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9/9 members suffering from delusional hypothermia is extremely unlikely. Can you provide a reference for a single similar mountaineering incident? I can provide

9/9 members suffering from delusional hypothermia is extremely unlikely. Can you provide a reference for a single similar mountaineering incident? I can provide a lot of references to deaths from hypothermia in e.g. the Himalayas and I've never read/heard of a remotely similar circumstance. Hypothermia doesn't just happen to experienced mountaineers - they need to make mistakes; usually one member is affected before others. There are steps you take to deal with the condition - of which tent cutting and nude running really isn't one. Massive simultaneous delusion might be possible, but it needs a much better supported explanation

natch 10y ago
9/9 could have gotten wet. On top of that they were exposed, away from the protection of trees, and possibly in high winds. There is nothing to say this was not the case. And while there are steps you take, those are things we have learned since 1959. It's not clear at all that this group's 1959 best practices (even given their considerable experience) was on par with what we would do now. The trauma injuries are explained by falls or by misinterpretation of damage done to the bodies by passing animals after the fact. Paradoxical undressing isn't just a leisurely comfortable stroll in the buff; it can be a panicked race toward the nearest place where a dip into freezing water might be sought (by a deluded person who forgets that the water will be frozen solid), such as into a ravine.
- forgotpwtomain 10y ago
  > 9/9 could have gotten wet. This is very unlikely in negative temperatures in the -30-20 range. > It's not clear at all that this group's 1959 best practices (even given their considerable experience) was on par with what we would do now. Even supposing the unlikely event that 9/9 did get hypothermia before other symptoms, you are still saying that they all became simultaneously delirious to the point that not even one of them was found dead in a position that indicated some kind of normal reaction one would expect from an experienced person (I'm not saying a life-saving reaction - we know no one survived, but anything remotely bordering on rational)..
  - natch 10y ago
    You seem to forget that warm skin can melt snow, and that sweat can dampen and even soak clothes. There are plenty of ways to get wet. The operational range of temperatures includes temperatures as high as 98.6F or more when humans are in the picture. Sweat and snow melt at far below 98.6F. "Simultaneously" is your own bizarre projection, not something I said or would say.

natch 10y ago

9/9 could have gotten wet. On top of that they were exposed, away from the protection of trees, and possibly in high winds. There is nothing to say this was not the case. And while there are steps you take, those are things we have learned since 1959. It's not clear at all that this group's 1959 best practices (even given their considerable experience) was on par with what we would do now. The trauma injuries are explained by falls or by misinterpretation of damage done to the bodies by passing animals after the fact. Paradoxical undressing isn't just a leisurely comfortable stroll in the buff; it can be a panicked race toward the nearest place where a dip into freezing water might be sought (by a deluded person who forgets that the water will be frozen solid), such as into a ravine.

forgotpwtomain 10y ago
> 9/9 could have gotten wet. This is very unlikely in negative temperatures in the -30-20 range. > It's not clear at all that this group's 1959 best practices (even given their considerable experience) was on par with what we would do now. Even supposing the unlikely event that 9/9 did get hypothermia before other symptoms, you are still saying that they all became simultaneously delirious to the point that not even one of them was found dead in a position that indicated some kind of normal reaction one would expect from an experienced person (I'm not saying a life-saving reaction - we know no one survived, but anything remotely bordering on rational)..
- natch 10y ago
  You seem to forget that warm skin can melt snow, and that sweat can dampen and even soak clothes. There are plenty of ways to get wet. The operational range of temperatures includes temperatures as high as 98.6F or more when humans are in the picture. Sweat and snow melt at far below 98.6F. "Simultaneously" is your own bizarre projection, not something I said or would say.