"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo)
05/07/2019 at 10:08 • Filed to: None
5
12|
"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo)
05/07/2019 at 10:08 • Filed to: None | 5
| 12 |
I am a civilized man these days, but in my younger years I did a lot of backpacking around California and the Southwest. I was fortunate to learn as a teen from people who were serious about backwoods survival, and they were really, really hard on us about NO EXCEPTIONS EVER to survival rules. Even now, I won’t take Toby for even a short hike without plenty of water, First Aid kit, and a little extra food. And I always tell my wife where I am going and when to expect me (this would have saved that 127 hours dumbass from his horrific ordeal).
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
This story boils my blood, and I can hear one of my old guides cussing about going anywhere without being properly equipped. This kind of moron should just go to Disneyland so they won’t die or get anyone else killed. There are rules to backcountry survival and they need to be followed.
I am no longer prepared to pursue these types of adventures, so I don’t. We get a lot of lost hiker stories around here, and the moral of their stories is almost universally “don’t be a dumbass.” Also, take a map. Your phone is not enough. Maps are good. One would have kept Chris McCandless alive.
Cash Rewards
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 10:43 |
|
I agree with nearly all of this (not sure anything would have saved Mccandless from what I understand). Of the two friends who showed me how to be safe outdoors, one was an eagle scout and one was enrolled in Outward Bound. When I was in Yosemite last month we had a nice safety chat with our kids, and had them practice yelling for help before we set foot on a trail. People forget that phone reception isn't guaranteed everywhere on Earth.
Azrek
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 10:47 |
|
In High school was used to go camping a lot. My guys went without me one time as I had to study and work. I got home late and my dad had a note for me that my friends had made it out to the campsite, but couldn’t start a fire and were cold. I had to trek out there to create a fire for them and trek back out. It was silly...they were trying to light a log or wet wood.
Chris McCandless was a complete moron. He wasn’t ready for that kind of life. And I dislike how folks have made
his life and efforts seem romantic
. He essentially went out in the woods and committed a slow suicide.
f86sabre
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 11:25 |
|
The willingness to exercise common sense and god judgement, especially if you are the steward of others less experienced (for example, when the two Air Force hikers learned that part of the trail to the summit was still quite “sketchy” the more experienced of the two immediately said to his companion, “we’re not going to the summit” even though they were well equipped and obviously fit.). This seemed like an almost perfect juxtaposition of two types of leaders, one who was mostly concerned with the welfare of who he was leading and the other more concerned with achieving his own personal goal. Hubris has been the downfall of many leaders but is especially egregious when it effects the safety or lives of others. Knowing that the mission or vision is “not to summit, but rather to return safely to the bottom of the mountain” is to fully align the highest value, human life, with any adventure.”
this right here. Judgement and the ability to asses risk are hugely important. Training, preparation and proper equipment help inform judgement. Having clear goals and guidelines, as well as having the know how to evaluate the situation within those criteria, is what keeps people alive or teams from getting into bad situations.
I’m also glad the dude got his burger before the restaurant closed.
DipodomysDeserti
> Cash Rewards
05/07/2019 at 11:33 |
|
I got to have a nice chat with some Pinal County SAR members about ten years ago (as they guided some dumbasses out of the desert). They told be boy scouts were some of their biggest customers.
As far as yelling, voices don’t travel far in wooded areas. Whistles are a must when going into the backcountry with kids.
someassemblyrequired
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 11:49 |
|
One of my buddies does SAR work in the Boise area. Some of the stories are just heartbraking. Bring a friend, let someone know where you are and when you’ll be back. And be prepared to stay the night.
|
DipodomysDeserti
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 11:54 |
|
Don’t be a dumbass, and don’t trust assholes.
|
Cash Rewards
> DipodomysDeserti
05/07/2019 at 12:02 |
|
Whistles are a great point. In reality, we we're hitting tourist sites there, so there was no shortage of people. Yelling was as much to alert nearby people that they needed an adult. Backcountry your absolutely right with whistles
Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 12:18 |
|
It’s unfortunate when people invite others on climbs like this without proper consideration into safety and analysis of their abilities. H1 is so unbelievably at fault and idiotic. H2 and H3 were clearly relying on H1 and H1 seemed to fail at every opportunity to protect the others. Letting them wear jeans, inadequate footwear, not heeding their desires to turn back, overestimating their own abilities.
When we hiked South Sister in Oregon I carried all the basics(and mountain basics for me is quite a bit of stuff) including an ice ax. I did this because I planned for the unexpected of a 20 mile hike going from 6,000 to 10,000 feet. It’s non-technical though. I had a few people give me grief for having a full day pack(I recall someone asking if I was sleeping on the top) ; at one point I half jokingly told someone “I’d probably be the person who helps you if bad weather moved in , you sprained your ankle, or you dropped your water and couldn’t retrieve it .” Followed by their blank stare.
CB
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 12:21 |
|
Not specific to hiking, but I usually have a talk with the youths about the importance of telling someone where they’re going, having a time they’ll be home at, et cetera in order to be safe. At work, I usually tell people if I’m headed off somewhere remote-ish because the radios don’t always have signal, and I know the spots where there’s no cell service.
Oh, the stories I could tell if I didn’t care about doxxing myself.
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 13:01 |
|
H1 really fucked up. I do a lot of hiking and outdoor recreation. I do not do technical climbing because I am not good at it and I have a he ights fear thing . M e and my companions always bring more than we need for food and water. I always know where I am going and someone else knows our schedule. Personally I would climb Mt Whitney, I might not summit tho because of the technical climbing.
I climbed Lassen Volcano a few years a go and it was a blast, ha ha...
When I was a child I got hypothermia on a backpacking trip. It really messes you up. Judgment and such is thrown out the window.
functionoverfashion
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 13:22 |
|
We don’t have anything like those mountains around here, but Mt. Washington still claims lives every year. It’s relatively accessible, not that far (driving distance) from a significant population, “only” 6,288' at the summit, and yet the weather up there is famously horrific. Right now it’s 61 degrees with a light drizzle in town. Just 42 miles away on the summit it’s 36 degrees with a steady 48mph wind, gusts over 65mph - of course with the same amount of moisture, just comin’ at you like a freight train.
There was a good book written by a local guy called Where You’ll Find Me, about a very capable, experienced, and well-prepared hiker who died up there in the winter just a few years ago. She did an awful lot of things right, but clearly not everything. The book does an admirable job of telling her story without judgement, in the context of risk management in the mountains.
The last person who died up there was just a couple weeks ago, killed in an avalanche. He was the younger brother of a high school friend of mine.
Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
> ImmoralMinority
05/07/2019 at 13:41 |
|
Bros gonna bro so H1 gonna H1 —we can only hope that H2 and H3 learned their lesson; they should have refused to go at all . I’m glad that this rescue was successful.