SoSHR: Helmet for Mountaineers’ Route?

[TFTF]

For anyone searching on this topic later, we ended up reaching out directly to someone who had done the route. Her take was that a helmet would have been nice to have on the Mountaineers' Route (for rockfall from other climbers) and also for the west side of Russell/Carillon Col, but that carrying them on the whole SoSHR "would be a lot." We decided to take them. We ended up getting lucky and having the MR completely to ourselves (no one above or below), but were still glad we had them for peace of mind.

[balzaccom]

Thanks for taking the time to get back with that report!

[giantbrookie]

Sorry I was too late to contribute to this thread before the actual trip but, for folks thinking about the MR in the future I thought I'd offer my own experience from 52 years ago. That my rockfall experience on that route was terrifying is one of the reasons the climb is so strongly etched into my memory, so if I ever did it again, me and whomever I was with would wear a climbing helmet.

It was September 1970 and not a speck of snow was present in the chute. Our group of 7 (my mom, dad, younger bro, plus aunt and two cousins) ascended from Iceberg L. On ascent and descent we were the only ones in the chute. We were in the middle of the chute on the ascent when the cry of "rock" rang out from above on the East Buttress. There was this eerie echoing sharp "crack....crack......crack" sound of a rock bouncing and striking rock. We couldn't tell exactly where the rock was coming from so we flattened ourselves against a part of the south wall of the chute that was vertical so anything coming down at us would sail over our heads. The rock entered the chute somewhere below us and we breathed a sigh of relief. Later as we neared the top of the chute we again heard a cry of "rock". This time a somewhat lower pitched sound of a larger rock bouncing and busting up stuff rumbled in the air. Once again neither visual nor audio could determine the path of the rock and we flattened ourselves against a vertical to overhanging south wall. I then watched as a boulder, somewhere in the 2-3 foot diameter range, sailed 10 feet directly over my head (because of the configuration of the wall I was leaning against) made a splintery crash landing 10' in front of me, then rolled eastward down the chute.

Soon after that we were out of the line-of-fire finishing our climb on the class 3 upper part of the north face but the most terrifying rockfall was yet to come. Our group was really slow owing to the weaker hikers of the group. My mom was the slowest. Although I wasn't the strongest hiker of the group (my dad was, followed by my two cousins) I led because of my routefinding skills and my dad brought up the rear with my mom. It it was beginning to get dark as we waiting for my dad and mom at Iceberg Lake. At some point my mom and dad became visible high above in the chute. I don't recall whether we heard another distant call of "rock" again, but soon we heard a rumbling sound of a big rock coming down the chute. This boulder was in the 3+ foot range in diameter. We could see my dad and mom trying to move laterally to get out of the way, but as these things usually go, it seemed like the boulder steered whichever way they were going, so they moved left, then right, then left, and the boulder missed them and rumbled down onto the talus cone. It goes without saying that their telling of the story from their eyes was hair raising.

Our personal story of rockfall on the MR ended there, but there was more to come for others on Whitney that day. As light was fading we remembered the sound of a helicopter but we didn't know why. Owing to the slow speed of our group we were well behind our goal of descending to Lower Boy Scout Lake that evening. In fact it was already nearly dark as my mom and dad arrived at Iceberg Lake but several of us had such a miserable night of sleep at 12.5k there the night before that we resolved to descend a bit, so with flashlights (I don't think we had headlamps and they may not have been available in those days) we climbed down the rocky step below Iceberg Lake and eventually found a place among the rocks in the swale below to throw our sleeping bags. That night we were surprised when a bunch of head lamps headed our way. It was a SAR group. Apparently someone on the E Face or Buttress had been hit by a big rock/boulder in his chest and they needed to evacuate him. Initially they thought we were the climbing group. The next morning we awoke to the sound of a helicopter. We never heard about the resolution of the SAR effort.

Anyhow I think you can see why I'd wear a helmet if I ever set foot on the MR again.

[TFTF]

That's terrifying! I'm actually glad I didn't read this before the trip; at some point even a helmet isn't much help.

[Gogd]

Just to keep it real.. ..and perhaps provocative...

Yes, a helmet may be a consideration whenever traveling through known bowling alleys and shooting galleries where falling or tumbling rocks can strike you. Note, this could include the impact zone extending out from the base of vertical formations. We once witnessed a rock falling from the high shoulder of Temple Crag ricochet off something on the way down, then arc out into the open sky, eventually impacting the scree fan, far below, on a spot some 40 yards from the base of the wall. The impact zone included the XC route trekkers use to gain Contact Pass. We should also realize the mere presence of a maintained trail does not equate to safety from rock fall. In fact there are dozens upon dozens of sections along high use hiking trails that pose risk to travelers. Danger arising from rock fall is not limited to climbing crags and trails carved into the face of cliffs. Even the ramp of switchbacks along the JMT leading from Virginia Lake down to Tulley Hole can send tumbling rocks onto hikers lower on the slope.

Helmets, however, offer only limited protection from falling objects. They are useless against anything falling some distance that is larger than a brick. The physics of an object of that mass, traveling at speed are such that a direct hit can crack your skull through the helmet, telescope your neck, or rip your face off in a glancing blow. The main purpose of helmets is to protect climbers from injuries arising when they fall off the cliff face and tumble or crash into the wall. In this manner climbing helmets are like cycling helmets: both protect your head from low velocity impacts (slamming the street or cliff wall). Both types of helmets are of little use, however, against striking stationary objects at significant velocity, such as parked cars, the ground at the base of a cliff, or object striking you, such as fast moving vehicles and plummeting rocks. Nevertheless climbing helmets do usually protect from injury if the rock is small enough to easily fit in your hand, or objects that have fallen a short distance, thus not had time to accumulate significant velocity.

So revisiting the post that commented about bicycling helmets: I always wear a helmet when cycling, because it protects me from slamming my head against the ground, an ever present danger when balancing on two wheels. I guess this analogy could support wearing a helmet on XC hiking routes where I could fall and hit my head. Yet the overwhelming majority of trekkers do not wear helmets on class 2 & 3 terrain. And I'll wear a helmets in the steep terrain, as I may hit my head as the rope catches my fall, or a fellow climber may loose a small rock onto my head. I never have worn a helmet on trail, even though I may be in a rock fall hazard zone, because helmets afford marginal protection against falling rocks I may encounter, and it is highly unlikely I'll fall on my head while trail hiking.

Ed