Interesting that hiking accidents occur in descents in three quarter of cases, and are usually on marked paths (especially in females) and more likely on rocky terrain. See this interesting paper below.
Not entirely surprising but it is quite dramatic how much more common accidents are on descent. It is also striking that she was up the mountain quite late in the afternoon.
Fall-related accidents among hikers in the Austrian Alps: a 9-year retrospective study | BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine
Another point is that there was some snow in around the Pic Sauvegarde at the time and as per this video of some of the search, some of the slopes look treacherous and it might have been icy late in the day. If she had fallen she might have by bad luck landed in some snow which might have covered her particularly in a crevasse where it might have accumulated.
Spanish police continue their search for missing Brit Esther Dingley | Metro Video
This video at around 07:54 shows what Pic de Sauvegarde is like at the summit in mid Summer. Despite DC's dossier which essentially says the route is fairly easy, it looks far from it and risk of a fall in that area would be fairly high especially if there was some ice on the rocks. It doesn't look like they were able to search all of the area by foot due to the steepness of the slopes.
Pic de Sauvegarde (2738m) - video Dailymotion
This is such a great post.
Once I knew the remains were below P de la G, I assumed they were from someone who had an accident on the descent. I have also assumed that ED was going down that steep slope and not up. I can make a guess that she ascended to the P de la G from the Cabane.
Imagine this:
A. You’re going up a very steep slope. You go up it, step by step, not looking that far ahead. Your feet suddenly slide out from under you. You will almost certainly land sprawled out with your face and body hugging the ground upslope, or perhaps nose slamming the trail. You might have “road rash” on your face, but you’ll be okay.
B. Now, you’re going DOWN a very steep slope. You are facing air, the whole universe in front of you. For starters, this can be scary as heck.
You banana peel. Your legs zoom out from under you. You either give yourself a concussion or worse by slamming the back of your head on the trail, or you are going to head feet first downslope VERY fast. On scree your speed will accelerate exponentially. Same with snow. If you fly off the trail or keep going at the apex of a zig zag because you can’t steer, there’s nothing that will stop you unless you smash into rocks. Of course, this is no help at all.
Upthread, I included some quotes about how this happens on snow. It’s very difficult to self-arrest, even with an ice-axe or facilitated by roped-up climbing partners. This happens on slopes that are way shallower than the P de la G.
Plus, if you’ve burned up a lot of energy summiting, you will be very tired on the way down, and not entirely with your wits about you. Most accidents on Everest happen descending.
Anyway, I’m really glad to see an article that quantifies these points.
And then, if you recall, ED was wearing walking shoes (i.e. not lugged boots) that she had worn all summer. This shoe design goes bald very quickly. IMO she was headed to the Refugio de la G for the night, and this is the place she was hoping there was a winter warming room.
***
Case in point on home turf as far as descent vs ascent, if you can’t imagine a steep mountain slope. You teach toddlers to go down stairs backwards; later you teach them forwards. If you have a major accident on stairs, it’s on the descent, not the ascent. Think: ascent, you land facing the stairs, descent you’re tumbling out of control, flying through the air or slamming your way to the bottom, bouncing on every step.
***
Please, this knowledge may save your life. If you’re ever on a trail, and you get intimidated by how much of a drop there is, or the steps are cut in for the generally longer stride of male climbers, or your heel could miss a step, turn around and clamber down backwards. There are a lot of places like this on trails in the White Mountains and Maine.
