Tell me more ×  The general advice I have heard for surprise
lightning storms when climbing is to retreat. Since retreating
quickly is not without danger itself and often is not even all
that quick (I personally have spent two hours plus retreating),
I was wondering if there are any other well tested strategies. I
was thinking leaving most metal gear behind on the route and
just waiting out the storm on a ledge could work? Are there any
reported incidents of climbers getting struck by lightning with
that strategy? Are there other strategies that have worked for
people?  share|improve this question I don't think leaving metal
gear behind would do you a lick of good. The physics of
lightning rods is sort of complicated (e.g., people used to
think pointed ones were better, but it turns out that's not
true), but anyway I don't think just having some nuts and cams
hanging off of your gear loops is going to make you
significantly more vulnerable. Ditching all your gear could put
you in more danger, since it might m