BAD WEATHER, EXCEEDING ABILITIES, AND AVALANCHE ...
B A D W E A T H E R , E X C E E D IN G A B IL IT IE S , A N D A V A LA N C H E CO N D I TIO N S— Oregon, M t. Hood. G ary S chneider (16) o f W eston, and Randy K n ap p (19) an d M att M eacham (16) both o f W alla Walla, W ashington, who survived 17 days in snowcaves on Mt. H ood, cam e w ithin 20 feet o f being sw ept over Mississippi H ead, a 600-foot d ro p . So far as could be d eterm in ed , th e ir m ovem ents w ere as follows: W ednesday, D ecem ber 31, 1975, the three teen-agers left Walla W alla in the S chneider family car about 2 a.m . A t 11 a.m. they ran o u t o f gasoline ab o u t a half-m ile below the lodge. T h ey left th e car, which d id n ’t have tire chains anyway, an d hiked u p to the lodge, carrying 50-pound packs, including a m o u n tain ten t an d two pairs o f small snowshoes. T h a t n ig h t they reached Silcox H u t at the 7000-foot level. S chneider b ro k e an ice ax trying to pry his way into th e building. T h ey finally d u g dow n to a window an d rap p e lled on climbing ropes dow n to the shelter room . T h u rs d a y , Ja n u a ry 1, 1976 daw ned b rig h t an d clear. T h e trio clim bed to Illu m in a tio n Saddle at ab o u t th e 9000-foot level a n d d u g a snow cave, w hich was fo u n d by a search party a few days later. Friday, Ja n u a ry 2, the trio said th a t they ro p ed u p a n d h ead ed west o n to Reid Glacier. T h ey encountered hip -d eep snow on the far side o f the glacier. K napp said th a t he w anted to climb the H o u r Glass ro u te at th e h ead o f the glacier, but, fac in g his first ice falls, was a f r a id to go o n ; S c h n e id e r h a d lost o n e o f his cram pons, so they tu rn e d back to Illum ination Saddle fo r the night. T h e w eather was “fair.” S aturday, Ja n u ary 3, the m o u n ta in was w rapped in a howling storm th a t was to last 13 days. But the boys decided to “do som e rock clim bing.” K napp blames h im self fo r failing to take a com pass bearing, b u t said th a t he th o u g h t he knew the te rrain well enough. H ea d in g east tow ard W hite River C anyon, K nap p fell into a “ho le” th a t he th o u g h t was a crevasse. M eacham tu m b led a fte r him , follow ed by S ch n eid er. T h ey th e n ro p e d up an d decided to. climb back o u t o f w hat they th o u g h t was W hite River Canyon. S ch n eid er was leading, with K n ap p and M eacham close behind w hen a slab avalanche let loose. S ch n eid er im m ediately assum ed the arrest position to p ro tect the o th e r two boys. T h e snow swooshed past them , and they h ea rd it cascading over a steep cliff below them . T h ey w ere in a w hiteout at the tim e, b ut later got a glim pse o f th e cliff. Y oung S chneider credits G od w ith saving them from su re death. “We d id n ’t know w hat direction to go,” G ary said, “so I talked to G od an d asked H im to give us a sign. T h e n cam e the avalanche an d we took th a t as a sign th a t we should climb out o f th e re .” T h ey th e n d u g a snowcave at the 7800-foot level ab o u t a q u arte r o f a mile east o f Mississippi H ead and some 700 feet above it w here they spent the n ex t 11 days. G ary told his fath er th at th e re they w ere saved by an o th e r miracle. T h e boys had sta rted o u t with a small stove fo r m elting snow fo r w ater and h eatin g th eir food. T h ey h ad two pint bottles o f e x tra fuel. “At th e en d o f the fo u rth o r fifth day the stove was em pty. We tu rn e d it upside dow n an d n o t a d ro p o f fuel ran out. F or the n ex t fo u r days we h ad to m elt snow in
