Winter climbing story

I have gotten back into the groove of working out regularly. It is about time, I ran five and a half miles did a hundred pushups, sit-ups, dips, jumping jacks, and leg lifts. Not a super intense work out but it got the job done and during the whole workout I wore my Ruger LCP in a leather custom holster made by my dad. It worked amazing held the fire arm securely and was comfortable as well. I was reading an anthology of climbing survival stories and it made me think of some of my own funny survival stories. One of my favorites was a time when I was sitting at home and a friend called me up out of the blue. He said he was going to take a short trip to Colorado to climb some fourteeners. I asked him how much time he spent climbing and what all he knew and I said he was pretty experienced which in my youth was all the inquirey nessisary. I estimated my skills at medioce and his at expert so It avergaes out ok… I told myself. I was pretty young and my work schedule was flexible so what the hell I’m in. The trip was a week or two later just after Halloween (I remember this because I spent the 24hr drive from Columbus to Leadville stuffing my face with discounted Halloween candy). I spent hours and hours as always pouring over my gear and making sure I had made good choices for the high altitude and expecting a little snow this time of year. I packed my food and supplies into a small climbing pack and headed out to my friends house. The three of us He, I, and his dog a huge obedient loveable mutt were off in a rental car to Colorado. The drive was tedious and because I was younger I couldn’t drive the rental which made for a bit of a scary drive especially when you take into consideration the little Sebring was nearly pegged for the whole trip. We arrived in Leadville where we would stay with a friend of a friend and prepare for our trip. Somehow in the few hours we were in the state of Colorado both of us secured dates for the night (both of which also fell through). Woke up bright and early so we could park the car at the fish hatchery and start off into the wild. Stopping at the ranger station we asked a local ranger if he thought we would need snow shoes during this climb and he told us with the up most confidence that they would not be necessary almost as if it was a stupid question. I was overtaken by the landscape and was grinning ear to ear for the first few miles. We arrived at camp and I set up my oversized two person tent and for the first time during this adventure my smile faded and irritation set in. What the hell is that you are sleeping in I asked? My compadre replied it is a hammock tent, they are super light. I started to have a bad feeling in my gut after I informed him there would be no trees after the first day as we would be above the tree line and his reply was I never thought about that. I quickly forgot about it and enjoyed sitting by the fire and sharing stories. The weather was mild and we hung out in tea shirts. I woke the next morning and as I opened my eyes I noticed it was really dark. I told myself it must still be early I’ll pee and go back to sleep. When I went to open my tent door the entire tent was covered in feet of snow and it was sunny and bright out. I checked on my friend the now hanging Popsicle and he was freezing but managed. After a short breakfast in my tent we loaded up and headed for the first summit. It was bitter cold as we left the tree line we pushed up to around 13,000 feet to a flattened area and realized there was no way we could reach the summit in time my partner was growing week and light headed from dehydration. I pitched the tent and fetched some snow to melt into water. It nice to rest my feet for a bit after reaching altitudes I had never reached before. I used my white gas stove to prepare my dinner and I look over to see my friend had brought a canister stove which wouldn’t have been a problem but the canisters are filled at low altitudes so as you increase altitude the pressure decreases and the stove becomes worthless. With a reluctant and slow pace we made it to the top of my first fourteener I was excited but I could not describe how amazing it felt to be on top of the world. You could spin 360 degrees and take a post card worthy picture in any direction. Maybe it was the altitude or maybe it was just me being 19 or 20 but I thought the small roll up sled I brought would be a blast down the side of the mountain; and it was until I realized there are no brakes on a sled and I was quickly approaching a steep cliff with a few hundred foot drop. I jammed my hiking pole in-between some rock and bent it completely right angle but I slowed down enough to not make the front page of the local newspaper. We hiked down the back side of the mountain and as we agreed since I navigated to the mountain he could navigate back. We down climbed around 2,000 ft to an oasis in between the mountains where the sun hit us just right and the mountains shielded us from the harsh winds and snow. I sprawled out and took a short nap. I was awakened abruptly to find out that the dog had become lost and it was time to start searching for him. I was frustrated by the situation and after a few hours of searching I was convinced the dog had been eaten by a bear or fell down one of the steep sections of the mountain. All I could think about was how I hoped the dog was ok but that there was no way in hell I was caring a dead dog back to Leadville! We stumbled upon the pup uninjured and scared, I still am not quite sure why or how the dog got there but at least all was well and we could push on. We hiked a few more miles east, away from the fish hatchery and set camp. We were happy to rest and relieved to have the whole team back together. Exhausted we fell asleep fast. Waking up the next morning I look at my friend’s boots and I noticed his toes were going from pink to red and now a much darker color and feeling was beginning to be lost. The summer weight boots he had brought were full of melted snow and caused bad frost bite. Knowing that