Risk- why?

[Mr_Phil]

The way to compare this to the climbers stuck at Mt. Hood is to say it in this way:

 

A smart person wouldn't allow their 16 year old to go drag racing for the thrill of it when the roads were glare ice sheets, blindfolded.

 

That's how I see that these climbers decided to climb the most difficult side of the mountain in the middle of winter, knowing that the weather can change (and probably will) in a second. From what I can tell, the one dude most likely broke his arm in a fall because they decided it would be fun to climb ice cliffs. Now that alone is fine and dandy, people do things for the thrill of it all the time and come out perfectly fine. But the fact that they decided to climb to the summit of the mountain on these ice cliffs, in the middle of winter, is what did them in.

 

Keep in mind, I am not a climber, I've never climbed a mountain, but this is the view from the outside looking in. I'm open to being corrected.

 

Climbing isn't as dangerous as you imply. Qualified folks go climbing all the time (winter and summer) and come home without incident. You (as a non-climber) only hear about the times such as this when there is a problem. To evaluate the true risks, one must look at all instances of climbing.

 

Imagine that you knew nothing about commercial aviation. And your first introduction was 9/11. It would be easy to conclude that flying was incredibly dangerous. But on more indepth consideration, commercial aviation is one of the safest activities. You are safer in a commercial airplane than driving down the highway.

 

Climbing ice cliffs is fun and not incredibly dangerous. I'll probably be heading out this weekend to do it myself.

 

[catbirdseat]

Well let's see...

 

I'll just pick one out of your post:

 

why do we allow 16 year olds to control 4000 lbs of steel moving at 65mph?

 

The way to compare this to the climbers stuck at Mt. Hood is to say it in this way:

 

A smart person wouldn't allow their 16 year old to go drag racing for the thrill of it when the roads were glare ice sheets, blindfolded.

 

That's how I see that these climbers decided to climb the most difficult side of the mountain in the middle of winter, knowing that the weather can change (and probably will) in a second. From what I can tell, the one dude most likely broke his arm in a fall because they decided it would be fun to climb ice cliffs. Now that alone is fine and dandy, people do things for the thrill of it all the time and come out perfectly fine. But the fact that they decided to climb to the summit of the mountain on these ice cliffs, in the middle of winter, is what did them in.

 

Keep in mind, I am not a climber, I've never climbed a mountain, but this is the view from the outside looking in. I'm open to being corrected.

This was covered already by another poster on the main Hood thread. Winter is the safest time to climb this particular route for a number of reasons. You can't go and blame people just because the outcome was bad. These northside routes have been safely climbed numerous times.

 

Okay (edit) Mr. Phil beat me to the punch, but I concur that the intense media focus on this accident has caused a distortion of reality. People just don't have the expertise to pass judgment.

Edited December 19, 2006 by catbirdseat

[W]

But the fact that they decided to climb to the summit of the mountain on these ice cliffs, in the middle of winter, is what did them in.

 

I'm sorry, but I disagree with this. They could have met the same fate climbing the south side in the middle of summer- it has happened before and will happen again. What "did them in" was likely a series of mistakes and fateful decisions- indeed, being in the wrong place at the wrong time could have been one of them, but to say that "climbing a hard route on Mt. Hood in winter" is the sole cause relies entirely on hindsight. It is entirely possible to safely climb any hard route, anywhere, anytime of year.

 

If your driving on a remote road, and pass a gas station without filling up, then run out of gas 60 miles down the road, what is to blame? Driving on remote roads? Or the decision to not fill up?

 

Look everyone wants a packaged lesson to learn from this. There probably isn't going to be one. As a long time climber I don't see much to learn here. In hindsight every accident was avoidable, climbing or otherwise. People make wise decisions and unwise decisions, the latter being the ones made without insight. This story has spawned yet another debate about "risk taking" and why people climb, focusing on and blaming the activity instead of the mind that is engaged in it. If I've learned one thing in climbing it is that intuition is never wrong, and that when there is insight, there is no risk. That's all I will say on the matter.

 

[DirtyHarry]

"Henry James once said there are two mental states, excitement and lack of excitement, and that unfortunately excitement was more interesting than lack of excitement."

 

- William Kittredge, in his essay "Drinking and Driving"

[niyol]

For me the draw isn't the risk taking or the incredible view from the summit... I really love the throwing up from AMS while rest stepping part the most!