New Hampshire, Mt. Washington (1)—On February 21, a Harvard Mountaineering Club party was climbing in Huntington’s Ravine. The party consisted of W. L. Clarke (21), leader, Oakes Plimpton (22), Keith Kernez, Leif Patterson, and Boyd Everett.

Weather conditions were usual for this time of year, but were nevertheless severe. It was not snowing, but temperatures at the summit for that day were under minus 15° F, wind 60 mph. Climbing conditions were considered safe. There was considerable snow in the ravine and gully, but apparently no avalanche danger. It was felt by the leader that the weather was questionable, but that it was good enough to permit climbing in the gully for a few hours, though he did not contemplate an ascent of the entire gully. This initial decision was probably justified. It should have been adhered to, especially in view of the limited strength and experience of several of the members, particularly in arctic conditions, and in view of the lack of adequate equipment in several cases. Although standard quality mountaineering equipment was carried or worn by all members, many of the items were adequate only for summer mountaineering. Several members had rather tight boots, and the injured wore a lightweight pair of summer climbing boots and had no face mask. He used only a borrowed scarf, for face protection. Several events apparently led to this accident.

The party had driven from Boston to Mt. Washington the previous night, and then had proceeded to climb to the HMC Cabin, nearly 2000 feet above the road. The injured had not gone to bed until approximately 3:45 a.m. of the same day of the accident. The party arose again at about 7:00 a.m. and left the cabin at about 8:30 a.m. after an adequate breakfast. They reached the ravine at around 10:30 a.m. At that time it was snowing lightly and there was a moderate wind. Plimpton and one other man changed from ski boots to climbing boots at this time. The party, on a rope of two and one rope of three proceeded to climb at the north gully.

Progress was slow and Plimpton, the last man, moved only about 50 feet in the first one and a half hours.

Lunch was inadequate, and no one ate much of anything during the entire day.

The weather began to deteriorate. The men checked each other’s faces five or six times during the day. They continued to climb until around 4:00 p.m. in spite of the weather. They rappelled to the bottom of the ravine where Plimpton was again idle for approximately one and a half hours. The party left the gully at 6:00 p.m. and descended to the bottom of the ravine where Plimpton and Clarke again put on their ski boots. Plimpton’s hands were too numb to function effectively and another member had to help him on with his boots. Even so, it appears that they were not properly laced and they filled with snow on the trip down and came off several times.

During the descent to the cabin, Plimpton removed his left glove and attempted to brush the crusted ice off his face. Rather than put his glove back on which would have taken several minutes, he put his hand in his pocket where it remained for 15 minutes or so before he again donned the glove. At this time, he noticed that his hand was white. On arriving at the cabin at 9:00 p.m. he immersed the hand in lukewarm water which caused such intense pain that he had to stop after two or three minutes. Because of the frostbitten hand, two other members accompanied him down to the road on skis and he was taken to the North Conway Hospital, which he reached at 2:00 a.m. the following morning. It was not until this time that he first noticed that his toes were also frostbitten. Plimpton was hospitalized for 9 days in Boston.

Source: Tom O. Nevison, W. L. Clarke, Oakes Plimpton.

Analysis: The leader, W. L. Clarke, feels that three mistakes were made. (1) It was a mistake not to turn back earlier despite the eagerness of some of the members to continue. (2) It was a mistake, probably, to ski to Huntington Ravine and then change into climbing boots. As a result the ski boots were cold and frozen at the time of their return.

It was a mistake not to inspect Plimpton’s feet once the party had arrived at the cabin, although the damage to the feet had probably been done at this time.

We can probably add that standards of physical condition and quality of clothing and equipment for winter mountaineering should be much higher than ordinarily accepted for summer climbing in the same area. While the leader should be generally aware of the condition of each member of his party at any time, each man has a responsibility to the party of informing the leader when he is unusually cold or tired. The lack of sleep, inadequate lunch, inactivity of the injured, and his marginal clothing combined to cause a serious result in this case. For frostbite to develop, there must be an over-all heat deficit in the body, combined with localized chilling of the extremity. Had the injured man been active all day, he might have avoided frostbite in spite of chilled hands and feet.