I did that climb last November. It's moderately steep and there's a lot of scree which makes the going pretty slow on the way up and the way down. I averaged less than 1.5 mph over the 6.5 mile roundtrip.
Even if he hadn't made the mistake of taking an unfamiliar gully down, I think he was already in a deadly situation while at the summit. As he pointed out, it was 85 degrees and it took him 5 hours to make the climb (not including the valley crossing). I looked up the high temperature in Panamint springs that day; it was 105. Best case scenario, he gets down to Lake hill road and if he's very lucky, someone is there to save him. Otherwise he would have had to walk the 6 miles to HWY 190. I doubt he would have made it.
I don't want to excoriate the guy too much because posting the story is valuable for others to read, but there's much about the post that makes me wonder if he even learned anything. He chose to do something beyond his skill level, in scorching temperatures. I reject his assertion that "this sort of thing could happen to absolutely anyone."
Even if he hadn't made the mistake of taking an unfamiliar gully down, I think he was already in a deadly situation while at the summit. As he pointed out, it was 85 degrees and it took him 5 hours to make the climb (not including the valley crossing). I looked up the high temperature in Panamint springs that day; it was 105. Best case scenario, he gets down to Lake hill road and if he's very lucky, someone is there to save him. Otherwise he would have had to walk the 6 miles to HWY 190. I doubt he would have made it.
I don't want to excoriate the guy too much because posting the story is valuable for others to read, but there's much about the post that makes me wonder if he even learned anything. He chose to do something beyond his skill level, in scorching temperatures. I reject his assertion that "this sort of thing could happen to absolutely anyone."