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View Full Version : Mt Greylock Hikers Rescued



Cosmo
12-28-2010, 09:19
A couple of hikers got stuck in the snow on Monday.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_16954938?source=email (http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_16954938?source=email)

They were able to make their way to the Bellows Pipe shelter about 1500' down the mountain, where they were guided to a trail intersection and picked up. Although they were less than a mile away from the trailhead, I can vouch for how difficult it is to walk in 24" of fresh snow, having spent the better part of the afternoon clearing it from around the house and driveway. Clear and cold today, I think I'll head out to Notchview and see if I can remember how to XC ski.

Cosmo

Driver8
12-28-2010, 13:07
A couple of hikers got stuck in the snow on Monday.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_16954938?source=email (http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_16954938?source=email)

They were able to make their way to the Bellows Pipe shelter about 1500' down the mountain, where they were guided to a trail intersection and picked up. Although they were less than a mile away from the trailhead, I can vouch for how difficult it is to walk in 24" of fresh snow, having spent the better part of the afternoon clearing it from around the house and driveway.

I bet it's incredibly beautiful out there. Sounds like a great adventure. Too bad they couldn't quite see their way to safety on their own. Glad it turned out OK.

Migrating Bird
12-28-2010, 13:58
I bet it's incredibly beautiful out there. Sounds like a great adventure. Too bad they couldn't quite see their way to safety on their own. Glad it turned out OK.

This does not "Sound like a great adventure", having to be rescued. As I'm sure Cosmo can attest, the conditions yesterday during and after their rescue, were pretty bad. It was snowing very hard, temps in teens and the winds were pretty fierce (blowing and drifting snow). The rescue may have prevented a tragity for the two hikers and their families. And do not forget about the potential risk for rescuers themselves.

Driver8
12-28-2010, 14:47
I think, for two young, healthy hikers who've done Mt. W, it was an adventure which probably was a lot of fun until they got in over their heads with the blizzard. I agree it's terrible to get to the point where you need rescue, and it's sobering to me as I contemplate winter hikes. Gotta take care and be judicious, not get too far ahead of oneself. It's good to be reminded of that.

couscous
12-28-2010, 15:11
I was impressed they utilized the Adams Sno-Drifters Snowmobile Club and Thunderbolt Ski Club members. Sometimes the best equipped people are excluded from rescue operations because they don't have a badge or training certificate.

TheCheek
12-28-2010, 16:05
24 inches of snow without snowshoes is either heroic or idiotic depending on experience. Whenever I hear about a rescue I wonder how well equipped they were with gear and know-how...

takethisbread
12-28-2010, 16:12
I did it last year solo during a storm. It wasn't too bAd, but most of the snow was frozen and I only sunk in about a foot or 18 inches.

I think having the right equipment and the right expectations are key.

True, this is not the adventure they were looking for, but they should have expected it. Anyone whose been around Greylock in the winter can see it looks a lot rougher up over 3000 feet than it does on rte 2

Driver8
12-28-2010, 17:30
24 inches of snow without snowshoes is either heroic or idiotic depending on experience. Whenever I hear about a rescue I wonder how well equipped they were with gear and know-how...

Per the linked article, the two hikers were experienced, had done Mt. Washington and planned to do Mt. Mansfield this winter. I think the blizzard's ferocity was the problem here. The article didn't go into their gear. It also didn't indicate the degree of difficulty of the rescue, but the sense I got from it was that it wasn't too difficult. The hikers got themselves to shelter - Bellows Pipe, about 1500' below Greylock summit and a mile or so of trail away.

BradMT
12-29-2010, 21:58
Sounds like a lot of overreaction all the way around...

Driver8
12-30-2010, 00:39
Sounds like a lot of overreaction all the way around...

Yeah, Brad, it was a pretty fierce blizzard. Greylock got about two feet of snow in just over a day, with wind gusts around 50 and temperatures up top, I'd venture, around 5-10 F. It was no picnic. What the news article doesn't clarify is why exactly the hikers called for help - hypothermia? Broken limb? As they were experienced, I imagine they wouldn't've called for help unless they really needed it.

BradMT
12-30-2010, 01:12
Uh, maybe.

BradMT
12-30-2010, 01:26
If they were prepare for winter conditions, those should have been no big deal... really.

Newb
12-30-2010, 08:34
he who walketh in the blizzard should expect difficulties.

BradMT
12-30-2010, 10:26
Seems to me, if they had the gear and the food they should have, all that was needed was a good old fashioned "hunkering down."

If they were properly equipped, calling out SAR is a fairly selfish act. Endangering others because you panicked.

OTOH, I don't have all the facts and Monday Morning QBing sucks. So I'll just keep my remarks in the realm of the hypothetical.

It's good to learn all the lessons possible from stuff like this...

