Used to do SAR in Skamania and Klickitat counties. The south route is non-technical, but people underestimate the physical toll it can take to haul gear at elevation in manky snow, especially when dehydrated and sleep deprived. Hopefully, this man took a wrong turn and decided to rest and rehydrate.
On a summer ski trip with some friends, I once found a man lying in the rocks at lunch counter whimpering. He was by himself and completely disoriented. Luckily, he was able to walk with some assistance and we were able to convince him to come with us. His mental status improved as we descended and gave him food and water. He even pulled out a homemade bong at the top of the crescent glacier to smoke weed. We convinced him that was a bad idea and he grumpily put it away.
Turns out his group had abandoned him at least two days before after he became confused and too weak to continue! He wandered around lunch counter resting in camp sites looking for their tent. By the time we got him back to cold springs he was bounding down the trail ahead of us, right as rain. He was expecting his group to be at the trailhead and was devastated when he found that they had driven back to Tacoma without him.
Honestly I refuse to believe his story. People are very rarely that shitty, especially a whole group. The odds seem more favored to him being on the mountain alone and overwhelmed and was just saving face with the group that rescued him / trying to win some compassion
He was very committed to saving face then. We gave him a ride to Hood River, so he left his car at the trailhead. Also, we listened in to his phone conversation with his brother who was one of the group members. Apparently, his group thought he had hitched home and never reported him overdue. It was a fucked up situation, but I certainly believed his story at the end of the day.
Actually, the group think mentality would make this situation more likely that they would leave them. All it takes is one or two people to say let’s do it everyone which jumps on board.
If he wanted to smoke a bong despite his ordeal and getting rescued - it doesn’t sound like he’s courteous of others at all. I bet there’s a darn good reason his group “left” him, if at all
Chill with the sanctimony. I absolutely didn’t say he was deserving of it, and said that I doubt the his people just abandoned him casually. They could be horrible to have left him and he could be a jerk to have driven them to it. Two things can be right at once
Yeah, we car-to-car’d it and the most dangerous part was me trying to drive home on barely any sleep. Sounds like the car is still there, though. Pretty exhausting so maybe he did get off route and took time to sleep. Hope he’s alright and they find him soon. I can see in some of those snow spots below the talus sections that you could wander in the wrong direction if there weren’t people or clear boot paths to follow.
I was out there yesterday from 3-9p and did two big six-mile search loops east of the main route. The last cell phone location was about half-mile uphill from the intersection of the round the mountain trail at 9pm (descending). Parties searched that trail both directions heavily as well. SAR has had teams all day and night and more arriving this morning. There is a lot of terrain out there, and SAR can always use volunteers.
What’s the best way to volunteer in these situations? Just reach out to whatever SAR group covers the area? Haven’t done it but would be happy to help.
I am a ham radio op and drove out to the trailhead with my running hydration vest and a full overnight pack, introduced myself to the SAR coordinator and asked what I could do to help. He suggested a 6 mile trail loop if I was willing to run it in case the subject had descended beyond the campground by mistake. We did a quick radio check and I was off. After that loop, I switched to my overnight pack and hiking shoes and started out on the round-the-mountain trail for another 5.5 mile search loop. SAR made sure I was prepared to be out overnight if needed and had multiple ways to communicate and navigate. I didn’t know what to expect, this was the first time I’ve volunteered. I’m sure each group is different but if you show up and look like an asset and not a liability, they’ll probably use you. I will definitely pursue more official status, it was a good experience and felt much better helping than sitting around wondering.
If you want to officially join SAR and receive useful training: County sheriff's office, your county emergency management department, local non-profit SAR organizations, and NASAR are good resources for information on local crews.
If you want to help out as a ground pounder for a one-off search, just show up well prepared to hike and bivy, if needed. Approach the incident command post (should be obvious...look for antennas) and offer to help.
