I am not a hiker. I am more of a beach walker. Question for you hikers. I have noticed quite a few people missing, killed, or found dead from hiking in various areas. Based on what I am seeing about JS he is an experienced hiker. Do hikers choose to go out alone or do most prefer to go with a partner? I was always taught to never go in the ocean alone. Is that the same rule for hikers?
The conditions did not seem great for his hike but with his experience, could he have felt confident that he could handle the conditions?
This is sad. IMHO this is no looking like as good outcome.
As the sheriff put it, not even mountaineering crampons would help you on this kind of ice. Plus, ground searches are impossible because of avalanche risk. It is not safe for folks to be out there. Period.
I would guess JS thought Baldy was no big deal and didn't take his mountaineering equipment. He might also not have been in the habit of taking the 10 Essentials on a day hike, and he planned this as a dayhike.
Baldy has a high fatality rate and a very high number of SAR (Search and Rescue) callouts. There are many people on the mountain who clearly have no experience (though they might consider themselves experienced); you can tell by how they're dressed, whether they're carrying water, etc.
In general, though, hiking is a low risk activity IF you are equipped for the conditions, hike within your capabilities, know when to turnaround, plan the trip, including with weather forecast, and take the 10 Essentials. The reality is, it's often difficult to find a partner to go along on a hike: people are busy and have schedule conflicts. In a winter setting, solo is especially risky. On a busy trail (like the Long Trail) in 3 seasons, IMO solo is low risk; there are so many other people around.
However, in all of that, you need experience. Just going with a bunch of friends might get you used to walking off pavement. But they are unlikely to give you real experience, since friends tend to think alike. IMO learn from old-timers or by going out with major mountaineering clubs with an established history, like the Mazamas, Sierra Club, Obsidians, GMC. It's not expensive to do this (like not at all, IME; maybe even just shared gas), but you will learn standard protocols, and you will hear stories from people who think differently than you and who've made different decisions in the wilderness than you or your friends might. IMO experience comes from having a palette of decisions, good and bad.
There are strong cautions now (e.g. from BC's government recreation agency) against hiking with people/groups you encounter on FB and other channels. You never know who the leaders are, what qualifications they might have, whether safety precautions are being taken, whether wilderness laws and ethics will be followed, whether the other members of the group are high risk-takers or whether they don't have fitness to walk more than a mile....
There have been some recent catastrophes with people going out with groups from SM. I'll mention just one. A man (Jeffrey Johnson) has been convicted in federal court for organizing groups on FB ($20 per person, per year) and taking them into Buffalo National River (a NPS site) on hikes. Last year, he took on a hike on an unmaintained, extremely dangerous, "unofficial" trail. There was an SAR response for a person in the group (someone fell and broke a bone IIRC). The ranger told JJ NEVER to do that again, take out a group to that area.
The next week, he took out 31 people, same place. One died. JJ doesn't feel any responsibility. He doesn't think he should have had leadership skills or organized the group in any way. He doesn't even count the group members or stop them so everyone can catch up. He didn't know skill level. He took whoever showed up. They were gone all day. There was no sweep to make sure everyone was okay. He had no idea that the man who died had turned back; he didn't even find out about the death until HOURS later when he came upon SAR clustered around the dead man.
Anyway, the feds took him to court for offering a non-approved guiding service, and he has been convicted. Sentencing AFAIK is in March. The guy has 24k members in his group: that's $480k per year he's getting paid. This kind of group is not rare on SM; avoid it! This is not an isolated case.
Go with a traditional hiking/mountaineering club, IMO with a long history; they will teach you a lot, especially how to mitigate risk.
Dressing right and having good quality equipment adds to safety. You can gather it over time. Meanwhile, learn what's appropriate and improvise. E.g. NEVER wear jeans. If you ever go solo, take extra emergency supplies (I always carry a rain jacket, a fleece that I likely won't need, an ACE bandage, a hat...)
