Journal
Rocky Mountain Rescue was busy on Saturday evening. The first call came at 6 pm for stuck climbers on Redgarden Wall in Eldorado Springs State Park. The second call came at 7:30 pm for climbers stuck on the Third Flatiron. You can read the news story here as well as comments that follow the story. In both cases, climbers called for help after being caught in the rain after dark.
The comments at the bottom of the story show two kind of common attitudes about this kind of rescue. One attitude is that these were bonehead climbers getting themselves into a completely avoidable situation and then asking for help. The thinking is that the climbers should be “billed” and ridiculed for doing this. The other attitude is that this kind of rescue is essentially business as usual and these climbers are no more or less deserving of rescue than any other.
It turns out the second attitude is more informed and fair. There are several points to consider.
1) You never know the entire story of how a climber gets into a situation where they need rescue. It could be ignorance and stupidity (late start, no contingency plan) or it could be something out of their control (equipment problem or helping other climbers). Usually it is more or less of each of these that necessitates a rescue.
2) You never know the entire story because media reports are notoriously inaccurate. My guess is that most reporters are so far removed from what actually takes place while climbing that they have to assume a lot. That, plus the fact that reporters are never actually at the remote climbing location to see for themselves what is going on, it’s almost impossible to get the story right.
3) We are only human and make mistakes, and shit happens. The best climbers in the world have done stupid things and gotten into trouble and the worst climbers have gotten away with murder. But the bottom line is, what difference does it make how they got into trouble? Does society really want to see someone die or get severely injured because they were reluctant to ask for help?
4) Rescuers want to rescue. They perform a highly specialized and necessary service to the community, but it’s also something each and every one of them is eager to perform. This isn’t to say that volunteer rescuers want to be overworked with unnecessary missions, but they are more than happy to perform rescues when asked. Mountain rescuers have seen many more situations than anyone else and are the least judgmental about them.
5) Rescuers are specifically trained to not endanger themselves. The argument is always made that it is irresponsible to endanger others so that you can be rescued. But this is almost never the case. It sure appears to be a highly dangerous vocation, I mean, here is a rescuer going to get someone who is in a dangerous situation. How can it be that the rescuer is safe? It’s because specialized techniques, extensive training and strict safety rules keep rescuers safe. There are of course exceptions where a rescuer will be in a very dangerous position, but this is rare.
You can read more about these issues and gain insights into what motivates a rescuer in Playing for Real.
Posted in Journal by Mark with 3 comments.
Doesn’t look like my comment will be published either (like my email).
Certainly its better for climbers in distress to call for help quickly than to get themselves hurt or freeze overnight. That said, there are some things climbers can do to reduce their chances of getting stuck and needing help. Number one, is bring a head lamp. Number two, if you are going multi-pitch climbing, learn the skills and carry the gear to ascend a rope. Having these simple things at the ready will avoid many stuck climber scenarios. That said, harder to say whether those preparations would have kept any of those folks out of trouble Saturday night.
Dave,
I just needed to approve your first comment, the rest should appear in real time.
Possibly of interest at some point:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19731203&id=WFItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v9kFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4301,547989