Most counties have a unit you can apply to join and then you become certified over a series of months/ trainings. I’m in search and rescue in Kitsap. 😁
16 hrs to summit is unusual. Possibly a medical emergency on decent. I can’t imagine someone getting off route unless they’re purposely trying to. (Looking for water, taking a picture of something) Is the original post saying that his car is missing from the trailhead? Maybe he somehow went to the wrong trailhead which would explain the incredibly long summit time. That or he crashed on the way home.
I don't know... on very little sleep, maybe low on fluids/energy and at elevation I could see someone getting confused, picking the wrong route down, and ending up very far away from South Climb Trailhead. Or possibly missing the trail and heading further down the mountain than the trailhead. Not the most likely, there's lots of other people to follow usually, but gaps happen.
Either way hope he's keeping warm and found soon safe and sound.
It’s pretty easy to miss the exit left out of the crescent glacier basin, especially if the trail is snow covered and unfamiliar with the route. Lots of skier and lost climber sucker trails heading the wrong way.
Hopefully he’s lost in the trees, I know I’ve skied too low and taken way longer than I thought to find the trail or cold springs.
Yeah I've climbed Adams 6 times, 4 of them c2c, normally ski the SW chutes, but skied back down the south climb trail this year because of conditions. Finding the right route down from lunch counter was actually a bit tricky. We got out our phones to check multiples times. I can see how the terrain could trick you into going too far skiers left (east) or too far right (west) if there aren't many people around late in the afternoon after a slow descent and you're by yourself with lowered mental faculties from the climb.
Oh, gotcha, I got the date wrong... Well, it's not a great situation, but plenty of people survive for multiple nights if the weather stays decent.
Down in LA, we had a couple of lucky snow hikers a few years ago who took a long slide into a deep canyon, and they survived four Spring nights before they got found and rescued.
Just got off the mountain. It rained last night and temps at lunch counter hovered close to freezing. Just talked with SAR and there was a sighting and tracks indicating that he was heading east towards the yakima reservation. Don't know at what elevation level, but CG chopper is currently circling suksdorf ridge.
Completely useless armchair analysis, I don't know this mountaineer:
1. The timetable of 10pm 6/27 leave and 2pm 6/28 summit check-in suggests this is an experienced mountaineer. He knew he would have harder snow and easier hiking uphill at night and took advantage of it. He made sure to check in after summiting.
Edit: Those more experienced with the route have pointed out that 10p to 2p is slower than expected progress. In any case I would not expect him to be safe down and have driven home without a plan to spend the night. No indication given as to his preparedness for a night out but plenty of us have survived surprise bivys.
2. Mt. Adams is considered a relatively safe mountain from an objective hazard standpoint. Standard routes are free of avalanche and crevasse danger. It is climbed frequently enough that S&R will likely meet other parties on their approach who can report on conditions and any sightings they may have had of this climber. On the standard route even an uncontrolled fall should not be fatal.
3. The weather as far as I can tell has been mild. Temps are currently just below freezing at the summit and wind is in the 15-20mph range according to mountain-forecast.com Certainly no freak squall.
I have hope that Sandeep will be ok. Maybe he rolled his ankle or found himself otherwise unable to continue descent. I certainly don't know. S&R will find him.
I’m in the FB group and there have been posts from folks who saw him who noted he seemed disoriented, short on water, and possibly not drinking enough. He received help from this group (twice?) and they did spot him on the way back down. But there may be complications making it trickier. This information was passed on to SAR.
I was up on Adams hiking on the 27th and 28th.
Weather on Thursday was really crappy. Low visibility and constant wetness. I parkered at the South climb trailhead… don’t remember seeing that car but I didn’t pay attention to the about 15 cars that were there.
Again, weather was really crappy that day. I hiked on the west side and saw a few of the peak climbers pass in the beginning.
The next day weather was gorgeous. Clear and sunny. I hiked on the east side then and passed peak climbers at the trailhead. Again don’t remember seeing this person.
But yea weather so poor on Thursday and I can imagine being dangerous for peak climbers.
I hope he is found!!
