Lessons learned from the Oregon tragedy

Peter Dohm wrote:



With respect to the clothing issues, it is true that they were
underequipped. However, having shopped for cold weather gear in an area
that doesn't receive cold weather, I am inclined to judge less harshly.
Those boots that were supposed to be the cat's pajamas can be annoying,
since you can't walk around outside as far as you planned, and the rest of
the outerwear that you used incorrectly may cause you to "catch your death";
but a bottle of wine and a long soak in the hot tub will probably cure all
that ails you. OTOH, in the wilderness, a lot of incorrectly recommended
clothing (or simply inexperience) is a severe handicap!


You don't need giant muk luks. A good hiking boot would have been a
tremendous asset. Hunting boots would have been better yet and snow
boots the best, With tennis shoes his feet were frozen 10 minutes after
he left the car. Any hat that covers the ears would have been a huge
difference. Any mittens or gloves likewise. To drive into the
mountains without those was reckless. To leave the car without those
was a death sentence.

Ski clothes are NOT designed for wilderness survival, but
mobility and aerodynamics. Hunting and mountain climbing
clothes are designed to keep your body warm, dry and as a
layer system. Some hunting clothes are designed to be hard
to see, but visibility is enhanced with blaze vests and
mountain climbing stuff often has many bright colors so
climbers can be seen and identified by color.



"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
...
| It seems that I forgot to read my post one last time after
editing, with the
| result that I left out the main point--my own
unsuccessfull outfitting was
| for a ski trip some years ago. (The poor choices and
usage are only
| annoying at a ski resort, but dissastrous in the
wilderness.) The parapragh
| sould have read:
|
| ----------
|
| With respect to the clothing issues, it is true that they
were
| underequipped. However, having shopped for cold weather
gear in an area
| that doesn't receive cold weather, I am inclined to judge
less harshly.
| Those boots that were supposed to be the cat's pajamas can
be annoying at a
| ski resort, since you can't walk around outside as far as
you planned, and
| the rest of the outerwear that you used incorrectly may
cause you to "catch
| your death"; but a bottle of wine and a long soak in the
hot tub will
| probably cure all that ails you. OTOH, in the wilderness,
a lot of
| incorrectly recommended clothing (or simply inexperience)
is a severe
| handicap!
|
| ----------
|
| I'm sorry about the way my post looked with the omission.
|
| Peter
|
|
|

I don't have cable and I don't watch TV (except DVDs). I could afford
it, but have just found it pointless after the past couple of years
(the loss of the non-Fox Speedvision and Wings channel in particular).
Unless you're into reality TV, television is just terrible. I do check
CNN and my local news almost every day, and didn't see this apparently
high profile story.

Anyway, as I said originally I'm sorry to hear about this. But having
lived and played in and around the high country (CO front range
mountains), I find this lack of preparation irresponsible and frankly
not very smart. Leaving your car in the 1st place is a BAD MOVE...



Matt Whiting wrote:
wrote:

Sorry to hear about this... Does anyone have any background on it? I
live in Colorado and haven't heard about it.

You must not watch the national news much. Search with Google on his
name and you should find lots of information.

Matt

Jim Macklin wrote:

He was so cold by the time he started to think about
survival shelter and a fire he couldn't think and didn't use
the 50 gallons of kerosene, or the gasoline he had on the
sled and in the snowmobile.


Once hypothermia sets in, you are on very dangerous ground. Typically
a person will start doing very irrational things like throw their
jacket away, or in this case, forget about the kerosene.

Matt Whiting wrote:

I know that is the standard advice, but I'm not sure I could follow it
for more than a day or two. Personally, I'd rather die trying than die
sitting waiting on someone who may never come.


I know what you're saying Matt, but I don't think I've ever heard of
anybody dying in their car when they got stuck. I'm sure there's a
couple of cases, but from all the stories I've heard in our general
area (you're in Montrose right?) the vast majority of exposure deaths
were when people left a protective shelter.

On 10 Dec 2006 08:35:07 -0800, wrote:


Matt Whiting wrote:

I know that is the standard advice, but I'm not sure I could follow it
for more than a day or two. Personally, I'd rather die trying than die
sitting waiting on someone who may never come.

I know what you're saying Matt, but I don't think I've ever heard of
anybody dying in their car when they got stuck. I'm sure there's a
couple of cases, but from all the stories I've heard in our general
area (you're in Montrose right?) the vast majority of exposure deaths
were when people left a protective shelter.

Seattle-area news last night said that this was not the first death due to a car
getting stuck on the same stretch of road. Another happened about twenty,
twenty-five years ago. The driver stayed with the vehicle. He kept a diary, it
ended after about sixty days. Death due to starvation.

Ron Wanttaja

karl gruber wrote:
But how did he end up in the river?

It could've simply been covered over and he fell in.

But some reports said that tracks showed a bear might've chased him
into the river.

Kev

wrote:


Unless you're into reality TV, television is just terrible.


Military channel, History, Discovery, Discovery Times, TLC. There's a
lot of great TV out there.

wrote:

Matt Whiting wrote:

I know that is the standard advice, but I'm not sure I could follow it
for more than a day or two. Personally, I'd rather die trying than die
sitting waiting on someone who may never come.

I know what you're saying Matt, but I don't think I've ever heard of
anybody dying in their car when they got stuck. I'm sure there's a
couple of cases, but from all the stories I've heard in our general
area (you're in Montrose right?) the vast majority of exposure deaths
were when people left a protective shelter.

About 12 years ago, a person named Dewitt Finley drove into the same area
in his camper, and got stuck in snow. He stayed with the truck, and they
found him next spring. He had kept a diary, meticulously noting the
passing days, and anticipating rescue. He starved to death after about 2
month's wait.

The irony was that he got stuck only a few hundred feet from an open road
that he could have easily walked along to safety, but he apparantly never
left the truck to look around.

With respect to the clothing issues, it is true that they were
underequipped. However, having shopped for cold weather gear in an area
that doesn't receive cold weather, I am inclined to judge less harshly.
Those boots that were supposed to be the cat's pajamas can be annoying,
since you can't walk around outside as far as you planned, and the rest
of
the outerwear that you used incorrectly may cause you to "catch your
death";
but a bottle of wine and a long soak in the hot tub will probably cure
all
that ails you. OTOH, in the wilderness, a lot of incorrectly
recommended
clothing (or simply inexperience) is a severe handicap!


You don't need giant muk luks. A good hiking boot would have been a
tremendous asset. Hunting boots would have been better yet and snow
boots the best, With tennis shoes his feet were frozen 10 minutes after
he left the car. Any hat that covers the ears would have been a huge
difference. Any mittens or gloves likewise. To drive into the
mountains without those was reckless. To leave the car without those
was a death sentence.

All agreed, having learned a little from my ignorance years ago, except
possibly the last item. If the car was white, or any earth tone, then I
suspect that all bets may be off. :-(

Peter