update!
you say you feel like deep fried doggie squattos? you say all your clothes smell like the carpet in an elevator? you say your mother braids your hair all funny? dammit, bucko, go HERE now and read the post entitled 'Nothing Compares to 02' and get over yourself! you, like me, will laugh so hard you will pee yourself a little bit.
NOW GO!!!!!
Another group of climbers had to be rescued off Mt. Hood this week. However, unlike their counterparts back in December, this group had taken precautions. And so, even in weather conditions every bit as horrific as they were back in December, this group of amateurs was found and rescued only three days later with no loss of life.
Why?
This group carried with them a GPS rescue locator.
This device costs about 500.00. It can be rented from REI for FIVE DOLLARS.
This group was nowhere near as experienced as the group that Mt. Hood took back in December. They probably had no business up on any mountain, really. They brought a Labrador Retriver with them, for heavens' sake. But unlike their counterparts, they did realize, apparently, that
1. Winter on a mountaintop means the chance of shitty weather. This has the potential to make 2. mountainclimbing, a dangerous sport at the best of times, an even more dangerous sport. And so
2. taking reasonable precautions is a good idea.
The governer of Oregon is considering making these GPS devices mandatory for climbers statewide.
I say well done. Do it yesterday.
It's about goddamn time.
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wow. how strange that people wouldn't take this precaution normally. even if you're an expert.
ReplyDeleteum... Dur? I think it might be worth 5 bucks not to die. Or at least so that my Lab doesn't die...
I heard that the lab helped them keep warm, too. Maybe taking a dog should be mandatory!
ReplyDeleteMan, don't get me started on people who willingly climb places in snow and ice and storms and then everyone is always surprised when they fall, get hurt, put other people in danger trying to rescue them, yada yada yada...
ReplyDeleteI'm very glad this one had a happy outcome, but man.
maybe bringing a dog along to keep you warm during a snow storm should be mandatory as well. Dog deserves a metal, poor thing.
ReplyDeleteno kidding, especially since it's government resources that have to go resuce their sorry butts. i wouldn't make them mandatory, i just wouldn't bother rescuing anyone who doesn't carry one.
ReplyDeletei hope the dog lived. i really don't give a fuck about the people.
This kinda thing happens all the time in the Great White North.
ReplyDeleteThe only people who irritate me more than mountaineers are polar 'explorers'.
ReplyDeleteOr, to describe them another way, spolied jobless choppers with more money than sense.
DO NOT LEND THEM YOUR GPS
It is about time and the fact that climbers wouldn't automatically take this precaution boggles my fragile mind.
ReplyDeletePoor dog stuck with the humans when he'd rather have been home.
We have ice climbers in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteThey fall off, frequently.
I prefer messing sbout in caves.
i think it should be mandatory too. that and make sure they have those flash thingy's that tell people where you are and walky talkies and other things in case something happens. better safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteI think they should be banned , allow natural selection to do its bit , taking the terminally stoopid out of the gene pool.
ReplyDeleteIf you keep rescueing them , they will only breed and then you will have increasing numbers to rescue , year on year.
claire: there are actually people PROTESTING it. apparently they say that it will make climbers complacent and not willing to make the effort to save themselves first. sounds suspiciously like 'thats fer pussies!' thinking to me.
ReplyDeletedanator: wasn't that a GOOD DOG! but you know that he would have been the first item on the menu once the supplies had run out. better than than a soccer player, though.
pam: you know it. they think they're 'conquering the mountain' but even in the best case where they have training and experience, what they were is ALWAYS 'lucky again.' its a mountain, people.
mutha: pup got an interview on the news! he seems like the modest type.
cb: they excuse themselves by claiming that the weather was fine when they went up but it changed, or otherwise they would never have dreamed of bringing a dog. well DUH, fuckheads, its WINTER on a MOUNTAIN.
mj: i know! every year you folkses sacrifice a pilot to the aviation gods at the Airshow and a couple of skiers to the snow gods up at Quail. i think paganism is working for canada.
100: welcome! see beasts comment. kindred souls.visited your site and i envy your self discipline and skillz!
g: i think most climbers have that testosterone fueled 'man vs the mountain!' thing going on. because everyone knows how studly it is to have your complete lack of judgement televised nationwide as you get rescued off a mountain in midwinter like a dipshit.
garfy: see, i am a woods messer abouter inner. i like to see sky. caves are probably really interesting but i never make it past the point where i can still see the entrance. wuss. yeah.
pink: righteo! see, me; i don't equate 'fun' with 'immanent loss of life'. i like insurance.
beast: your arguement has merit, and i am tempted to agree. unfortuately there are those who WILL assist them, and it's them'uns that i worry about most. i might need rescuing too someday. always getting my head caught in between the rails on the stairway, stuck up a tree, down a sewer grate after a penny....yeah.
How very kind of you..holy affirmation Batman!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't these f*cking people have to pay for the millions of dollars that it costs to rescue their stupid asses???
They should atleast have to buy some outrageously priced insurance from Lloyds of Frickin London!
oooh..and how f*cking etarded-ray do you have to be to bring your gawddam dog?!
I know exactly where that GPS should be implanted.