we would be trekking further through the cold this day I decided it was best if he did not warm his feet. Frost bite is caused when the blood and interstitial fluid in the skin actually crystallize due to freezing. Any movement in an attempt to rewarm will only cause further damage because the ice crystals will cut the skin. It is also important to note never warm a frost bitten skin area that will have a chance of re freezing as this will also cause further tissue damage. More snow had fallen in the violent storm that night so we marched through 3-4 ft of snow without snow shoes. We reached a section of wilderness and I asked to see the map. I attempted to locate our position but I was unable to pin point it. After hours of arguing and disagreeing on strategy for our return I found out that his entire plan was to follow the water back to civilization. I became heated; our entire navigation plan was based on some half ass advice to follow water back to civilization? Besides this advice came from the guy that said there was no chance we would need snow shoes! Civilization! I’m not trying to navigate to civilization I want to navigate back to the fish hatchery and we have been traveling in the wrong direction for hours. The rest of the trip followed in quite like a death march. I knew search crews would be alarmed if we did not arrive in town that afternoon as planed and I was unsure where we were but I knew we were nowhere near where we needed to be. We hiked through a section of pines and approached an opening in the wilderness a huge open plain. I was surprised and alarmed by this not knowing what to expect. It did not take me long to figure out I was alarmed for a reason. This was no meadow; it was the site of an avalanche from the night before and currently I was standing on snow covered fallen pines many feet off the ground. I lowered my center of gravity and lay on my belly to evenly distribute my weight. I looked up the steep slope and realized that neither the steep slope nor the fast moving creek bordering our position were options. We had to cross the fallen pines for about 100 yards to the forest ahead. You forget about anything that has made you frustrated or angry when you are faced with true danger. We both made it safely into the tree line and were e very relied to be on solid ground again. Upon re checking the map it was clear that we had traveled beyond the borders of our map and we were truly on our own. Reassessing the situation I thought The park ranger knows we are out here and that we should be back by now, I don’t have but a few granola bars left in my rations but I had survived three days before on less, and my climbing partners gear is soaked and hypothermia is setting in, in its earliest stages. I determined our situation to be screwed but not hopeless. We waded and wandered through the tall snow and came across a snow mobile trail and using the basic information we had and taking an educated guess at our location we decided to head South on the snow mobile trail. The trail gave us a since of civilization which brightened our spirits and gave us a sense of security even though in the back of our heads we knew the possibility of this trail going on for miles and leading nowhere was very much a reality. My friend asked, and I am not sure if this was a joke or not if I would get in a sleeping bag with him to warm him. All I could think about was if you are warm enough to mumble out those words you are too warm for that. I mean if it came down to life or death I wouldn’t hesitate to help someone but I’m not explaining that story to my other friends. We hiked along and with the hope of warm pizza and dry cloths our pace quickened; the snow turned to slush; and the sun was getting much lower in the horizon then I would have liked. I spotted a cabin and ran full speed with excitement toward it. Thoughts of hot chocolate and maybe a ride to town danced through my head. These fantasies were quickly stomped out when I noticed no tire tracks in the driveway and no vehicle in sight. These cabins were seasonal and this dirt road impassable. We must have traveled another 6 or 8 miles before we actually saw a road. We marched down the road yelling and trying to push each other to keep going. Just after we had shared the last of our food rations I saw a house, not a cabin, or a lodge, a real house with a truck parked by it. I walked to the front door and knocked loudly and a young woman approached the door very hesitantly. She asked us what we wanted and seemed both scared and irritated by our presence. I explained the cliff notes of our predicament to her and she seemed very unsympathetic. I apologized for bothering her and asked her how far we were from the fish hatchery and she gave us the devastating news that it was close to 20 miles away. I slowly walked back toward the end of the driveway when I heard the door open again, it was her. She decided she could give us a ride but since she didn’t trust us and she was a woman alone in the back country she wanted us to ride in the bed of the truck. I told her I didn’t care if she pulled us behind the truck on skis along as we made it back to Leadville. She warmed up to us a bit talking to us during the drive through the little glass window between the bed and the cab of the truck. We arrived at the rental car and the trip had come to an end. I was sure that by the end of the trip we would die or at least I would kill my friend but we were out of the wilderness and cranking the heater full tilt as we returned to civilization. The return ride home I decide three things that I would write a letter to that lady thanking her for her rescue which I did. Next kick the ass of that park ranger for telling us we wouldn’t need snow shoes, which I didn’t do. And finally I would be much more selective in choosing my partners for trips which thus far I have done ok with.


Does anyone have any good survival stories or maybe just a good adventure story from their travels? Share it as a comment!  Also pictures of the holster to come soon later today.