Lost Skier in Franconia Woods

[sierra]

...there will be a better "lost hiker" story soon.

Lately, the VFTT community has seemed to thrive on speculation while almost ranting about how someone might have screwed up after getting lost. Many of us are experienced hikers and very familiar with the areas that we discuss. We are privileged to have our knowledge. Mistakes happen. Some people are new to the idea of hiking (or backcountry skiing), and they make bad decisions. I have hiked like an idiot for years (jeans, cotton, work boots), and sometimes I still take chances. Don't you? Let it go people!

If someone makes poor choices its up to someone to say so, there are a fair (being polite) number of people on this site that need to learn from these mistakes. I also hiked in jeans way back and if someone would have said something I would have taken any advice humbly.

 

[DougPaul]

If someone makes poor choices its up to someone to say so, there are a fair (being polite) number of people on this site that need to learn from these mistakes. I also hiked in jeans way back and if someone would have said something I would have taken any advice humbly.

This is a very tough decision.

Based upon a 10 sec snapshot, you have to decide a lot about a stranger and then proceed to lecture him on the error of his ways. (There are better and poorer ways of doing this--let's leave that for another thread...) Sometimes you will help the stranger, sometimes you will just piss him off, and you might even provoke a violent reaction.

A little story (I don't recall all the details, but the gist and the person is correct): A group climbing a moderate route on a moderately high peak (Europe or western US class), perhaps in less than the best of weather, came across a climber climbing in tennis shoes. When they tried to warn him about the "error of his ways", he said "I think I'll be ok" and everyone continued onward. They later met the climber: Alex Lowe...

In case anyone does not know who Alex Lowe was, he was one of the world's premier climbers. After a climb, a rope-mate once commented, "but we cheated--we had Alex on our rope." AL died recently in a large avalanche in the Himalayas.

Despite our best intentions, we cannot keep everyone else from doing something foolish.

Doug

 

[forestgnome]

If someone makes poor choices its up to someone to say so, there are a fair (being polite) number of people on this site that need to learn from these mistakes. I also hiked in jeans way back and if someone would have said something I would have taken any advice humbly.

Dittoes. This site is educational in many ways. As Dougpaul once said, it is tradition among hikers to discuss ill-fated adventures. We reject condescending type of ridicule, but I rarely read any of that here. Otherwise, civil discourse is a beautiful thing. I also would point out that while some may see a need to defend a person who's misadventure is being discussed, it should not be assumed that the person of thin skin. We are, after all , hikers.

Happy Trails