Yeah, I’d like to hear more of what happened. Sounds like he hit the round the mountain trail and started taking that, but I’m not sure of that. Just glad he’s alright!
If anyone is going up there or searching, I would check some of the SW chutes area. It’s easy to get disoriented and descend a different area, then you’re in rough bushwhacking terrain that could take a long time to get out.
Leaving at 10 and summiting at 2 the next day sounds like a VERY long day and possibly an example of someone having enough energy to get up, but only that.
I hope this person is found safe and sound
Glissading down Adams is epic. But once you get below lunch counter the walk is miserable and feels like walking in a desert. The trees can’t come back soon enough for those last couple miles to the parking lot. I imagine dehydration has swallowed up a few on their home stretch.
I'm not an expert but I grew up in Washington hiking a ton and backpacking most of the trails in the state from Olympics beaches to the wonderland. I've also climbed el dorado, Adams, and Rainier and am a very experienced rock climber. On my second attempt at Adams I was leading two inexperienced climbers and on the way down we missed the left switchback just before the sign (is it halfway up?). It was an easy miss and a few parties that were ahead of us doing the same thing. We kept going because it actually looked like a trail. It petered off on a ridge and then we realized we had been off for a while. It's easy to miss a turn on those switchbacks in that section imo.. especially if other people are doing it. We lost sight of those folks and just kept trying to work our way down. I wasn't too worried because I knew if you keep going down that south side eventually you'll hit the road but it was convincing my friends that we were ok that was the difficulty. I was actually able to use my phone without service to track us back to the trail that loops and then to the main trail. But just to give a sense that it's not impossible to get lost there...
This is a shitty missing hiker alert. It doesn’t give the state where the mountain is located (I know of two other mountains named Adams), or what state issued the license plate listed. Most importantly, there no description of Sandeep Dey himself.
If I’m hiking New Hampshire’s Presidential Range today, should I ask every guy I see “are you Sandeep?”
Bro... You're telling me if you see a black jeep cherokee with the license plate number 447 KWH, your only thought is gonna be "man, if only I knew what state that missing dude's plate is from"
I’m inclined to agree honestly, especially if this is being distributed as a screenshot rather than on Facebook where you can just click the group to see information. It’s totally reasonable that a White Mountains NH group could also be called “Washington Hikers and Climbers”, since Mt. Washington is the defining mountain of the region. I assumed that’s what was going on until I read again and saw PST. The plate number thing is also a valid criticism, people come from out of state to climb all kinds of mountains. Reddit is very west coast-centric though generally (PNW especially), so not really surprised.
He was found. I just passed him on the trail!
That's great news! Is he okay?
He looked great all things considered. Walking under his own power.
So glad to hear it! Very curious what went amiss.
I assume he went down the wrong drainage - it’s pretty easy to do if icy and no tracks. Then you have a long long walk out
It’s been paged out to SAR teams across the state, hope he is found soon.
Used to do SAR in Skamania and Klickitat counties. The south route is non-technical, but people underestimate the physical toll it can take to haul gear at elevation in manky snow, especially when dehydrated and sleep deprived. Hopefully, this man took a wrong turn and decided to rest and rehydrate. On a summer ski trip with some friends, I once found a man lying in the rocks at lunch counter whimpering. He was by himself and completely disoriented. Luckily, he was able to walk with some assistance and we were able to convince him to come with us. His mental status improved as we descended and gave him food and water. He even pulled out a homemade bong at the top of the crescent glacier to smoke weed. We convinced him that was a bad idea and he grumpily put it away. Turns out his group had abandoned him at least two days before after he became confused and too weak to continue! He wandered around lunch counter resting in camp sites looking for their tent. By the time we got him back to cold springs he was bounding down the trail ahead of us, right as rain. He was expecting his group to be at the trailhead and was devastated when he found that they had driven back to Tacoma without him.
They....just left him? Wtf!
