Thanks - very worthwhile remarks.I guess this may mean we can't just buy the latest technological marvel stick it in our pocket, and expect that everything will be just fine.

Good points.

Another common reason for intentionaly going out in severe weather is for training oneself, and testing equipement in preparation for a major expedition to one of the big peaks of the world. Judging from various articles about her, Ms Matrosova was a very active climber and treker. I don't know anything about the area, but it sounds like she was planning a solo winter traverse of several peaks in one day, which sounds like a very stout agenda. It is possible that this was planned as a training trip, but things spun out of control.

As usual, we don't have a lot of information, so much of this thread is pure speculation. It will be interesting to see if this event gets written up in the next edition of "Accidents in North American Mountaineering". That volume is published yearly by the American Alpine Club, and usually has some very informed analysis, often by participants in the rescue.

100 mph winds is not "a little bad weather".

From the limited info we have, it doesn't appear that it was 100 mph wind when she started the traverse. My impression was that the extreme winds came after she was already up there.

Sometimes knowing when to turn back and retreat of the hill triumphs the idea of pushing on with the 'Mountain Rescue will get me out of here if I need to push the button' idea. Sometimes getting down of the hill came be more tricky than going up it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T7YlbqHelI

I'm glad to see the evenhanded comments on this thread. We don't have solid info on the deceased's outdoor background but she certainly didn't seem like the stereotypical tourist who, for example, hikes out in Death Valley in flipflops with 0.5 liters of water.

I suspect it's like Tjin and AKSAR say: she was basically qualified for the adventure but rolled the dice and lost with the weather. She may not have had enough experience in gale force winds to appreciate how debilitating they can be. It's what you "don't know that you don't know" that gets you.

Many of us here at ETS have surely danced a little close to the edge regarding uncontrollable factors like weather and came out OK. I know that there were plenty of times over the years where I could have gotten the short straw, and I'm by no means reckless.

One more article.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/0...oj7K/story.html

Thank you for sharing this really exceptional account, with much more information than the usual news account. How close have any of us come to the line this lady crossed?

I know I have crossed it a few times, but as a military necessity. I do know my limits.

Thats hard to say. I know my limits and try to avoid really bad weather. But I have goten back to mountain huts cold and miserable. Was i close to that line. Don't know. Also had white out conditions when skiing. If I went to the wrong direction I would ended up in the national park side of the mountain in white out storm conditions. Thankfull I went the right way. I sort of found a ski piste. A face plant helped me orientate enough to figure out i was skiing next to the piste the hole time in the highest avalanch danger...