I do not have the warm-puppy, glassy-eyed, thanks-be-to-the-almighty, feelings that others have exhibited regarding this situation and its outcome.

Granted, I am looking at this incident from the viewpoint of a SAR person, one who has been rescuing people on Mt. Whitney for over forty years. I am asking myself questions about what went wrong and why. Specifically: What could they have done differently, and what in hell were they doing up there in this in-between season given their apparent lack of readiness for it. I am more than a little bit ill over this whole affair.

This board and other boards, and other resources, are there to help prepare and educate people so that these kinds of situations do not occur. Yet people ignore, are oblivious, and we in a certain sense let them off scot free--in terms of pointing fingers of blame--if they get in trouble.

Continuing, this is the first instance I have ever known where some of the party descended to the Portal and then flew home to await the outcome of their friends' fates.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Last edited by Bob R; 10/23/10 04:18 PM. Reason: Added emphasis here and there