Trip Report
Rescued from Mt. Logan's East Ridge
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Sunday April 29, 2018 11:36pm
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A year ago, two friends and I were rescued from 16,000 ft on Mt. Logan’s east ridge while attempting to traverse over the mountain, the largest in the world. Eric had high altitude pulmonary edema and high altitude cerebral edema. Here's my write-up of an ambitious-for-us trip, the mistakes we made, and lessons we learned:
maxneale.blogspot.com/2018/04/rescued-from-mt-logan-east-ridge.html
Comments
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Apr 30, 2018 - 03:42am PT
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hey there, say, maxneale... whewww... man oh man! say, good to know you made it through that, :O
i will go read it, in a few hours... going to sleep now...
thanks for sharing... whewww... :O
:)
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nah000
climber
now/here
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Apr 30, 2018 - 06:47am PT
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hmmm... interesting.
only one question to start: did you give your friend Eric a chance to read and offer you feedback on what you’d written, before you put this write up out to the masses?
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Apr 30, 2018 - 07:59am PT
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Interesting insight and a good read, thanks for posting.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 30, 2018 - 08:42am PT
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Well written. Eric was highly remiss going up there with an old inhaler. Talk about setting yourself up for failure, or worse. You made the right decision to call the Mounties, hope your friendship survives. Hate climbing in a threesome - always so hard not to be envious of the middle sleeper!
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Apr 30, 2018 - 09:21am PT
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Wow...wild story.
I think the East Ridge of Logan is hard to do alpine style. Your plan of doing Vancouver first was great...but...you didn't get what you needed. At that point...you could have made a course correction but I get that it maybe too hard to pull the plug.
One thin rope, no pickets, very little gear...only one stove without even a back up pump? Yikes. Risky.
No foam pad (to back up inflatable)?
You got the hard part of the East Ridge done. But, you really didn't have a reasonble option to descend it if something went sideways. Yikes. Risky.
Folks have different levels of risk tolerance. Given that the Vancouver part of the trip didn't go as planned, you could have switched to a double carry strategy on Logan, but, you weren't really able to given the lack of gear and maybe food/fuel? Mighta flushed out the health issue with less risk.
Good on you for surviving! Heckuva learning experience.
Great to see your photo's and that video in the helo...wow! Big ol' ridge...(I went up to true summit and down it in 1995 in a long, hard trip).
Thanks for the story...cheers!
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Apr 30, 2018 - 11:37am PT
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He had HAPE from the outset, simple asthma doesn't act like that and the fact that it got worse with altitude and better at lower elevation. He was HAPE from the get go.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Apr 30, 2018 - 12:10pm PT
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A very definitive and honest description. I think you had a good analysis of errors made and areas of improvement needed. Experiences like yours are invaluable teachers when survived.
I concur with others about your stove....there can be no more valuable piece of equipment. It sounds like you had a liquid fuel stove which I would never bring on a trip like yours now that cartridge stoves are available.
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ExfifteenExfifteen
climber
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Apr 30, 2018 - 12:20pm PT
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or fluid on the lungs.
My limited experience with HAPE is it's bad bad!!! Very difficult to diagnose for your everyday climber. The symptoms mimic many other problems. But once you "notice" the fluid in the lungs your chance of survival is greatly diminished...
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Apr 30, 2018 - 01:14pm PT
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BJ,
The raspy cough described was what i keyed in on, simple asthma is usually but not always and dry cough. The moderate altitude is not to be ignored, especially with a quick ascent. I have learned over the years that fitness level, prior experience at elevation and age have little to do with how you will handle altitude unless you live at altitude or have a lot of time to aclimate. I have done great at altitude off the couch from sea level and I have also come down with a raging case of AMS after two weeks at altitude. Also he got better but not great with Diamox.
I think the party just didn't want to admit so soon that they were dealing with such a serious situation which is totally understandable given the travel and money spent on such a big trip. These factors can easily cloud your judgement.
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maxneale
climber
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Author's Reply
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May 2, 2018 - 10:48pm PT
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Thanks, all, for your thoughts and feedback.
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J-B
Social climber
Van-groovy
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Sounds like a full-value trip. Glad everyone made it back. Perhaps a bit of hubris in the decision making but by your own conclusions you took away some valuable lessons. Careful with the "I now know what I don't know" though...
As for friendship, time is great for giving perspective. Although intense to live, I'm sure this trip will provide a lifetime's worth of memories and accelerate the direction those relationships were going.
Skis on the East Ridge don't really make sense unless you're traversing; however, it's been done more than once. This crossing (and the lead-in to it) is probably the most impressive:
St Elias Mountains Traverse - AAJ 2003
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Some good lessons here.
I’m glad everyone made it out alive.
You made a life saving choice to bring a satellite messenger.
Ditto the comments on stoves, pickets, and listening to your body.
Thanks for posting this, learning is part of the process.
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Nick Danger
Ice climber
Arvada, CO
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May 10, 2018 - 10:59am PT
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Great story well told. Also, you show a commendable level of introspection over the whole episode. I have not done that mountain, but am personally aware of how funky the weather can get on mountains in that part of the world, and how fast things like AMS and HAPE can come on (no personal experience with HACE). For me personally, the primary goal is that everyone comes home alive. I have backed off plenty of stuff I probably could have gotten up, but I have been reluctant to push a partner into a situation they were really uncomfortable with. I'm glad you guys made it out safe, I really am.
Be safe out there, lads.
cheers
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
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May 11, 2018 - 02:36pm PT
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Yes Nick,
No need to push it when "The Undertoad" is around, as you once said to me and Mr. Dean (which we promptly ignored and somehow had an epic on Spring Creek Pinnacle).
Cheers! Moss
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