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micronut
Trad climber
fresno, ca
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I am so sorry to hear this. I was hoping for a good outcome and another war story to hear around the campfire. Sincere condolences.
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Mark Rodell
Trad climber
Bangkok
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It is sad.
I have climbed Shasta over fifty times, had to back off a few times.
Took many tries to get up in Winter and when we did summit that winter day I saw horizontal icicles six foot round where they met the rock, extending out twenty feet. Skied down many times, wow, the best. Shasta is a fine mountain.
I hope the family gains some comfort from knowing that he had many friends, many of whom he'd never met.
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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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God Bless these boys. That had to be one long trip down the mountain for Mark. Knowing he may not see his partner alive again and focusing on his own survival, and luckily finding rescue in fierce coonditions. Rest in peace Tom.
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cleo
Social climber
Berkeley, CA
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Posting on behalf of Mark from Facebook and Summitpost, I think he'd like the community to read this - here is the statement from Mark and the Bennett family.
..............................................................
Dear friends,
Today the Bennett family released an official statement describing the events of this past weekend. Much of it is what I've recounted, with additions made by Tom's girlfriend, Kirstie, and Tom's family. This should set straight much of the inaccuracies and inconsistencies of previous media reports. I have it copied below. Please share this with others as it is the wish of the family that it is widely shared inside and outside of the news outlets.
Also, I talked with a reporter at the SFGate/SF Chronicle who will be printing a nice and sensitive story about the tragedy. I have followed up with him to ensure that the story is within the spirit of how Tom would want it to be shared with the public. I believe it should be put out tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Mark Thomas
------------------------------
Mark Thomas and the family of Thomas Bennett would like to share information about the two young men and detail their days climbing Mount Shasta here in Siskiyou County this past week. Both Mark Thomas and Thomas Bennett are very experienced climbers who shared a love of the outdoors and found great joy in scaling the mountains of North America. Bennett’s father told us that his son, Thomas Bennett was a chemical engineer and chemist who graduated from university in Vancouver, British Columbia, and had worked as a Process Engineer for a mining company about 500 miles south of LaPaz, Bolivia near San Cristobal in the Andes Mountain. There he worked at very high elevations and had never experienced any problems with the altitude. He said his son had a genuine love for the outdoors and a passion for mountain climbing and that he understood the risks, and as such, took all appropriate precautions to deal with those risks. Thomas Bennett most recently lived and worked in Oakland, California area and was amazed at wonderment of Yosemite National Park and spent as much time there as he could. Mark Thomas said that he has climbed Mount Shasta numerous times and has also climbed Denali (Mount McKinley) in Alaska with an elevation of 20,320 feet.
Mark said both he and Tom had purchased mountain summit passes in advance. He said they had left a detailed trip itinerary and maps of their expected camps and routes with friends which is their standard practice when traveling in an area with wilderness permits. They left the Bay Area on Thursday, March 25, and said that as late as Thursday, the avalanche and weather forecasts did not include any warnings of severe weather and that wind speeds were estimated to be moderate on the mountain. Mark Thomas said he has since learned that the mountain was closed to climbers due to hazardous weather on Saturday but since they had been on the remote north side of the mountain since Thursday night, March 25, they did not know of the closure or the change in the weather forecast. Mark said he realizes that the mountain makes its own weather and that they were observant of any changes in the forecast.
They both had a map of the area as well as a compass and an altimeter for navigation in darkness or stormy conditions. They arrived in Mount Shasta Thursday afternoon and spent the night at the trailhead at an elevation of about 5,000 feet before heading out from the car at 5:00 a.m. on Friday on snowshoes. They made camp at an elevation of 9,800 feet at the base of Bolam Glacier and ascended the Bolam Glacier to the top returning to their advanced camp that night. Mark said it was a long day with 4,800 feet of climbing carrying 50 pounds packs followed by another 4,000 feet of roped glacier climbing. He said Tom climbed strongly and showed no signs of being sensitive to the effects of altitude.
On Saturday, March 27, they left their camp at the 9,800 foot elevation with plans to climb the icefall variation of the Whitney Glacier. They brought along crevasse self-rescue gear, snow anchors and ice anchors in addition to their other climbing gear and traveled roped together for safety from crevasse falls as they had the day before on the Bolam Glacier. They had planned to climb only as high as the main icefall and if conditions seems safe and it was early enough in the day, they would attempt to summit…otherwise they would descend the glacier to their advanced camp. Mark Thomas said the glacier was windy but not dangerously so as his anemometer read winds sustained at 20 to 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 35 to 40 miles per hour. He said the wind was annoying but nothing extreme compared to conditions he had often experienced on winter climbs far above tree line. They decided to summit late in the day and then descend the Whitney-Bolam Ridge in the dark. He said apparently Shastina and the sub-summit above the west face of the mountain were blocking the worst of the wind as the winds on the ridge were sustained at a speed strong enough to make it nearly impossible to stand and there was not much time left in the day. They decided their best option was to spend the night on the sub-summit at a protected site below some rocks and descend at first light as they had the clothing and gear necessary to safely spend the night at that location. They thought if the winds were better, they would descend the Whitney-Bolam Ridge on the north side of the mountain. If the winds were not better, or if during the night either of them showed any signs of hypothermia or altitude ailments, they would descend the Avalanche Gulch route on the southwest side of the mountain.
