Graham Ottley
Incident: Group turns around due to potential Cold Injury
Date: March 27, 2023
Type: Near Miss / COld Injury
Incident Narrative: A group from Colorado Mountain Club was headed up to Grizzly Peak as part of a training climb for the Alpine Climbing School. A male student appeared fatigued from early in the trip, and admitted on first check-in with him that the altitude was getting to him. Subsequently, the volunteer leader kept continuous observations and checked in several more times. At a stopping point, he checked in again, and noticed white frostnip patches on his right cheek and nose. The leader instructed the participant to cover the affected area with a buff, and the decision was made to immediately turn the trip around and return to the trailhead.
Incident Analysis: The concern for cold injuries is good for leaders to recognize and also communicate. As described, this can be mitigated by assessing conditions pre-trip and discussing how to manage them during the hike. The trip leader mentioned fatigue which could be contributed as a secondary cause, leading to poor self-care (managing layers / goggle to prevent skin exposure).
Further reading: Wilderness Medicine: Frostbite 101
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Log in to add comments.Our Januray CMC trip to Grizzly in the late 1980's had a different outcome. The trip leader didn't monitor the health of the participants, allowed the group to fragment into three subgroups, didn't stop for for food or water, and continued ascending even with blizzard conditions expected. He misplaced three hikers that afternoon, with one spending the night on the ridge. Big law suit against the CMC based on leader negligence which was not covered by the CMC liability policy. Individual who spent the night on the ridge ultimately had the front of both feet amputated.
glad you posted this....we all need reminders.