10-K
12-30-2010, 10:32
Seems to me, if they had the gear and the food they should have, all that was needed was a good old fashioned "hunkering down."

If they were properly equipped, calling out SAR is a fairly selfish act. Endangering others because you panicked.

It's good to learn all the lessons possible from stuff like this...

That's what I thought too....

After I read this article the other day I told my wife that under no condition was she to ever have me rescued if I was warm, dry and had food and shelter.

I'd rather lay in a tent bored out of my skull for 3 days with nothing to read but the sticker on the back of my Bic lighter than be rescued 1 mile from the road... :)

BradMT
12-30-2010, 10:46
I'd rather lay in a tent bored out of my skull for 3 days with nothing to read but the sticker on the back of my Bic lighter than be rescued 1 mile from the road... :)

LOL, "Sentence Of The Day" gold medal winner ;)

One reason I always pack a paperback... three times I can remember Back East I've been hunkered down for three days in a shelter or tent waiting for a storm to finish. Once in the ADK High Peaks, and twice in the Presidentials.

Driver8
12-30-2010, 10:49
Yeah, maybe one or both of them freaked out, or maybe they were fine and the dad insisted on the rescue. I just re-read the article, and it looks like they were fine, at worst, except for the cold. Probably embarrassing for them.

Rain Man
12-30-2010, 13:27
Were they on a day hike without overnight gear? The article is fuzzy.

It is also fuzzy on whether or not they failed to sign-in on the trailhead register. Not good if they also failed to do that, but the article just mentions the register and that it's not "required" that hikers sign-in. It doesn't say that they did or did not.

The dad called police at 4:30 a.m. I assume they could not wait till daybreak because they lacked proper gear and were suffering from the cold, even in the shelter?

More questions than answers in that article.

Rain Man

.

wornoutboots
12-30-2010, 14:45
I'd rather lay in a tent bored out of my skull for 3 days with nothing to read but the sticker on the back of my Bic lighter than be rescued 1 mile from the road... :)
Amen to that brother!!

Cosmo
12-31-2010, 10:28
No trailhead registers here in Mass. Only at AT shelters. It's also not clear what their original plans were Their car was in Williamstown, so they actually made it pretty much to the top of the mountain, if they went down to the Thunderbolt shelter (the lower one, not the one on the summit).

Cosmo


Were they on a day hike without overnight gear? The article is fuzzy.

It is also fuzzy on whether or not they failed to sign-in on the trailhead register. Not good if they also failed to do that, but the article just mentions the register and that it's not "required" that hikers sign-in. It doesn't say that they did or did not.

The dad called police at 4:30 a.m. I assume they could not wait till daybreak because they lacked proper gear and were suffering from the cold, even in the shelter?

More questions than answers in that article.

Rain Man

.

RITBlake
12-31-2010, 11:18
I'd rather lay in a tent bored out of my skull for 3 days with nothing to read but the sticker on the back of my Bic lighter than be rescued 1 mile from the road... :)

Great post. Love it.

The Crisco Kid
12-31-2010, 11:31
Too bad there isn't a website that would get all of the facts in situations like this and post them so we could all benefit.

Driver8
01-04-2011, 14:33
No trailhead registers here in Mass. Only at AT shelters.

There's a register at the summit of Mt. Williams, one at the head of the Race Brook Trail, and one at the "Entering Massachusetts" sign on the north bank of the Sages Ravine Brook. Probably mostly at shelters, but not solely so, to be sure, for the record.


It's also not clear what their original plans were Their car was in Williamstown, so they actually made it pretty much to the top of the mountain, if they went down to the Thunderbolt shelter (the lower one, not the one on the summit).

Yeah, I figured they might've taken the Hopper Trail, or maybe Money Brook or Prospect, to the AT and were taking one of the eastern trails down, be it Cheshire Harbor, Thunderbolt, Gould. ... Got to the Bellows Pipe shelter to overnight and went from there to point of rescue.

Kerosene
01-04-2011, 18:20
In this situation, it probably isn't the difficulty of walking through two feet of snow as much as the inevitable drifts built up by a fierce blizzard. Knee-high snow is tough-going but doable; thigh-high postholing with a pack when you can't see 10 feet in front of you will exhaust anyone.

Migrating Bird
01-05-2011, 12:03
Last Sunday, my daughter and I hiked up Greylock from Hopper Rd. via Money Brook to the Hopper Trail, no snow until Sperry Rd. then only 8" of slushy mess, nothing on top at the monument.

Driver8
01-06-2011, 18:47
Yeah, I guess a lot of it has melted off since the blizzard. I wanna go! :)

Migrating Bird
01-06-2011, 21:01
We are going to get some snow over the next couple of days. How much depends on the storm track, but seems 6"-9" is the conconses.