JohnL
New member
First of all, my condolences to the families of these men and congratulations to the SAR team for their fine efforts. Another tragedy has struck our little community. Sadness and reflection are the order of the day. That being said, I have a few observations.
Personally I don’t wring my hands to think of what more can be done to stop these apparently senseless tragedies. There are warning signs all over the trails, the internet is widely available with a plethora of information about winter hiking, there are organizations which teach winter safety, the news organizations print and broadcast every death and lost hiker situation, there are bulletin boards like this to learn from, and there are friends and families to tell us to be careful. It is no secret. Winter hiking can be dangerous and sometimes lethal. Bad things can happen.
We seem to forget that it is the danger itself which draws many people to the mountains. The 1996 tragedy on Mt Everest was itself the single greatest advertisement for the high altitude guiding agencies. There are endless examples of stories on this site itself of people who tell of regaling their non-hiking friends with exploits of a death march or hiking through a storm or breaking trail in knee deep snow. It is the danger and feeling of adventure that is a key attraction that draws many to this sport. There are those who revel in the jazz of having the attention of the cocktail party crowd and telling tales of their daring do. There are those who quietly go about pushing their limits to the edge and sometimes beyond it. After all, you’ll never know how far you can go until you’ve gone too far.
Picture this: You are hiking and the conditions (health, weather, food intake, equipment, clothing, what have you) are just not right. You are looking for the line that says you’ve gone too far but it is not readily apparent until after you’ve crossed that line. Now that you’ve crossed it, it is too late. Suddenly you are in unfamiliar and dangerous territory where just a few minutes ago you felt safe and secure. Now, quite clearly, you are in over your head. Now what do you do?
Only when you cross that line several times do you have the ability to recognize it before you cross it. But here’s the rub; you‘ve got to get yourself back to the other side first in order to recognize that line from all sides. Many people do not have the experience, fortitude, judgment, strength and/or good fortune to get back to the safe side. Some do. That’s the difference between an epic and a tragedy. Only occasionally do we hear about the epics but we always seem to hear about the tragedies.
This is another in an endless line of deaths in the mountains. Face it; the pastime we love has inherent dangers. Some are not avoidable but some are. That does not mean however that we will always avoid them. We will not always heed warnings. We will not always have common sense. We will not always go fully prepared. We will not always be lucky. We will not always come back home. It is sad. We will grieve. We will teach. We will warn. We will learn. We will prepare. But….we will still die in the mountains. It is what it is.
JohnL
Personally I don’t wring my hands to think of what more can be done to stop these apparently senseless tragedies. There are warning signs all over the trails, the internet is widely available with a plethora of information about winter hiking, there are organizations which teach winter safety, the news organizations print and broadcast every death and lost hiker situation, there are bulletin boards like this to learn from, and there are friends and families to tell us to be careful. It is no secret. Winter hiking can be dangerous and sometimes lethal. Bad things can happen.
We seem to forget that it is the danger itself which draws many people to the mountains. The 1996 tragedy on Mt Everest was itself the single greatest advertisement for the high altitude guiding agencies. There are endless examples of stories on this site itself of people who tell of regaling their non-hiking friends with exploits of a death march or hiking through a storm or breaking trail in knee deep snow. It is the danger and feeling of adventure that is a key attraction that draws many to this sport. There are those who revel in the jazz of having the attention of the cocktail party crowd and telling tales of their daring do. There are those who quietly go about pushing their limits to the edge and sometimes beyond it. After all, you’ll never know how far you can go until you’ve gone too far.
Picture this: You are hiking and the conditions (health, weather, food intake, equipment, clothing, what have you) are just not right. You are looking for the line that says you’ve gone too far but it is not readily apparent until after you’ve crossed that line. Now that you’ve crossed it, it is too late. Suddenly you are in unfamiliar and dangerous territory where just a few minutes ago you felt safe and secure. Now, quite clearly, you are in over your head. Now what do you do?
Only when you cross that line several times do you have the ability to recognize it before you cross it. But here’s the rub; you‘ve got to get yourself back to the other side first in order to recognize that line from all sides. Many people do not have the experience, fortitude, judgment, strength and/or good fortune to get back to the safe side. Some do. That’s the difference between an epic and a tragedy. Only occasionally do we hear about the epics but we always seem to hear about the tragedies.
This is another in an endless line of deaths in the mountains. Face it; the pastime we love has inherent dangers. Some are not avoidable but some are. That does not mean however that we will always avoid them. We will not always heed warnings. We will not always have common sense. We will not always go fully prepared. We will not always be lucky. We will not always come back home. It is sad. We will grieve. We will teach. We will warn. We will learn. We will prepare. But….we will still die in the mountains. It is what it is.
JohnL
