Dennis_Harmon

Dru, There is no way around it. The longer you play this game and the harder you play it will determine how long you're likely to live. That, lad, is the nature of the game. It's hard, but it's fair. "Death is a debt which nature is due that all of us pay... and so will you." Dennis

Terminal Gravity, Thanks for your response and I'm hearing you, but until you bury a climbing partner and deal with the grief of the family and the void your terminal absence creates, you'll never understand. Until you do that the risks we run in the hills are just a fucking game, something to be laughed at over beers in the pub afterwards. But once you see the flip-side of the coin the "game" becomes all too real and maybe then you'll understand just how much sorrow you can inflict on the very people who love you the most. Dennis

This recent accident on Mt Hood again shows how stupid it is to tie into a rope unless you are actively belaying. If I die in the hills I hope that I do it alone. To take others with me, it seems to me, would be the supeme act of selfishness, not to mention, rude. Dennis

There is hardly any reason whatsoever that any-one should ever die up there. Yet, every year we continue to do it. Why is that? At the risk of sounding pretentious I'd suggest that very few people any more have any real appreciation for any thing or, any one, besides themselves. Perhaps that's the nature of America. Dennis