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Michelle
Gym climber
Marklar
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Oct 22, 2004 - 02:07am PT
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Is Pete actually in the Valley right now or is he trolling?
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Link
Trad climber
Yosemite, CA
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Oct 22, 2004 - 03:14am PT
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Hey guys, sorry for the lack of info recently, obviously we've had our hands full the last few days. This is just a quick post to follow Werner's. We (park service) are headed back up to the top of El Cap tomorrow morning to rescue a party off Salathe, at which point everyone will be down off the wall.
We pulled Dave off Wednesday, Tom and Eric today, and recovered the bodies of the Japanese party off the Nose this afternoon.
I'll post much more soon, it's been an intense few days with some of the worst weather I've seen on the Captain.
More soon,
-Link
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ricardo
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Oct 22, 2004 - 05:27am PT
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I pulled this article from the website www.yosemitefun.com .. it quotes dave and lober ..
--------------------- (From www.yosemitefun.com)
Two Japanese climbers die on El Cap.
Two climbers died of exposure Wednesday during the recent raging storm. Their bodies will be recovered today.
From the Fresno Bee (10/21/04): "The Yosemite deaths occurred on El Capitan, the park's most famous granite. Keith Lober, the park's search and rescue manager, had been keeping a wary eye on the two climbers since the storms began. After two days of not moving, he saw they began to climb. "It told me they were desperate to move in this weather. We started rescue operations."
In torrential rain Tuesday, rescuers set up a loudspeaker system in a meadow facing El Capitan and tried to contact climbers on the wall. The Japanese team didn't answer. Others were in need of rescue.
Dave Turner, 22, had been on the wall for 17 days. A year-round Yosemite climber, he was well-prepared and in radio contact. For three days as the storm pounded, he said "no" when friends asked whether he needed rescue. He was 100 feet from the top of a 3,000-foot climb on a route only four other people have completed.
But when the young Japanese climbers he'd met earlier didn't answer calls, his resolve broke.
"I was soaked. I wasn't going to make it much longer," he said.
Yosemite rescue workers hiked 11 miles in driving snow Tuesday to the top of El Capitan to lower themselves on ropes to reach Turner and pull him to the summit. When the storm cleared enough, a helicopter brought him down.
On Wednesday, he walked off the helicopter. His hands were damp and cold. A rescue worker handed him a plastic cup of hot chocolate that he held with reverence. He said it was only the thought of a hot shower that had kept him hopeful.
"I'm luckier than some," Turner said. "I got off the wall."
Lober flew close enough to the Japanese team to see their bodies were stiff and covered with ice.
About 30 rescuers were camping on the top of El Capitan on Wednesday night. Today, they plan to rescue another team of climbers and recover the bodies of the climbers who died.
No further details were available about the identities of the remaining stranded"
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Mei
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Oct 22, 2004 - 11:28am PT
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The caption of the photo in this CNN article reads "An emergency worker assists in the rescue of a hiker stranded on the face of El Capitan."
Condolences to the friends and family of the Japanese couple. Could they be the same couple I met at Cookie on Oct 9th? Regardless, it was a very sad tragedy.
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WBraun
climber
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Oct 22, 2004 - 09:51pm PT
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All Salathe parties are now down and one party was rescued today, friday, from the Salathe headwall.
Werner
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The Wolf
Trad climber
East SF Bay Area
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Oct 22, 2004 - 10:46pm PT
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Climb along side a Japanese couple for two days Oct 4-6 on South Face of Wash Column. Shared water and a few belays. Nice folks. I think his name was Hiro and hers something like Mirika. Anyone know the names of the deceased on El Cap. I'm guessng it was my "friends", they seemed very determined to do walls.
Wolf
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Oct 25, 2004 - 04:50pm PT
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Wolf, it's likely could have been your friends. I heard the Nose was their second wall and SFWC was their first.
I was in the meadow with the YOSAR team when the bull horn was first used. I could hear them scream for help.
Unfortunately it was to late...
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dougs510
Trad climber
Nashville, TN.
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Oct 25, 2004 - 06:02pm PT
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It's a hostile place up there. I remember sitting in the meadow, and thinking the cap would go "easy". RIGHT. It's like being on another planet (at least it was for me) on a fine day in the valley. I can only imagine how trecherous it must be up there in whiteout conditions.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Oct 26, 2004 - 12:43am PT
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I was unaware of the deaths of the Japanese climbers until told so by the TV dude during an interview - I was amazed and shocked to say the least! They were only a few pitches from the top - why didn't anyone go save them?!
When he learned of this later, Leo said to me with great sadness,
"If we had only known they were up there, a few of us could have jugged up the East Ledges and dropped 'em a rope...."
Please don't misunderstand me - I am not saying anything negative about the rescuers who stick their necks not only on but well over the line, but can someone like Werner or Link please explain to us why nobody was up there sooner to save those poor buggers? The weather was likely to poor to fly the helicopter, but couldn't some YOSAR guys have gotten up there somehow? Jugging the East Ledges? Hiking the Falls Trail? Coming in from Tamarack Flat?
Thoughts?
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burp
Trad climber
Salt Lake City
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Oct 26, 2004 - 02:27pm PT
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Howdy,
My heartfelt condolensces go out to the families and friends of the victims. ganbatte kudasai.