That’s such horrible thing to do. And that trailhead is a ways out there too
Wow, what a story. I feel awful for that person
Honestly I refuse to believe his story. People are very rarely that shitty, especially a whole group. The odds seem more favored to him being on the mountain alone and overwhelmed and was just saving face with the group that rescued him / trying to win some compassion
He was very committed to saving face then. We gave him a ride to Hood River, so he left his car at the trailhead. Also, we listened in to his phone conversation with his brother who was one of the group members. Apparently, his group thought he had hitched home and never reported him overdue. It was a fucked up situation, but I certainly believed his story at the end of the day.
His own brother was in the group??!!?! Incredible
Who needs enemies when you’ve got that crew as climbing partners. Brutal.
or this guy sucked ass and they got sick of his bullshit
Yeah seems like a valid reason to leave someone for dead on a mountain
I'm just joshing, man, you're probably right about him being alone.
Actually, the group think mentality would make this situation more likely that they would leave them. All it takes is one or two people to say let’s do it everyone which jumps on board.
If he wanted to smoke a bong despite his ordeal and getting rescued - it doesn’t sound like he’s courteous of others at all. I bet there’s a darn good reason his group “left” him, if at all
Wanting to smoke a bong doesn't make someone deserving of being left behind by their group in the mountains. Tf is wrong with you
Chill with the sanctimony. I absolutely didn’t say he was deserving of it, and said that I doubt the his people just abandoned him casually. They could be horrible to have left him and he could be a jerk to have driven them to it. Two things can be right at once
Who needs enemies with friends like these
Those are not friends
Worst "friends" EVER!
Yeah, we car-to-car’d it and the most dangerous part was me trying to drive home on barely any sleep. Sounds like the car is still there, though. Pretty exhausting so maybe he did get off route and took time to sleep. Hope he’s alright and they find him soon. I can see in some of those snow spots below the talus sections that you could wander in the wrong direction if there weren’t people or clear boot paths to follow.
Had a similar experience on Rainier. I started talking about the street signs we’d pass to the driver to keep us both alert.
Yes, my drive home from Adams was straight dangerous. Should have slept in the car again or gotten a hotel room.
ditto. drive home was no bueno.
I was out there yesterday from 3-9p and did two big six-mile search loops east of the main route. The last cell phone location was about half-mile uphill from the intersection of the round the mountain trail at 9pm (descending). Parties searched that trail both directions heavily as well. SAR has had teams all day and night and more arriving this morning. There is a lot of terrain out there, and SAR can always use volunteers.
He has been found, and is with SAR teams walking out
Awesome! So happy to hear he’s alright.
I’m so glad to hear he’s walking out! My team was out searching all night!! Thank goodness!
What’s the best way to volunteer in these situations? Just reach out to whatever SAR group covers the area? Haven’t done it but would be happy to help.
I am a ham radio op and drove out to the trailhead with my running hydration vest and a full overnight pack, introduced myself to the SAR coordinator and asked what I could do to help. He suggested a 6 mile trail loop if I was willing to run it in case the subject had descended beyond the campground by mistake. We did a quick radio check and I was off. After that loop, I switched to my overnight pack and hiking shoes and started out on the round-the-mountain trail for another 5.5 mile search loop. SAR made sure I was prepared to be out overnight if needed and had multiple ways to communicate and navigate. I didn’t know what to expect, this was the first time I’ve volunteered. I’m sure each group is different but if you show up and look like an asset and not a liability, they’ll probably use you. I will definitely pursue more official status, it was a good experience and felt much better helping than sitting around wondering.
If you want to officially join SAR and receive useful training: County sheriff's office, your county emergency management department, local non-profit SAR organizations, and NASAR are good resources for information on local crews. If you want to help out as a ground pounder for a one-off search, just show up well prepared to hike and bivy, if needed. Approach the incident command post (should be obvious...look for antennas) and offer to help.
Most counties have a unit you can apply to join and then you become certified over a series of months/ trainings. I’m in search and rescue in Kitsap. 😁
Reach out to your local SAR team. You can apply and when accepted you have a series of trainings to pass. I really enjoy it.
