Lunchbox's Disaster Roundup, 01-08

Lunchbox here: Unfortunately, 2010 started with no shortage of outdoor disasters—holidays off means people have more time to play in the snow, which means more chances for injury.

But we’re going to kick off survival in 2010 today by taking a look at just one incident. This nuts-o video features two hikers way out of their depth, and they nearly meet a disastrous end in an unidentified location (BACKPACKER contributor and Mountain World/Colorado Mountain Journal impresario Dougald McDonald, who brought this vid to our attention, speculates that it could be Zion):

That. Was. Close.

Lunchbox’s Lesson: With such scant information about the hikers, location, etc., it’s hard to relay much beta outside of stop filming and help her out! Between that and the imbalanced pack, the duo seem inexperienced. Their first task would be to find an easier way down. In any case, they should’ve read up on scrambling techniques before they ever headed out into a wild area with potentially tricky terrain. That second crashing boulder is a potent reminder to stay alert in loose, rocky terrain—just because you made it through one problem doesn’t mean you can make it through the next, and your next moves could compound your troubles in a big way.

Anybody out there have a scrambling nightmare to share, or a guess as to where this might be? Tell us in the comments section below.

—Lunchbox