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Old 11-25-2022, 09:09 PM   #17
SailinAway
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Susie Cougar View Post
Am I the only one that thinks that something doesn’t seem right? I don’t understand a mother dropping off her daughter dressed the way she was to go on a three mountain hike in the bitter cold. It’s one thing for the daughter to have a lapse of judgment but the mother says she watched her walk away. It just makes no sense to me.
This was my first thought as well. Her mother described her as an experienced hiker but said she didn't have much winter hiking experience. I believe that an experienced hiker intending to do 3 mountains in November would be fully equipped for the possibility of spending a severe winter night in the White Mountains in November. If she had been equipped with a tent and sleeping bag she could have just stayed put until morning.

So I too wondered why her mother didn't make sure she had the right clothing and gear or check the forecast. Perhaps her mother didn't understand the gravity of what her daughter was doing, and perhaps Emily didn't convey that to her. An experienced backpacker at the View from the Top forum commented, "If she, the hiker, wasn't knowledgeable enough to know she was ill prepared for that hike on that day, her parents most likely would not have known either."

While many people do this same hike solo, this young woman did not have that capability.

Without knowing all the facts, my impression is that this incident was caused by the young woman's psychological pressure to climb all 48 4,000 footers by her 20th birthday, which was coming up in a couple of days. This emotional pressure to reach the summit is the cause of many fatal mountaineering incidents. At VFTT there seemed to be some agreement that she took a wrong turn on the way down.

This story is heart-breaking. It's not hard to imagine what she went through that night, how much she must have suffered physically and mentally, how afraid she must have been. A YouTube video described the conditions in that locale on that night: "Chest-deep snow, temperature around zero, wind chill minus 30."

Last edited by SailinAway; 11-25-2022 at 09:48 PM.
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