STRANDED, WEATHER, HYPOTHERMIA, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT California, Yosemite Valley, El Capitan O n S e p te m b e r 27, 1991, four clim bers w ere resc u ed from tw o d ifferen t ro u tes on El C apitan. O n S ep te m b er 15, th e first w in te r storm o f th e season m oved in to th e C e n tral S ier ra, d ro p p in g 4.5 inches o f rain at low er elevations w ith snow level reach in g 4,000 feet. O n th e evening o f th e 26th th e N PS received rep o rts o f cries for h elp on E l C apitan. In itia l siz e-u p in d ic a te d th a t tw o clim b e rs, S im on P eck an d D av id M e g erle, w ere approxim ately 2,000 fee t up th e Sea o f D ream s ro u te an d stran d e d in th e ir hanging bivy u n d e r a w aterfall th a t h ad b e e n cre ate d by th e ru n o ff from th e storm . B oth in d i cated th a t th e y w ere u n h u rt b u t b ecom ing hypoth erm ic an d u n ab le to m ove becau se o f th e storm . H igh w inds h ad blow n th e rain flies from th e ir p o rta ledges an d b o th h ad
b eco m e com pletely w et. B ecause o f th e p o o r w e a th e r conditions, a parallel rescue effort was b eg u n using b o th g ro u n d an d air. D u rin g th e ea rly m o rn in g h o u rs o f th e 2 7 th , a 1 7 -m e m b e r g ro u n d te a m m a d e a n in e m ile (five h o u r) su m m it ap p ro a c h fro m T am arac k F lat C am p g ro u n d to E l C ap itan and arrived at 0800. T h e p ark receiv ed assistance from th e A rm y N ational G u ard and used a C H -4 7 to m ove a second tw elv e-m em b er air team to th e to p o f E l C apitan d u rin g a w indow in th e storm . P ark resc u e team s m ad e a 700 foot low ering to th e stra n d e d clim b ers an d afte r rew arm ing they w ere able to ascend a fixed line to th e sum m it. W hile th e first te am was clim bing ou t a n o th er clim bing p arty o f two b eg an to yell for h elp from th e T an g erin e T rip route. T he second p arty o f clim bers, Russ W alling (35) an d E rik Eriksson (36) indicated th a t one o f th e clim bers was suffering from fro st b ite an d they w ere unable to finish th e clim b. T h e rescu e team divided th e w ork and m oved to th e ir location an d m ade a 400-foot low ering to W alling an d Eriksson. Both w ere able to ascend fixed lines. A fte r co m p le tio n o f th e resc u e, all fo u r o f th e re sc u e d clim b e rs w e re flow n to Y osem ite Valley. T h e rescu e team co n tin u ed to dem obilize th e to p and 17 o f th e res cuers w ere flown off th e evening o f th e 27th. F o u r rescu ers w alked off using th e O ld Big O ak F lat road and th e rem aining six bivied on to p and w ere flown o ff on th e m o rn ing o f th e 28th. (Source: M ike M ayer, SAR R anger, Y osem ite N ational Park)
Analysis At th e tim e o f th e ir rescue, W alling an d E riksson w ere at th e top o f th e last p itc h o f N ative Son, at th e base o f th e last pitch o f T an g erin e T rip. T h ey said th a t th e y had sta rted on M ay 19th o r 20th, b u t w ere u n su re o f th e exact d ate, an d th a t th ey w ere on s c h e d u le a n d h a d h a d no p ro b le m s u p to th a t p o in t. W a llin g a n d E rik sso n also d escrib ed th e w ind as th e ir m ain p ro b lem w hen th e storm o f th e 25th m oved in on th em . T h ey said th a t from th e tim e they sto p p e d clim bing aro u n d 1630 on th e 25th u n til a b o u t n o o n on th e 2 6 th , th e y sta y ed b iv o u a ck e d , a n d th a t b o th h a d g o tte n extrem ely w et. E riksson said th a t his sleeping bag was dow n-filled, and th a t w h en it got w et it was re n d e re d ineffective. E riksson said th a t on th e night o f th e 25th, his fly was blow n co m pletely o ff o f his ledge, and his already w et sleeping bag and g ear was th e n co m p letely soaked. A t this p o in t b o th h e and W