[HairOfTheDog]

There is a big difference between emergency personnel and the climbers.

No. They're the same guys. Where do you find really experienced climbers and outdoorsmen who can become qualified rescuers? The chess club?

If there's a big difference here, it's between how much I respect the rescuers and adventurers and how little I respect those who sit at their keyboards and whine about the money.

[Man50D]

No. They're the same guys. Where do you find really experienced climbers and outdoorsmen who can become qualified rescuers? The chess club?

You need to focus. This premise of this thread is about three mountain climbers who are not emergency personnel. The motivation of the thrill of any emergency personnel occupation is to save lives and not simply to have fun. The motivation for the three mountain climbers was to fulfill a recreational need that in the process has created a dangerous situation for many lives.