They dug a shelter and throughout the night talked and asked each other how they were feeling to help catch any signs of hypothermia or altitude sickness since they did recognize these as potential health risks. Mark Thomas said Tom Bennett was fine and alert all night. In the morning the winds had decreased and the skies were clear, however, when they began to break camp to descend Tom suddenly began experiencing several symptoms of what Mark Thomas describes as acute high altitude sickness. Within minutes he said Tom reported an inability to see well and could barely stand or put on his crampons. They both immediately attempted to descend Avalanche Gulch but Tom Bennett deteriorated quickly and could no longer walk. Mark Thomas said the winds had shifted and very coming at very high speeds. He said he helped Tom back to their protected bivvy and then used his cell phone to dial 9-1-1 to call for search and rescue, however, the cold conditions had killed the batteries on his phone and he was barely about to get out the rescue call before his phone failed. He said the clouds were moving in quickly and the winds were increasing so he dug a snow cave in preparation for a longer stay on the summit. He said he moved Tom into the snow cave to get him out of the blowing snow and there his deteriorating condition accelerated until there was no response from his climbing partner. He said he attempted CPR but was unable to revive Bennett and was fearful Bennett had succumbed to this medical emergency. Mark Thomas said once that he was certain there was nothing more he could do for his friend, he attempted to use his cell phone again managing to warm it enough to report their situation to search and rescue. He said he decided that he had to leave before the weather totally prevented him from making it off the mountain and it was only then that he left Tom Bennett in an attempt to get off the mountain while he still could with the deteriorating weather.
Both Mark Thomas and the Bennett family would like to express their sincere appreciation to everyone who participated in any way in the search and rescue operation these past days. The Bennett family is overwhelmed with gratitude during this most difficult time. They have asked that if anyone feels the need to express their condolences through a donation or contribution that the contribution be given to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Fund at 305 Butte Street, Yreka, CA 96097, to be used in the furtherance of helping another family in the future with a lost or injured loved one here in Siskiyou County. The Bennett family thought perhaps they would be able to speak with the media but find they are unable to do so at this time and asked that this statement be released on their behalf.
Everyone at the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, the U. S. Forest Service Mountain Rangers, Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers and the pilots and crews of the three helicopters who assisted in the search for Thomas Bennett would like to express our deepest sympathies and send our thoughts and prayers to the Thomas Bennett family.
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Boymeetsrock
Trad climber
the east
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What a tragedy. So very sorry to see this turn out as it did.
I wish Mark and Tom's family and friends peace as they move on. RIP Tom.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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both you fellas deserve a hug
for being so very brave.
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James Doty
Trad climber
Idyllwild, Ca.
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A well written after action report. Moving. I hurt for the friends and family.
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cliffhanger
Trad climber
California
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A sad and tragic outcome.
Perhaps volcanic gasses played a role in the mystery. Carbon dioxide can kill and the summit of Shasta is very active with many fumaroles. And since CO2 reduces the oxygen available for cellular respiration, it would increase the possibility of edema.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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My condolences to the Bennett family and Tom's friends.
A sad conclusion.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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thanks for posting that cleo, excellent information on what happened.
Certainly it is human nature to speculate on the details of these accidents, it is a lot easier to understand and explain to people around us when we actually have the real story.
My condolences to the friends and family of the fallen climber.
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Footloose
Trad climber
Lake Tahoe
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Very sad. Condolences to Tom's family and friends and to Mark.
"I would really appreciate it if someone could refer me to or connect me with a knowledgeable doctor or researcher on the subject of high altitude ailments, neural ailments, etc. with whom I can go over in detail all of the symptoms and their rough timelines between the sudden appearance of symptoms in Tom and his death."
Mark's account upthread made me wonder along similar lines. Perhaps someone with experience or expertise, perhaps on another thread, could further elaborate on this shockingly quick "sudden appearance of symptoms" (as in Tom and Mark's case) as this could be of benefit to those like me who've had no experience with it.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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I'm so sorry for what you're going through, Mark and friends.
Dr. Sue Hopkins at UCSD studies altitude sickness and is climber and Taco participant. Mark might try to speak w/ her.
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matisse
climber
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I'd be happy to have Mark contact me about altitude stuff. If one of his friends pms me I can send them my email to forward to him.
Sue
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Scared Silly
Trad climber
UT
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Sad outcome for sure.
In one interview with an altitude doc his off the cuff comment was that the signs and symptoms did not sound like an altitude related incident but a pulmonary embolism. Which given they were lying/sitting around in a cramped snow cave for a fair amount of time and then when the weather broke they were moving about and the clot broke off and caused the blockage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_embolism
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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one day i will climb a mountain,
and the mountain will die on me.
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Double D
climber
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This is very sad indeed. My condolances to Tom's family, friends and Mark for their loss.
Stuff happens. From the accounts it's just one of those very fast, freakish deals. I remember Java (Greg Childs) writing about a climbing partner (Dr.)dieing very suddenly at altitude.
It sounds as if no amount of preperation could have altered the results.
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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God bless them, and their families and friends.
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R.B.
climber
..
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Whenever the climbing community experiences a loss like this, we are all equal in the feelings of loss.
My condolences.
R.B.
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