[NittanyLion]

You also take it out of context...For you any daredevil action is fine, and you are willing to help pay for it. There is a difference in flying to the moon, and being stupid. These guys would have my support if they had set up a ground crew, or carried proper communications equipment. Usually a adventure like this has a caveat "At your own risk". This was NOT an expedition. It was a few guys that decided to hike up a mountain at a bad time. Leaving a note at some unmanned ranger post, to be found only by accident, is hardly a plan.

The plan seems appropriate considering the difficulty of the climb (a 2-3 day climb doesn't require a base camp). And the difference between flying to the moon and climbing mountains is only one of degree; ultimately both activities are a benefit to society.

Will you pay for my funeral if I drive a motorcycle into a brick wall?

No, but I'll pay for the emergency response teams who have to scrape you off the brick wall, put you in a MedEvac, fly you to the hospital, etc. That's part of the cost of living in a free society.

[AlexW]

"No, but I'll pay for the emergency response teams who have to scrape you off the brick wall"

Hey, thats great..If I get hurt doing something a bit crazy, I will just say, " Hey, no problemo..just send the bill to my pal, NittanyLion" :)))

[antisocial]

"That's part of the cost of living in a free society"

You should have said "that's part of the cost of living in a socialist society."

[Nasty McPhilthy]

“And the difference between flying to the moon and climbing mountains is only one of degree; ultimately both activities are a benefit to society.”

Don’t stop there. Elaborate on the benefits to society that we gain from yet another ascension of Mt. Hood. It’s not like it hasn’t been done before. As a matter of fact, I wish I had a crisp, new one-hundred dollar bill for each and every time it has been done. And before you blast back that it was prep for an assault on Everest, that one has been climbed a few times, too. What more can we expect to gain?

“No, but I'll pay for the emergency response teams who have to scrape you off the brick wall, put you in a MedEvac, fly you to the hospital, etc. That's part of the cost of living in a free society.”

Well, maybe. How ‘bout this one: Live Free, Die Free.