Boot rock as a choice

[GlennM]

Take a look at this expedition photo.7 men, 2 women. If we assume the photographer is male, then we have our DP9. Imagine they had to abandon a nearby tent. They could make for here or make for the distant forest. Why not? Why do you think they did not camp here in the first place?

As I look at the photo, I think to myself, " Shouldn't the hikers have sent out a scout?" Given the time of day and the distance to Ortoten, does it make sense to have some one or two people 10 minutes ahead of everyone else to check the lay of the land? Instead, I get this idea that decisions were made by Igor and not subject to negotiation. Next, when I consider the fallen remains of the group, I can believe there was differences of opinion.

Can you imagine a situation where they all broke camp at the cache and two people set out ahead of the rest of the group.  The scouts note and pass Boot rock only to find a barren windswept ridge ahead. They come back and meet the seven hikers. " Let's camp right here for the night. We can tie off on the rock".

I know this didn't happen, but does it give insight into the group dynamic? Does it help us decode their actual choices?

[Ziljoe]

Interesting as always.

A couple of thoughts pop up and it's only my opinion.

Firstly, I agree that they probably did send Scouts, there's antidotal evidence for this from other hike reports. Especially from dropping back packs and one or two forging ahead to make a trail. Then the others following whilst the leaders return to pick up their back packs. There's also evidence for travelling to get wood for a camp on snow exposed slopes. I think Igor did this for a sick friend in a tent, if it wasn't him , someone did.

Boot rock isn't an ideal tent location in my opinion, it's exposed from all sides and it's basically a crest or hill top where the snow doesn't gather other than snow drifts around the rock. These change depending on the wind. The ground would mostly be exposed or not deep with snow making it difficult to erect a tent.

It's possible that they sent scouts and decided on that location with the thought, as you have previously suggested , to make a dash along the tops of the mountains. It's also possible that they did have intention to gather wood for the night in the slope. We just don't know as the tent  didn't seem to have the center ridge supported by the skis. This leads to two possibilities, one that they hadn't fully secured the tent yet for the night , or two, they had taken the supporting skis down in the morning before the incident.

There are 2-3 descriptions on how a pair of skis were found next to the tent. .this suggests that a pair was kept free to use as the support, or perhaps for someone to fetch wood or scout?

[GlennM]

I would like to believe they bypassed Boot Rock because the way forward was deemed safe. They needed to make up for lost time too. Assuming these things to be true, then the major impediments to forward progress would be high winds. They were even alluded to in Igor's diary. For example, if they camped at Boot Rock, there is still going to be at least one more night of exposure in the ridge before they could get back to their cache, so why not get as close to Ortoten as possible and then cold camp. I believe they were planning two nights on the ridge anyway.

I certainly hope that meteorological reports will become available.