'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
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Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#2This was a very poignant read. Thank you for posting it.
Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#3This mountain was also the site of the most deadly avalanche/landslide in recorded history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Huascar%C3%A1n_debris_ava...
Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#4[flagged]
Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#5[flagged]
Some folks are adrenaline junkies. Doing this stuff when you have kids though is negligence and even worse doing it when the kid already lost one parent to the activity. Fuck those parents and anyone here that's like them.
Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#6[flagged]
Driving to the mountains is often more dangerous than climbing a mountain. Things change at the elite levels, but that is true for any sport.
Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#7[flagged]
Driving to the mountains is often more dangerous than climbing a mountain. Things change at the elite levels, but that is true for any sport.
The problem with mountains is twofold: Many mountains can be climbed without being elite while exposing yourself to major risk, and for some mountains there is objective hazard that can’t be mitigated.
One example of an “easy” but high risk climb is Mt. Rainier in Washington. All you need to go up is a set of crampons and a backpack, no technical mountaineering needed. However the mountain is full of glaciers that can collapse from under you, which has killed many people. Additionally, many have slipped and then slid to their death. In my case, when I attempted Rainier I took a wrong turn at one point and almost walked off a cliff.
Second: Objective Hazard. Objective hazard is risks that cannot be reasonably mitigated. Things like rockfall where a rock breaks off and falls on your head at random, or unpredictable avalanches. Mt Rainier as well has an area called the bowling alley known for its rockfall. The humans are the pins. Rainier also has an area called the icebox where cornices break off and fall into the climbing route. In 1981 the icebox killed 11 people in one day. Those climbers did everything right, but were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mountaineering is not the same as other sports. It is sometimes deceptively easy, yet there are risks that simply cannot be mitigated. Any experienced mountaineer can give you a long list of friends they know that have died. That’s the case in few other sports.
Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#8[flagged]
Driving to the mountains is often more dangerous than climbing a mountain. Things change at the elite levels, but that is true for any sport.
In the context of the article, instead of your parent comment, this sounds like a weak excuse. Is driving to the Huascarán mountains (and it's ilk) more dangerous than climbing it?
Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#9[flagged]
Some folks are adrenaline junkies. Doing this stuff when you have kids though is negligence and even worse doing it when the kid already lost one parent to the activity. Fuck those parents and anyone here that's like them.
Most mountaineering is not an adrenaline fueled pursuit and many adrenaline junkies would find it’s often non-technical tactics boring. Is it an egotistical pursuit? Sure. Objectively hazardous? Yes. But distance cyclists and runners have more in common with mountaineers than base jumpers.
Re: 'I found your dad': The mystery of a missing climber
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Driving to the mountains is often more dangerous than climbing a mountain. Things change at the elite levels, but that is true for any sport.
In the context of the article, instead of your parent comment, this sounds like a weak excuse. Is driving to the Huascarán mountains (and it's ilk) more dangerous than climbing it?
Have you driven in the Andes? It is likely far more dangerous driving there. Certainly far more deaths.