Missing UCLA Student’s Body Found Buried Under Avalanche in John Muir Wilderness

ktla ^ | Tracy Bllom

[Regulator]

A friend of mine was buried up to his neck in a slide. A slide sets up like concrete in a matter of seconds; he was frozen in place.

He kept yelling for help going on 4 hours. Eventually other skiers (nordic) in a shelter about 100 yards away heard him and came out looking. They found him and he survived.

The phrase "call for help" operates on many levels. There are satellite based phones and beacons, an ELT for the backcountry is well worth it.

The Artex corporation sells PLB's (Personal Locator Beacons) for backcountry use as an example. Everyone should carry a PIEPS locator beacon as well.

Backcountry survival is a matter of training and preparation.

[Vendome]

[West Texas Chuck]

Ahhhhhh, good times. Nobody lives forever, better enjoy it while you can. When I finally die there will be things I will wish I’d done, but I will only regret a few of the ones I did.

[West Texas Chuck]

I go alone because my wife can’t take the cold :)

[GJones2]

I read John Muir's A Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf (from the edge of Ohio to Florida). If I recall correctly -- and except for occasional companions -- he walked the entire distance alone. In 1867 that included a good bit of wilderness.

I wouldn't recommend it, though. I used to read many autobiographical adventure stories, and from all the hardships the protagonists overcame and dangers they escaped, I formed the opinion that most things weren't nearly so hard or dangerous as they seemed. I began to consider doing something similar myself. Then suddenly it dawned on me. These books were written by the persons who survived. The ones who don't survive don't write books. :-)

Also the law of diminishing returns is at play here. Someone who hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail once said something to the effect that "After you've seen your first thousand pine trees, the next thousand look pretty much the same." I do hike (more like walk) short distances alone, but usually in areas where the risk isn't very great.

[trisham]

:)

[ozzymandus]

I never trust a braggart.

[centurion316]

Of course not, they are all wimps.