Taking a look at the weather data, the wind on Dec 1 2011 was brutal. The snow depth indicator is junk. I doubt there are 96 inches of snow on the
peak.
www.wrcc.dri.edu...
Now if the DRI put the gear on Badger Mountain, they could helicopter there and fix it. But alas, they put the gear on Tikaboo for some unknown (cough
cough) reason, and will now have to wait until spring to reach the site.
There was snow at Badger spring in mid-November, so your hike to the peak must have been difficult, let alone driving to the staging area. Any photos?