Well our dedicated volunteers and public servants in the central Oregon area have saved another set of mountain climbers at great expense and personal risk. Hats off to all of those who participated and successfully saved these folks who were out for a weekend climb up Mt. Hood’s slopes.
Just a few weeks before, this same scene took place in nearly the same place on Mt. Hood. Dozens of police, search and rescue teams, and military helicopter pilots risked their lives and limbs searching for three other hikers. In spite of weather forecasts indicating possible storm conditions and extreme temperatures, this group of people decided to make the hike anyway and several lost their lives.
I believe in personal choice and if someone wants to take a hike and risk their lives dealing with bad weather, slippery slopes and rabid wildlife, then by all means they should be allowed to do it. But when it costs hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and puts both paid public servants and unpaid volunteers at risk, I say that a different approach needs to be taken.
I base this opinion on the fact that I spent several years as a volunteer member of a search and rescue team in Southern California. It’s one thing to send a group of volunteers out to find a missing child or an aged adult who might have wandered off, but saving otherwise healthy adults who put their lives in jeopardy in the face of potential bad weather or dangerous mountain conditions is entirely another issue.
Local governments and forestry departments need to rethink giving permits to climbers and hikers who want to test their mettle against nature during the winter months. The waste of taxpayer money aside, is it really worth the lives of volunteers, law enforcement officers and the national guard to save the lives of those who are so willing to risk their own for a little weekend outing? I don’t think so.
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As a former mountaineer in Europe and the Northwest, I agree. I often soloed Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens (before the blast) as weekend exercise, and slept in a bivy sack many nights high on both mountains, often in severe weather and xc skiied, often alone all winter. I never took a cell phone (did they have them?) and never expected rescue.
This issue is perhaps a sign of the times. Look at this bail-out of the super rich dudes who made a bundle on crap loans and now expect the government to save them, and their money. Uh uh.
Great blog.
Bob Rogers