It’s amazing going at it alone. Completely different.

Like diving, it should always be done with at least one partner. I’ll still whisper under my breath... do it once by yourself.

The LD50 for falls is, to a very rough approximation, about 50 feet. So the fact she perished after a 65 foot fall is not surprising -- even if the proximate cause of death was hypothermia rather than trauma (if nothing else the traumatic effects of the fall would likely have impeded her ability to stave off hypothermia).

Before she became popular on social media. Article says the bikini originally came about from a lost bet.

and people of all skill levels and genders can perish while climbing or hiking. One presumes she wasn’t actually hiking in her bikini, so I fail to see the significance.

She went out doing what she loved.

Leaving her friends and their family without their daughter, sister, etc., that they presumably loved, while doing something unnecessarily reckless.

Every time I hear that hoary old bromide, I have to laugh. It's even more ridiculous when the deceased has a family of their own.

and apparently did not keep anyone updated about her location. Not only did she put herself at risk, but then her rescuers were put at risk as well.

Sorry, but I'm not fond of people who take foolish risks, get themselves into trouble and have to be rescued. I had a diving instructor who almost died trying to recover the bodies of 2 divers who insisted on going into an underwater cavern that was off limits.

She was experienced and well prepared and even carried an emergency beacon. I live near Mt. Washington and every year a dozen or more are rescued who climb a mountain known to have some of the most severe weather in the world and are found without a single piece of gear-no map, no compass, no water, not even a spare sweater or jacket. And that passes for just poor luck or accidents. And I have worked as an emergency crewman and nobody blames the victim if a rescuer is injured-you signed up for it, you were trained and equipped-you are a pro and the risks are baked in. Anyone who wishes can live their lives without a single iota of extra risk but I pity those that choose to.

There was never a question of where she was.

It was her life to live, not her loved ones'.

these people are just reckless and deserve what they get, right?

Adventure carries risks.

What’s your idea of adventure? CNN on a busy night?

The bikini was only at the end. I’d fault her more for taking the pictures in dangerous positions more than the bikini.

Nice that you call her a whore. Real progressive of ya, bud.

I bet he would not even have been able to keep up with her. Cannot believe some of the comments in this thread.

Yawn.

your post reads more like hoary bromide.

The assumptions here are just sad.

That defined her.

It's not as if she was running around on glaciers in a bikini with no particular skills or knowledge relevant to mountain climbing.

At the very least she should have let people know where she was going. Maybe then it wouldn't have taken days to find her. The same lesson was learned by Aron Ralston of 127 Hours fame.

She had an emergency beacon. Weather prevented getting in close enough to spot her and initiate a rescue landing.

Come on, man.

Same with the poster who called her a whore.

Neither could probably come close to completing the hikes she accomplished.

It was nickname for her blog. Did you read the story?

She knew the risks.

RIP.

Eom.

Last edited Tue Jan 22, 2019, 01:10 AM - Edit history (1)

And prepared for emergencies?

Um, yeah.

That's several hundred right there and it only has one purpose - send your location to rescuers.

Casual outdoor people generally don't have them as it's a big cost, you have to carry it around and has no other purpose except for when things at their worst.

accidents.

Plus all the required equipment.

She was probably more prepared than 98% of climbers.

It can be moderately dangerous, but a quick trip down the freeway to pick up the morning bagels can be risky as well.

She saw some great places and enjoyed some excitement. That doesn’t seem like a stupid game at all.

And lived over a decade in Alaska. I have spent years in the back country. No, you don't go into the bush alone. You just don't do it. Just like you don't put your hand in a place you can't see in rattlesnake country and you don't drive a tractor with the loader up high.

Wanting to see what is at the top of a hill or the end of a trail is part of the human condition.

I would love to be afforded that much time to hike mountains.

in a bikini at the top of mts. She fell while hiking and died.

Why be nasty? What "lesson" is to be learned?

Lots of people hike mountains. So she had a gimmick to get fans to follow her? How's that a bad thing? Something deserving of the derision she's getting here?

Nobody said she was hiking mountains IN a bikini.

On a discussion board to be the pinnacle of human endeavor. Anything else is selfish and contemptible.

People, male and female, love to hate a woman. Once you realize that, a lot of things begin to make sense.

I can’t imagine such total lack of empathy being displayed if a male hiker who did the equivalent had been killed while hiking.

Spot on.

I don't know why you wrote "What is the purpose of posting this"?

Worthy read in my opinion.

Bales watched as the clouds above her continued to drop lower, obscuring her vision. She felt confined — and she noticed something. She stared at a single set of footprints in the snow ahead of her. She’d been following faint tracks in the snow all day but hadn’t given them much thought because so many people climb the Jewell Trail. She fixated on the tracks and realized they had been made by a pair of sneakers. She silently scolded the absent hiker who had violated normal safety rules and walked on.

https://www.unionleader.com/nh/outdoors/footprints-in-the-snow-lead-to-an-emotional-rescue/article_482a2e0f-e725-5df6-9e7c-5958bdb272e5.html

Amazing story! I am so glad I read it.

She seemed to love life. She was adventurous and daring. If the weather had been better they could have rescued her. It’s very sad.

RIP wanderer.

All of the pics I've seen of her at the tops of the mountains show her wearing either flip flops or rubber rain boots/wellies. I hope she wasn't hiking in those!