alling decid ed th a t h e should ju m a r up to W alling’s ledge, w hich was about te n vertical feet above his. E riksson said th a t in doing this h e got even w e tte r and colder. T h e tw o sp e n t th e night o f th e 25th in W alling’s ledge, E riksson w ith his feet continually in W alling’s arm pits to try to w arm th em . E riksson was lean ing w ith his back against th e wall all night, and W alling felt th a t h e h ad p ro b ab ly lost a g reat deal o f h ea t th a t way. W alling told m e th a t h e had no ticed th a t E riksson h ad b e e n slow in p re p a rin g to clim b an d in actual clim bing on th e m orning o f th e 25th an d acted sluggish on th e 26th, and th a t his overall d e m e a n o r was “a little sp a ce d -o u t.” B ecause o f E rik sso n ’s slim b u ild and w et gear, and w hat W alling d escrib ed as a lack o f food, W alling felt th at E riksson was becom ing hypotherm ic. W alling said th a t his p a rtn e r h ad ea te n only a “p o w er b a r,” a can o f fruit, an d a can o f tuna, an d h ad d ru n k very little w ater, on th e 26th an d 27th. O n th e m orning o f th e 27th, th e tw o sta rted to clim b in a b reak in th e w eath er, although E riksson was ap p aren tly able to do very little b ecau se o f his h an d s b ein g so cold. W alling said th a t th e ir ropes w ere frozen and tan g led on E riksson’s ledge, and
th a t W alling sp en t a lot o f tim e th a t m orning p rep a rin g to clim b. H e to ld m e th a t he did start th e next p itc h (last p itc h o f T ang erin e T rip), an d th a t by th a t tim e th e y w ere aw are o f th e re sc u e e ffo rt u n d e rw a y on S ea o f D re a m s. W a llin g said th a t h e h ad alread y fixed m ost o f th a t p itc h , an d th a t E rik sso n sp e n t th e m o rn in g sh iv erin g in W alling’s sleeping bag. W alling said th a t he was self-belaying by th a t p o int, as E riksson was u n ab le to belay him d u e to his hands. By this tim e, th e clim bers h ad d ec id e d to m ake a quick ascent, an d su b seq u en tly d ro p p e d th e ir w et gear, including E riksson’s sleeping bag, in an all-or-nothing m ove to finish th e clim b. W h e n E riksson th e n began to clim b th e next p itc h (last p itc h o f T an g erin e T rip), W alling ap p aren tly told him to leave th e gear an d ju st clim b. W alling told m e th a t h e was “c lu b b in g p ie c e s,” u n ab le to rem o v e th e m as h e clim b ed , an d was “totally sp e n t” and “spacy.” W alling said th a t th e y th e n re tu rn e d to th e bivouac at th e base o f th a t pitch, and th a t E riksson’s hands w ere grey w ith very slow capillary refill. At this point, they estim ated th a t it w ould take th e m fo u r to five hours to finish th e clim b, even ju st by doing it com pletely on aid, an d th a t from th e ir ex p erien ce w ith res cue, it w ould take tw o hours to b e rescued. T h ey said th a t th ey th e n d ec id e d to call to th e resc u er on th e edge at Sea o f D re am s and ask for rescue. E riksson also said th a t h e h ad felt h e w ould n o t b e able to d esce n d th e east ledges w alk-off on his ow n pow er. B oth W alling and E riksson said th a t they pro b ab ly w ould n o t have asked fo r rescu e h ad th e rescu e p arties n o t already b e e n th ere. W alling and E riksson are b o th very ex p erien ced clim bers, an d have each co m p leted several E l C apitan an d o th e r big w all routes. N e ith e r could estim ate th e ir to tal years clim bing o r n u m b e r o f routes, b u t are know n as very good clim bers. E riksson d id tell m e th a t h e h a d “blow n it” by b ringing a dow n bag on th e clim b, a p o rtaled g e fly th a t was in a d eq u a te in th a t it could n o t b e cinched u n d e r th e ledge, an d no gloves. (Source: R. C h ristiansen, SAR R anger, Y osem ite N ational Park)