Probably even more valid. There is now no evident reason he would have been left behind, and I must emphasize again, the very last thing they would do as climbing partners is to separate in any way.
What bothers me now is that he was found wearing a "lightweight" jacket, and was not in possession of his gear rack (rock/ice accessories). He seemed to have only a pack (which may have contained other items). Add to that the idea he left his axes and ground pad at the belay point (if in fact they were his, which I am still inclined to believe).
What this means to me is that he must have been deep in the throws of hypothermia long before entering the snow-cave, as "casting off" things and stripping off clothes (where is his heavy coat?) happens near the end of the hypothermia cycle.
Perhaps the "small cave" at the belay station was James' initial attempt to "dig in"... Perhaps he was severely hypothermic before he decided that his little "cave" wasn't working out so good and in a mild state of dimentia, left his axes and etc, and wandered off to the primary cave- Throwing his rack along the way and shedding clothes to be taken by the wind.
I dunno. :(
-Bruce
If you scenerio is the true, which I believe it is, getting back to the real snow cave in 100 mph winds was no easy task. I was once in extremely high winds, in the dead of winter, trying to get from point A to point B and it was horrible. I did find a slight shelter from the wind along the way to catch my breath.I can imagine James getting more hypothermic along the way, and probably losing things as he went to ease the burden of his path. The things he shed could very well be buried by now.
I wonder if the sheriff and others will change their theory in light of the autopsy. Why would someone volunteer to stay behind with a half of an orange, light clothing and no equipment.
About the phone call home, everything he said sounded lucid and truthful except for the questions pertaining to his buddies. He said that one was flying a plane, the other went down to town to get help. It makes me wonder about the phone connection and if the son misunderstood about the buddies or if there was a clue in the statements.
The son did say he immediately knew his father was in trouble by the sound of his voice.
It did strike me that the relationship between the husband and wife was one of protecting the other from harsh facts. He told the son more info than he told his wife. And her response to him was the same.
I agree that there's no valid reason for them to be split up, or if they had to leave him they would've done better by him.
If James were more hypothermic than the others at first (a possibility), if the others were trying to get down for help they would have done better by him (assuming they could). Tried taking him with them (he looks small compared to the others, to me) or leaving him with as much as they could to protect him if it came to that.
As for his not having on a heavy coat and shedding it earlier, are we certain he was wearing a heavy coat? Wonder what was in the backpack. I only ask because now they're saying these men weren't outfitted to withstand such harsh conditions or a prolonged climb. For example...no sleeping bags?? Are there pictures of them that confirm heavy coats?
I haven't the time to keep abreast of all the details.
Thanks...