In reply to Michael Gordon:
> Climbers generally do not forget to put the rope on. It seems fairly obvious that they decided not to rope up, the same decision most of us make often when tackling easier routes in the mountains. So most likely a choice rather than a mistake, and I'm not sure what one can really learn from that. We've all been on dodgy ground where we wished we had the rope on, but the trouble is that it's not always obvious that it's going to be tricky (otherwise the rope would be on, obviously!). ...
For experienced and "senior" climbers this is all very well. However on 2 separate occasions many years ago I found myself "up sh1t creek" when the other persons I was with, who were more experienced in the terrain, derided my (rather worried) requests to have a rope put on because it was "easy" (at least for them).
In one case I became crag-fast above a 300 foot drop, and one of them had to reverse the traverse on what he then agreed had become very dodgy snow to rope me up, in the other I refused to continue the scramble and exited down a gully alone. Thankfully in both cases I survived, but it showed me the value of always listening to the weakest members of the party.
It is all very well for beginners to do whatever they are told by the more experienced members of their party, but this shouldn't be allowed to extend so far as to force them to risk their lives by being un-roped just because "X" who has climbed umpteen grades harder feels it to be too easy and beneath them to put a rope on. Remember we were all that worried newbie once.