RoySwkr
New member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2003
- Messages
- 4,467
- Reaction score
- 285
set your expectations in advance
If you are leading a group of other people's kids, you are responsible for them and need to stay in control. Ideally the sweep should be someone well versed in first aid and equipment repair as such issues inevitably filter back. The lead needs much less skill as they can wait at questionable points. You may also predesignate one adult to go back if someone has problems early on. Kids may be very annoyed if one laggard keeps them from summitting and may take it out on them later, so don't turn everybody around IF you have enough leaders to split.
The toughest call I ever had to make was an adult hike on a very cold day on Jackson, after an hour or so the guy who was obviously the fastest was getting frozen feet from waiting and wanted to turn back by himself so he could walk faster and get to the car sooner. I finally decided that this was safest and let him do it, although I went back as far as the stream crossing to see that he got across safely. If anything had happened to him on the way down I'm sure that the accident writer at the time would have judged me harshly.
With partners you need to decide (preferably before you start) whether you will split up and what you will do afterwards. Some people want to stay together and some want the flexibility of splitting up.
The most famous incident at one time was "The Breach" where "Harley" talked his partner Rob into leading a dangerous ice climb on Kilimanjaro, Rob fell and broke a leg. Harley decamped with both cameras as he didn't want to miss a lecture tour in the U.S. He notified authorities who sent a stretcher team and got Rob to the hospital in several days. In African hospitals it was expected that your relatives would provide your food and routine care but Rob was lucky that some locals helped him as Harley was long gone. I went to a lecture that Rob gave and he said the misunderstanding was his fault: he knew that Harley would behave like that and his choices on the trip should have been made accordingly.
If you are leading a group of other people's kids, you are responsible for them and need to stay in control. Ideally the sweep should be someone well versed in first aid and equipment repair as such issues inevitably filter back. The lead needs much less skill as they can wait at questionable points. You may also predesignate one adult to go back if someone has problems early on. Kids may be very annoyed if one laggard keeps them from summitting and may take it out on them later, so don't turn everybody around IF you have enough leaders to split.
The toughest call I ever had to make was an adult hike on a very cold day on Jackson, after an hour or so the guy who was obviously the fastest was getting frozen feet from waiting and wanted to turn back by himself so he could walk faster and get to the car sooner. I finally decided that this was safest and let him do it, although I went back as far as the stream crossing to see that he got across safely. If anything had happened to him on the way down I'm sure that the accident writer at the time would have judged me harshly.
With partners you need to decide (preferably before you start) whether you will split up and what you will do afterwards. Some people want to stay together and some want the flexibility of splitting up.
The most famous incident at one time was "The Breach" where "Harley" talked his partner Rob into leading a dangerous ice climb on Kilimanjaro, Rob fell and broke a leg. Harley decamped with both cameras as he didn't want to miss a lecture tour in the U.S. He notified authorities who sent a stretcher team and got Rob to the hospital in several days. In African hospitals it was expected that your relatives would provide your food and routine care but Rob was lucky that some locals helped him as Harley was long gone. I went to a lecture that Rob gave and he said the misunderstanding was his fault: he knew that Harley would behave like that and his choices on the trip should have been made accordingly.