YOU NEVER EVER CLIMB ALONE!
There's always a risk, but it's pretty common practice to go solo. I doubt you'll hear criticism from the climbing community just because he went solo; there's no consensus that solo is inately bad judgement.
There is no mention of a sleeping bag, even for a day trip, that is a required item for mountain like Adams.
I think I'll disagree with you there. Based on my experience, when one expects to be back before dark, carrying a sleeping bag isn't standard. The typical advice is to carry enough gear to survive the night if caught out.
I thought that this comment from a member of nwhikers was interesting - lykkens was climbing down Mt Adams as the lost climber was heading up, they encountered him before he went missing. For anyone who sees some romanticism in eating centipedes...
"Glad that someone opened up this "can of centipedes". We saw him as he passed us above lunch counter [Mt Adams landmark] at 9400ft, he was under dressed, carrying a tiny day pack and was walking strangely on his crampons. He was aware that he was climbing into deteriorating weather and everyone on our team noted that he looked the least prepared for what he was getting into of the three single climbers we saw heading up as we descended. Our member who stayed at base camp even asked us if we had seen him because she wondered if he was actually going to climb or was just lookylooing. Where he fell was near where we made our navigational mistake, one that was rectified by comparing way points on the 2 gps units that we had on our team. I don't think you need to clean out the shelves at REI and carry all your gear up the mountain, but we had a stove with us in case our water froze or we got caught in a tough situation, on top of the layers (including goggles) that we ended up needing. Experienced means understanding your limits, reading the weather, listening to other climbers, being prepared for an injury if you choose to climb alone... I would not have classified him as any of those things, each individual on our team noticed him and discussed him long before he was reported missing. I'm glad he was found safely and I know the mountain can be a fickle beast, but you must respect it or you will pay handsomely... as will the tax payers of Washington & Oregon apparently."
That's the real issue. He was inadequately prepared, didn't listen, and
headed into bad weather.
On the one hand, I admire him. That's dang good to survive five days injured in snow country. On the other hand, he went unprepared, blew off what other climbers were telling him, and didn't take into account the weather. What a bonehead.
So, it's a bit of both. I'm glad he's alive, but he really screwed up bad.
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