On a happier note, pleased that everyone else made it off safely. An answer to many prayers I'm sure.
Kudos to all the hard work and training that YOSAR was able to put to good use.
I was in the valley until tuesday (10/19) afternoon. Decided to head home due to the rain/snow and the huge detour I would need to take to get home to Utah. Maybe I should have hung around a couple of days longer ... sounds like I could have had the priveledge of meeting many of you.
Mike
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David Nelson
climber
San Francisco
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Oct 26, 2004 - 07:05pm PT
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Someone above(nameless unless you want to look)commented "Darwin" about the Japanese climbers who died. Not very appropriate on this thread, given the lack of info and the possibility that loved ones might read. While much is speculation, some is not. I am sure you all have read Tommy Thompson's excellent TR on this site. He states:
"The storm packed unrelenting fury for nearly 4 continuous days. I felt like we were in a row boat in the middle of north Atlantic hurricane. We had the best ledge money could buy ,a A5 cliff cabana with a 4 season fly. The fly is more of a tent that encompasses the whole ledge. Even though I truly believe that this system attributed to our survival, more than once Erik and I thought the winds were going shred it apart right in front of our eyes. We had not a single dry item to our name."
We do not know what equipment the Japanese climbers had, and are all eagerly awaiting Link's or Werner's comments and insights. But we do know that the weather was atrocious and any one of us would have been in serious condition after several days, so let's be easy on the climbers until we get more data.
It seems that the best beta to come of this is have good equipment and the ability to communicate with those on the ground. Given its importance, it needs to be backed up. Each of you should have a cell phone and/or walkie talkie.
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Holdplease2
Trad climber
All over
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Oct 26, 2004 - 07:18pm PT
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Regarding cell phone: AT&T digital/analog (NOT GSRM) seems to be the best on EC, according to consensus.
However, folks who have contracts with other carriers may not want to break their contract/switch services/pay for a second contract.
AT&T now has "prepaid" phones, where you can buy minutes and use them as needed. The phone/charger/earphone and $10 of minutes costs $100. You can add minutes using the phone. The minutes aren't cheap, but they are cheaper than a year-long contract on a phone which is used for emergency only. No free evenings and weekends.
Additionally, for those with AT&T digi/analog phones...using the analog tower in the valley will really drain your battery fast when talking...much faster than you are used to.
Rather than having to purchase a spare battery ($50+), you can go to Radio Shack and get whats called "cell boost" which will give you 60 minutes of talk time under normal circumstances, less on ec due to analog service. These are only $8-$10 each and are more cost effective than a spare battery in the long run.
Anyway, just another communication device to consider, though 2 way radios may be the best/cheapest alternative if you have a "ground crew" who will be checking on you.
-Kate.
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ricardo
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Oct 26, 2004 - 07:28pm PT
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The NPS Daily Report has released the names of the deceased ..
Quoted from the Daily Report --
"The two deceased Japanese climbers were taken off the rock on Thursday. They were taken to the Mariposa County Coroner's Office, where they were identified as Mariko Ryugo, 27, and Ryoichi Yamanoto, 26. The cause of death was deemed hypothermia. Ryugo and her climbing partner Yamanoto were from Hyogo, Japan, and were visiting Yosemite with two friends."
 ricardo
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Oct 26, 2004 - 07:50pm PT
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David, I talked with friends of the Japanesse. On Tuesday I hung out with the fella (no idea how to spell his name) who helped them prepare for the Nose, while he called up to them with the megaphone.
It was their first grade VI. Earlier on their trip they had done the SF of WC. They had Sleeping Bags, Bivi Sacs and a stove, but no portaledge.
They didn't have any way to communicate, but we heard their cries for help on Tuesday. (the artical posted by ricardo is wrong, I heard her along with several YOSAR members.)
I heard they had been on the route for 4 or 5 days before the storm came.
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Tokyo-komachi
Trad climber
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Oct 26, 2004 - 08:08pm PT
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If you wish to send your prayers and condolences to the familes of Ryoichi Yamamoto and Mariko Ryugo, this address may do it - mail@yamakaze.net. Ryoichi Yamamoto established his outdoor school called "Yamakaze" only six month ago, and through his website, he talked how excited he was about the upcoming Yosemite trip and the Big Wall, and, they were going to have a Yosemite slideshow in November to share their expeience ..., I don't know them personally, but, cannot stop thinking why their trip had to end like this.
Since they stayed in the Valley from 9/24, many of you might have met them out there......
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burp
Trad climber
Salt Lake City
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Oct 27, 2004 - 03:01pm PT
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Howdy,
Since Tokyo-komachi added the e-mail for friends and family of the two victims ... I thought I would add a couple of links from the Yamakaze website to help us all get an idea who these folks were:
Ryoichi - http://yamakaze.net/reohome/reotopFrameset.html
(click on the the link next to "Link" for a fun slideshow. Looks like this if supertopos and your computer shows Japanese characters スライドショー（復活！！）)
Mariko - http://yamakaze.net/yamakaze/nonffame/spstaff.html
(The staff member with the three pictures on the left is Mariko - backcountry skiing, climbing, helping little girl with harness)
Anyway, it's nice to have something more to go along with the names.
--Mike
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