pro, you've
got to see that coming before retreat is eliminated, right? Her resume seems far too impressive for this to just happen. It may very well have been a route-finding error that went too far, but I'm leaning more towards our not having the full story.
