Disaster struck as the first climber was midway down the rap. A bolt of lightning hit the partner on the summit. The rappelling climber was lucky. Although the electrical current shot down the rope and knocked him unconscious, it also melted his belay device to the rope. He dangled there, upside down, until Rocky Mountain Rescue arrived and saved his life.
Climbers know that weather can make or break a trip.
Most also know that there's no climb worth risking your life for. Here are some tips on how to stack the odds in your favor by understanding weather forecasts, and by doing a little predicting of your own. Find a source . Most of the weather data that is used in TV and newspaper reports started out as raw data from the National Weather Service. That data is then redistributed through a variety of outlets, with varying levels of interpretation.