I had no doubt that he died of hypothermia. As to there being no shoulder injury or other injury found, I would say those who found him are the ones who said he did, so they should be quizzed more about it. The possible scenario that there was an accident involving the three, with the other two being lost first and James left alone, is still just as valid.
I've only heard bits and pieces of the phone call from James. Can you tell me what exactly he said?
I think--since we know he was frozen solid when found-the shoulder that looked misshapen--probably was just frozen the way he was laying on it.
Probably even more valid. There is now no evident reason he would have been left behind, and I must emphasize again, the very last thing they would do as climbing partners is to separate in any way.
What bothers me now is that he was found wearing a "lightweight" jacket, and was not in possession of his gear rack (rock/ice accessories). He seemed to have only a pack (which may have contained other items). Add to that the idea he left his axes and ground pad at the belay point (if in fact they were his, which I am still inclined to believe).
What this means to me is that he must have been deep in the throws of hypothermia long before entering the snow-cave, as "casting off" things and stripping off clothes (where is his heavy coat?) happens near the end of the hypothermia cycle.
Perhaps the "small cave" at the belay station was James' initial attempt to "dig in"... Perhaps he was severely hypothermic before he decided that his little "cave" wasn't working out so good and in a mild state of dimentia, left his axes and etc, and wandered off to the primary cave- Throwing his rack along the way and shedding clothes to be taken by the wind.
I dunno. :(
-Bruce