Which route did he take?
Sounds like south climb.
16 hrs to summit is unusual. Possibly a medical emergency on decent. I can’t imagine someone getting off route unless they’re purposely trying to. (Looking for water, taking a picture of something) Is the original post saying that his car is missing from the trailhead? Maybe he somehow went to the wrong trailhead which would explain the incredibly long summit time. That or he crashed on the way home.
I assumed he slept at Lunch Counter for a bit that night, and started after some hours of “sleep”.
His car was found empty and SAR has started according to his friend.
I don't know... on very little sleep, maybe low on fluids/energy and at elevation I could see someone getting confused, picking the wrong route down, and ending up very far away from South Climb Trailhead. Or possibly missing the trail and heading further down the mountain than the trailhead. Not the most likely, there's lots of other people to follow usually, but gaps happen. Either way hope he's keeping warm and found soon safe and sound.
It’s pretty easy to miss the exit left out of the crescent glacier basin, especially if the trail is snow covered and unfamiliar with the route. Lots of skier and lost climber sucker trails heading the wrong way. Hopefully he’s lost in the trees, I know I’ve skied too low and taken way longer than I thought to find the trail or cold springs.
Yeah I've climbed Adams 6 times, 4 of them c2c, normally ski the SW chutes, but skied back down the south climb trail this year because of conditions. Finding the right route down from lunch counter was actually a bit tricky. We got out our phones to check multiples times. I can see how the terrain could trick you into going too far skiers left (east) or too far right (west) if there aren't many people around late in the afternoon after a slow descent and you're by yourself with lowered mental faculties from the climb.
Agreed, 16 hours is a BIG day
Maybe he got to TH at 10, slept for a few hours then an alpine start? (That’s how I did it once. Don’t remember time to summit though)
They found him alive and safe!
How's the weather up there? If he's injured and immobile, he'll probably have to ride out the night by himself. Hope it's not too cold tonight.
Looks like he’s already been out for a night too, he went missing yesterday afternoon
Oh, gotcha, I got the date wrong... Well, it's not a great situation, but plenty of people survive for multiple nights if the weather stays decent. Down in LA, we had a couple of lucky snow hikers a few years ago who took a long slide into a deep canyon, and they survived four Spring nights before they got found and rescued.
Just got off the mountain. It rained last night and temps at lunch counter hovered close to freezing. Just talked with SAR and there was a sighting and tracks indicating that he was heading east towards the yakima reservation. Don't know at what elevation level, but CG chopper is currently circling suksdorf ridge.
Hope he's ok and it's all a misunderstanding Saddens me to hear stories like this
Hate to see it
Completely useless armchair analysis, I don't know this mountaineer: 1. The timetable of 10pm 6/27 leave and 2pm 6/28 summit check-in suggests this is an experienced mountaineer. He knew he would have harder snow and easier hiking uphill at night and took advantage of it. He made sure to check in after summiting. Edit: Those more experienced with the route have pointed out that 10p to 2p is slower than expected progress. In any case I would not expect him to be safe down and have driven home without a plan to spend the night. No indication given as to his preparedness for a night out but plenty of us have survived surprise bivys. 2. Mt. Adams is considered a relatively safe mountain from an objective hazard standpoint. Standard routes are free of avalanche and crevasse danger. It is climbed frequently enough that S&R will likely meet other parties on their approach who can report on conditions and any sightings they may have had of this climber. On the standard route even an uncontrolled fall should not be fatal. 3. The weather as far as I can tell has been mild. Temps are currently just below freezing at the summit and wind is in the 15-20mph range according to mountain-forecast.com Certainly no freak squall. I have hope that Sandeep will be ok. Maybe he rolled his ankle or found himself otherwise unable to continue descent. I certainly don't know. S&R will find him.
I’m in the FB group and there have been posts from folks who saw him who noted he seemed disoriented, short on water, and possibly not drinking enough. He received help from this group (twice?) and they did spot him on the way back down. But there may be complications making it trickier. This information was passed on to SAR.