plastic bottles which we held u n d e r o u r arm pits fo r body heat. T h e n ab o u t the n in th day [a b o u t J a n u a r y 8], we d e c id e d to try th e stove ju s t to be d o in g som ething. T o o u r surprise, w hen we p u m p e d it up , it lighted up. For th e nex t fo u r days we used that em pty stove to m elt about a gallon o f w ater fro m snow. It was a m iracle, God was w atching over us.” (Source: The Oregonian, J a n u a ry 19, 1976. F u rth e r e d ited by J. W illiamson.) Analysis: T hese young m en have been called “exp erien ced clim bers.” Actually they have h ad ju st enough experien ce to m ake th em d angerously overconfident. T h ey did a lot o f things right, how ever. T h ey all h ad wool clothing, som e b etter th an others. T hey had good boots an d double sleeping bags. K n ap p h ad a $300 A ustralian bag. Schneider h ad a fiber-filled bag with a dow n bag inside. T h e snowcaves they built w ere ju s t the right size an d design. T h e re was no sign o f d rip p in g fro m th e ro o f a n d no ice h a d fo rm e d to spoil th e in su latin g qualities o f th e snow. N evertheless, all their sleeping bags w ere wet. M ost o f the tim e they sp e n t in the snowcave th eir feet w ere soaked. S chneider said h e sp en t day an d n ig h t w rig gling his toes vigorously. K napp a n d M eacham kidd ed him about the squishing sound, b u t his feet never su ffered frostbite. T h ey m ade som e m ajor m istakes. First they should never have attem p ted to circle th e m ountain at this tim e o f year. T h e snow conditions are u nsafe a n d so is th e w ea th er. I f I had know n th a t was th e ir plan I w ould have sto p p e d th em . S econd, they sho u ld n ev e r have left th e ir snow cave o n Illu m in atio n S addle. T h ird , they should have m a rk ed th e ir route with w ands (m arkers) so they could re tu rn to th a t cave— which we fo u n d a couple o f days later, em pty. F o u rth , they should n o t have ventured into a w hiteout w ithout first ro p in g up. I f th at h ad been a real ice crevasse, they could have lost som eone, m aybe all o f them , since they w ere n o t ro p e d up. Fifth, they sh o u ld never have trie d to navigate w ith o u t a com pass in a storm like that. (Source: Gary S chneider Sr., from a re p o rt in The Oregonian, Ja n u a ry 19, 1976.)
plastic bottles which we held u n d e r o u r arm pits fo r body heat. T h e n ab o u t the n in th day [a b o u t J a n u a r y 8], we d e c id e d to try th e stove ju s t to be d o in g som ething. T o o u r surprise, w hen we p u m p e d it up , it lighted up. For th e nex t fo u r days we used that em pty stove to m elt about a gallon o f w ater fro m snow. It was a m iracle, God was w atching over us.” (Source: The Oregonian, J a n u a ry 19, 1976. F u rth e r e d ited by J. W illiamson.) Analysis: T hese young m en have been called “exp erien ced clim bers.” Actually they have h ad ju st enough experien ce to m ake th em d angerously overconfident. T h ey did a lot o f things right, how ever. T h ey all h ad wool clothing, som e b etter th an others. T hey had good boots an d double sleeping bags. K n ap p h ad a $300 A ustralian bag. Schneider h ad a fiber-filled bag with a dow n bag inside. T h e snowcaves they built w ere ju s t the right size an d design. T h e re was no sign o f d rip p in g fro m th e ro o f a n d no ice h a d fo rm e d to spoil th e in su latin g qualities o f th e snow. N evertheless, all their sleeping bags w ere wet. M ost o f the tim e they sp e n t in the snowcave th eir feet w ere soaked. S chneider said h e sp en t day an d n ig h t w rig gling his toes vigorously. K napp a n d M eacham kidd ed him about the squishing sound, b u t his feet never su ffered frostbite. T h ey m ade som e m ajor m istakes. First they should never have attem p ted to circle th e m ountain at this tim e o f year. T h e snow conditions are u nsafe a n d so is th e w ea th er. I f I had know n th a t was th e ir plan I w ould have sto p p e d th em . S econd, they sho u ld n ev e r have left th e ir snow cave o n Illu m in atio n S addle. T h ird , they should have m a rk ed th e ir route with w ands (m arkers) so they could re tu rn to th a t cave— which we fo u n d a couple o f days later, em pty. F o u rth , they should n o t have ventured into a w hiteout w ithout first ro p in g up. I f th at h ad been a real ice crevasse, they could have lost som eone, m aybe all o f them , since they w ere n o t ro p e d up. Fifth, they sh o u ld never have trie d to navigate w ith o u t a com pass in a storm like that. (Source: Gary S chneider Sr., from a re p o rt in The Oregonian, Ja n u a ry 19, 1976.)
