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CNN coverage of Mount Hood search-and-rescue attempt

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Inky_Wretch, Dec 17, 2006.

  1. Angola!

    Angola! Guest

    Exactly.
    And the beauty of climbing Hood or Rainier or Baker in May or June is that they are all covered in snow still. So, you can get the experience of climbing in no snow and the experience of climbing in snow without killing yourself. All you have to worry about is avalanches.
     
  2. Angola!

    Angola! Guest

    And this is my favorite part. The Cascades are the second biggest mountain range in the continental and Rainier, Hood, Baker and St. Helens (used to be) some of the highest mountains in the world, yet idiots continue to climb them in the middle of winter. This isn't Texas or New York or anywhere else for that matter, you get up into the Cascades in the winter and it is deadly stuff. Shit, the passes themselves can prove exceptionally challenging in the winter, let alone climbing some of the tallest mountains in America.
     
  3. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    Matador, is Wlat Harris' firing angering you that much?

    As much as you may want the families to be picking up the coin for the search, I say no. This was an accident; this was not a bunch of rubes setting out for a Sunday stroll who were ill-prepared. These guys knew for the most part what they were doing, as evidenced by the trail the two who left the cave made.
     
  4. suburbanite

    suburbanite Active Member

    But it was a very preventable accident. My question to you or anyone else who knows more than I about climbing is this: What was the point of climbing the mountain? Was it something that was going to benefit humankind, or was it just going to be a feather in these guys' proverbial caps?

    I mean, I feel terrible when a reporter [print or broadcast], producer, editor, cameraperson, etc. is killed in a combat zone or a volatile country because those people are performing a useful [some would even say essential in a democractic society] function that benefits the rest of us, i.e., we can find out what's really going on in these places.

    What were these three guys doing that was going to benefit anyone but themselves? Were they doing research on the mountain?
     
  5. KJIM

    KJIM Well-Known Member

    But it was a very preventable accident. My question to you or anyone else who knows more than I about climbing is this: What was the point of climbing the mountain? Was it something that was going to benefit humankind, or was it just going to be a feather in these guys' proverbial caps?
    [/quote]
    Most accidents are preventable.

    What's the point of hobbies, period? Whether it's playing softball, climbing mountains, traveling or gardening, they're things people enjoy doing.

    I painted my house this past weekend. Nobody benefitted but me. That doesn't mean if I fell off the ladder and broke my neck that I'm undeserving in some way of rescue help.

    Accidents happen all the time, including when people perform hobbies. Pitcher gets hit in the chest with a line drive and has a heart attack. Tourist falls overboard. Gardener has allergic reaction to some pesticide.

    These people's contributions may not benefit humankind, but that doesn't make their accidents any less tragic.
     
  6. suburbanite

    suburbanite Active Member

    Those are bullshit comparisons, KJIM, and you know it. These guys could've exercised some freakin' common sense.

    Again, painting your house performs a useful function, if only to you and your family. Climbing a mountain is just for, 'hey, man I climbed a mountain. I fucking rock, dude!!!'

    How about I take up driving my car off the pier as a hobby and see how that works out? Hey, it's my hobby, OK, so back off.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    These things piss me off...

    First of all, if you're climbing a mountain in the middle of December, you're a fucking moron...

    Plus, now they have to put the rescue guys at risk...

    There are legitimate unpreventable accidents... This was not one of them...

    Don't get me wrong... I hope they're all OK...
     
  8. KJIM

    KJIM Well-Known Member

    God, you're bitter. You might look into anger management as a hobby.
     
  9. funky_mountain

    funky_mountain Active Member

    suburbanite, you're not in the mood to buy anyone's answer and you're prepared to shoot down anyone's answer. your characterization of "hey man, i climbed a mountain. i fuckin' rock" is lame.

    it's a feat, a conquest, a test of spirit and strength, both mental and physical. it's why people run ultramarathons or sail solo across the ocean or climb everest. if you've ever seen the pictures of everest or heard the stories, it can be a blinding mess up there. you may think it's dumb or lacking in common sense, but people find connections to the world or meaning in their way.

    not every pursuit benefits mankind. i'm not even sure why that's part of this discussion.

    lastly, climbers are often on the hook for rescue efforts, and that's why many climbers/adventurers purchase insursance for these trips.

    as for climbing in the winter, it's done all the time.
     
  10. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    The house painting example is ludicrous. This rescue involved two Black Hawk helicopters, a C-130 rescue plane, and dozens of crews working 12 hour shifts. All to save a trio of thrill-seekers who wanted to get a nut climbing a mountain in december.

    The bill will be hundreds of thousands of dollars and it should go directly to these three families. Its ludicrous that taxpayers have to foot the bill for their thrill-seeking.
     
  11. suburbanite

    suburbanite Active Member

    I'll admit my point could have been delivered more tactfully, and I'm sorry about that.

    But I still fail to see what was the point to all of this besides these three guys getting their rocks off. Their thrill-seeking put themselves, and now others, directly in harm's way. And nobody yet has adequately explained to me, IMO, why that's a good thing.

    You know why, because it isn't. And I agree with Poindexter and others. Taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill so people can get their jollies.
     
  12. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    Very interesting. Did not know that.
     
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