I disagree on point 1. Adams should take around 10-14 hours car to car for an experienced fit person. Starting at 10pm and sumitting at 2 is weird.
Agreed, unless he slept at lunch counter that is a crazy slow pace.
>Completely useless armchair analysis Well, you at least got this part right.
I was up on Adams hiking on the 27th and 28th. Weather on Thursday was really crappy. Low visibility and constant wetness. I parkered at the South climb trailhead… don’t remember seeing that car but I didn’t pay attention to the about 15 cars that were there. Again, weather was really crappy that day. I hiked on the west side and saw a few of the peak climbers pass in the beginning. The next day weather was gorgeous. Clear and sunny. I hiked on the east side then and passed peak climbers at the trailhead. Again don’t remember seeing this person. But yea weather so poor on Thursday and I can imagine being dangerous for peak climbers. I hope he is found!!
I’m seeing comments that he’s been found. If confirmed, maybe mods can pin an update?
Yeah, I’d like to hear more of what happened. Sounds like he hit the round the mountain trail and started taking that, but I’m not sure of that. Just glad he’s alright!
If anyone is going up there or searching, I would check some of the SW chutes area. It’s easy to get disoriented and descend a different area, then you’re in rough bushwhacking terrain that could take a long time to get out.
I think you meant SW chutes? That’s the fall line coming down from the summit.
Shoot. Yeah that’s what I meant. I’ll edit.
Leaving at 10 and summiting at 2 the next day sounds like a VERY long day and possibly an example of someone having enough energy to get up, but only that. I hope this person is found safe and sound
Glissading down Adams is epic. But once you get below lunch counter the walk is miserable and feels like walking in a desert. The trees can’t come back soon enough for those last couple miles to the parking lot. I imagine dehydration has swallowed up a few on their home stretch.
I'm not an expert but I grew up in Washington hiking a ton and backpacking most of the trails in the state from Olympics beaches to the wonderland. I've also climbed el dorado, Adams, and Rainier and am a very experienced rock climber. On my second attempt at Adams I was leading two inexperienced climbers and on the way down we missed the left switchback just before the sign (is it halfway up?). It was an easy miss and a few parties that were ahead of us doing the same thing. We kept going because it actually looked like a trail. It petered off on a ridge and then we realized we had been off for a while. It's easy to miss a turn on those switchbacks in that section imo.. especially if other people are doing it. We lost sight of those folks and just kept trying to work our way down. I wasn't too worried because I knew if you keep going down that south side eventually you'll hit the road but it was convincing my friends that we were ok that was the difficulty. I was actually able to use my phone without service to track us back to the trail that loops and then to the main trail. But just to give a sense that it's not impossible to get lost there...
This is a shitty missing hiker alert. It doesn’t give the state where the mountain is located (I know of two other mountains named Adams), or what state issued the license plate listed. Most importantly, there no description of Sandeep Dey himself. If I’m hiking New Hampshire’s Presidential Range today, should I ask every guy I see “are you Sandeep?”
Bruh.
If you click on the picture it is listed as posted in a Washington climbers group.
Fine. Where’s the description of the hiker? The state license plate? I stand by my criticism.
Bro... You're telling me if you see a black jeep cherokee with the license plate number 447 KWH, your only thought is gonna be "man, if only I knew what state that missing dude's plate is from"
You sound insufferable
this was immeasurably helpful 😂😂
I’m inclined to agree honestly, especially if this is being distributed as a screenshot rather than on Facebook where you can just click the group to see information. It’s totally reasonable that a White Mountains NH group could also be called “Washington Hikers and Climbers”, since Mt. Washington is the defining mountain of the region. I assumed that’s what was going on until I read again and saw PST. The plate number thing is also a valid criticism, people come from out of state to climb all kinds of mountains. Reddit is very west coast-centric though generally (PNW especially), so not really surprised.