I just found this video in youtube regarding heat exhaustion
and the consequences. The video shows a guy
trying to do rim to bottom to rim in the Grand Canyon. I did it before and I
found it very hard. Lucky me it was in April and in a cloudy day. I suffered before from heat exhaustion ( you
fried your brain )and it is really unpleasant if not dangerous. This guy got a
hot day maybe in August; he finally left the tent behind as he cannot carry it.
So carefully in So Cal in the pick times of those hot days, plenty water, electrolytes
and shadow.
I ran Rim to Rim to Rim (S.Rim to N.Rim and back) two years ago. It was October and it got to 95 degrees at Phantom Ranch.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it, but this guy looks like the Grand Canyon's "Poster Guy". People in his age range and fitness appearance are the ones who get into trouble the most in the Grand Canyon.
I am 52 years old, no six-pack abs, but I trained and educated myself from January 2012 through Sept. 2012 to do this 45 mile trail run and 11,000 feet (2 miles) of gain. (different trails than the one in the video - plenty of water along the way).
One note in the video, he says, I'm paraphrasing here: "well, I'm almost down and about halfway through with my water, so I have half left for the return." So, going downhill he consumed 1/2 his water supply, and he has to hike back up one vertical mile to get out on the same quantity of water. He could not recognize the fault in his logic - not because of heat exhaustion, but because of ego (I'm young and fit).
I have failed on way more adventures than I have succeeded on. My failures were my own decision to not attain the goal because of safety reasons.
I have been within 150 feet of 14,000 foot summits and turned away, after spending the better part of the day getting there. Why? Because I know when to turn around. I am not afraid of failure. Willing "Failure" can save your life, AND the lives of SAR people too. Yes, SAR people do sometimes die in the effort to rescue people.
I worked on the GC rescue helicopter for a short time and we picked up people like this all the time. It was serious business and like the previous poster we were risking our lives flying below the rim to get them. We were happy to do it, but some forethought from some of these folks would be nice.
ReplyDelete