Weekend Rescues in the whites

[erugs]

I wonder if gender may have played a role? http://www.healthguidance.org/entry...tions--Differences-Between-Men-and-Women.html

For this one, no names or genders were given, which I thought was interesting because often they are identified. While public shaming is not a good thing, public information is. My other thought on the link is, "I must be a man."

 

[Will]

I agree very much with you, Kyle. There's no substitute for good mentoring in the mountains.

I think that's fine and I encourage that kind of thinking.

Of course most (probably) inexperienced White Mountain hikers don't think they need any stinkin' mentoring. Hundreds of people set out every year unprepared and vulnerable but the good weather holds, they don't lose the trail or notice the effects of dehydration, and they wonder what all the fuss is about. They describe their experiences to others and the myth perpetuates that the Whites are a walk in the park and all the caution is just old folks trying to ruin the fun. Even in the Grand Canyon, where "worst case" is rightly promoted almost to the point of hysteria, people still act like idiots.

 

[DayTrip]

I think that's fine and I encourage that kind of thinking.

Of course most (probably) inexperienced White Mountain hikers don't think they need any stinkin' mentoring. Hundreds of people set out every year unprepared and vulnerable but the good weather holds, they don't lose the trail or notice the effects of dehydration, and they wonder what all the fuss is about. They describe their experiences to others and the myth perpetuates that the Whites are a walk in the park and all the caution is just old folks trying to ruin the fun. Even in the Grand Canyon, where "worst case" is rightly promoted almost to the point of hysteria, people still act like idiots.

Is it a myth? I wouldn't characterize it as a walk in the park but clearly the margin for error in the Whites is pretty large or we'd be reading a lot more stories about accidents and rescues. As I pointed out in one of my previous comments, the % of SAR incidents over the volume of hikers in the Whites is a pretty small number. I'm sure a high percentage of inexperienced and/or unprepared hikers go out on decent weather days, are in at least marginal physical condition, stay on trails that for the most part are very easy to follow and carry enough food/water/gear to endure the day and keep their body functioning. Whether consciously aware of it or otherwise they greatly improve the probability of a "favorable outcome". The Whites are not the Himalayas.

 

[DayTrip]

I think another factor that does not get much mention in these discussions is the fact that the overall physical condition of the population is much better. A lot of people who are taking up hiking in recent years are runners, marathoners, cross fit athletes or people who generally get in the gym on a regular basis and have the proper conditioning level to comfortably handle most hikes in the Whites. They're looking for new challenges and trail hiking and running fits the bill for them. Most hikes in the Whites (the popular list hikes like the 48 4k,etc) involve 10 miles or less and vertical ascent of maybe 2000-3000'. For many in this generation this isn't the demanding, time consuming endeavor it is for middle aged, overweight guys like myself. I've been lucky enough to hike quite a bit the past 3-4 years and even I can go 6-8 miles and climb 3000' with very little water and no food and not feel any significant ill effects. I've been hiking for about 25 years and I see a drastic improvement in the conditioning levels of people I pass on the trails.

So while there is still an abundance of ill prepared and inexperienced hikers out there, their overall fitness level I'm sure plays a big role in keeping most outings in the "favorable outcome" category and minimizes rescues by being less prone to dehydration, bonking or getting muscle cramps an other ailments.

 

[Will]

Is it a myth? I wouldn't characterize it as a walk in the park but clearly the margin for error in the Whites is pretty large or we'd be reading a lot more stories about accidents and rescues.

We DON'T read about a lot of misadventures for a lot of reasons. Mostly through blind luck they run into "one of us" and get guidance away from the pending disaster or help in minimizing it. I know of at least a dozen incidents in my experience where individuals spent unscheduled nights in the woods, in a couple of cases really scary, but never reported anything. Two groups (returning to a hut but in the wrong direction late in the day with no longer any hope) I was sure I would be reading about in the paper when I got out but I looked for a few days and they obviously made it back eventually, somehow. One of those episodes I wrote about, I think here: they literally turned around and RAN in panic when they learned how far away they were and I couldn't catch up with them to help. I've personally walked out of two accident situations where many would have regarded themselves incapacitated and needing rescue.

I think what we read about are only a very small portion of the serious incidents.

 

[DayTrip]

We DON'T read about a lot of misadventures for a lot of reasons. Mostly through blind luck they run into "one of us" and get guidance away from the pending disaster or help in minimizing it. I know of at least a dozen incidents in my experience where individuals spent unscheduled nights in the woods, in a couple of cases really scary, but never reported anything. Two groups (returning to a hut but in the wrong direction late in the day with no longer any hope) I was sure I would be reading about in the paper when I got out but I looked for a few days and they obviously made it back eventually, somehow. One of those episodes I wrote about, I think here: they literally turned around and RAN in panic when they learned how far away they were and I couldn't catch up with them to help. I've personally walked out of two accident situations where many would have regarded themselves incapacitated and needing rescue.

I think what we read about are only a very small portion of the serious incidents.

I'm sure there are as many more stories about being spending a night, getting lost, etc. that we only know about by word of mouth. My only point was that most of those stories involved being uncomfortable and maybe scared, not about averting near certain disaster. Being in legitimate danger and being pissed off and uncomfortable are two different things. I think 95% of the stories we read about or hear about fall into the "pissed off and uncomfortable category", not the "legitimate danger" category. I don't consider "pissed off and uncomfortable" to be rescue worthy for SAR to have to commit time and resources. They may go out anyway but it isn't always required to avert legitimate danger. It is done to placate those with lawyers on speed dial.

I saw a photo on Facebook a few days ago of a guy at the Mt Washington summit wearing jeans and my first thought went to "Oh my God. He was wearing denim in Winter". I didn't read about his frozen corpse in the paper the following day. He got home just fine. How many times have you heard someone warn of the dangers of denim? Yes, it can be dangerous but wearing a pair of jeans on a hike is not a guaranteed death sentence. That is one of many, many variables. For most hikers on most days a whole lot of these variables have to line up to create a legitimately dangerous situation.

 

[DayTrip]

I've personally walked out of two accident situations where many would have regarded themselves incapacitated and needing rescue.

I severely sprained/broke an ankle in Sphinx Col two Summers ago. I also dislocated my dominant hand shoulder on a frigid January day on Cannon. I never even considered calling for rescue. I decided how I needed to proceed, gave it a go and was able to get out of the woods. In pain for sure, annoyed and running through all the possibilities but ultimately I got out. Too many people get the least bit uncomfortable and immediately hit the panic button and call 911. They didn't need a rescue. They wanted immediate relief from discomfort.