New York, Mt. Marcy

Publication Year: 1958.

New York, Mt. Marcy—On 25 November 1956 a party of three set out on a winter climb from Lake Colden over Mt. Marcy down over Little Haystack to Snow Bird Leanto and return. This was a total distance of 12 miles and 6000 feet of ascent and descent. The weather was cold and there was much deep snow on the trail. After a short distance one of the party dropped out. The other two, Timothy Bond and Norman Nisson (28), continued the trip on snowshoes. Nisson had never been on snowshoes before. Apparently on the return during the descent from the cone of Marcy, Nisson became completely exhausted, and collapsed at 7 P.M. Bond carried him a short distance but realized he could not carry him far. He placed Nisson in a single down bag at timberline and went for help at Lake Colden, 4¼ miles away.

The rescue party found Nisson’s body the next morning at 1 A.M. Nisson had partially crawled out of the bag and had been frozen to death. Temperature was estimated at 20°F below zero.

Source: the Ad-i-ron-dac 21: 26, 1957; Kimball Hart

Analysis: Any trip into remote country in winter weather must have as a minimum four trained, healthy persons in excellent physical condition. They must be properly equipped and prepared to camp out for several days. This implies sleeping bags, tent, food, and extra clothing. Winter climbing must not be compared with summer hiking. What might take one or two hours in the summer over a trail may require more than 7 or 8 hours, under winter conditions, even with snowshoes. Another point made by Hart is most interesting: “Of course by hindsight one can say he (Nisson) should have been roped to his sleeping bag. Bond could not have been expected to anticipate the consequences of the delirium that we have twice seen come to exhausted winter mountaineers.”