I think you said it,,you called us your "fellow taxpayers",,most of us think we are your brothers and sisters, fellow humans. We don't see you as our fellow taxpayer when you are lost in a snowstorm on a mountain in danger of freezing, dying or starving.
Not everything is about "tax paying". I keep reading remarks about how "expensive" it is to climb. There is alot of simple miserliness here. When lives are at stake even from people's own actions, we don't generally add up the cost to make a decision about rescue, treatemtn, etc. We just do it.
You said -- "We are talking about adventurist that did a stupid thing."
Actually, people in Oregon, according to what I've seen and heard and talked about, don't consider climbing Mt. Hood a stupid thing -- not even in the winter.
Being unprepared to do it, according to the season and the conditions would be stupid. But, these guys look like they were prepared and very well trained. So, the people in Oregon would not hold it against them. We know how the weather can change on a dime.
And a majority of those rescuers are out there, *themselves* doing the very same things, enjoying the outdoors in Oregon. So, I don't think that sentiment goes very far in Oregon (although it may in the sheltered "big city").
Regards,
Star Traveler
Don't be ridiculous..
Tell that to the Kim family. Better yet, tell that to the Hugh Glass', Joseph Walkers, 'Broken Hand' Tom Fitzpatricks, Jedediah Smiths, or any of the other Mountain Men who opened the West to American expansion. Doggone, tell it to Lewis & Clark, or President Thomas Jefferson, who sent their expedition. In their era what they did was considered stupid and hazardous. With your logic we'd all be better off had they not heeded their call. What they did was ridiculous.
If I want to climb a high mountain in mid December without a support team at the base, and without adequate communications, should I expect the tax payers to save my sorry ass?
This fits all those I mentioned above. And no, the government didn't 'save their sorry ass'. But without them America arguably wouldn't be the same. No, those today who adventure into the mountains, test themselves in inclement weather, and, perhaps, commit unsaveable error don't do it for the same reasons, or with the same historical outcome, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't 'save their sorry ass'. It's called caring for our human family. Some day someone may 'save your sorry ass'. I pray they're successful.