[Another] Rescue Effort Under Way on Mount Rainier

AP ^ | 6/3/04

[tbird5]

Do these guys have to pay for rescue? They should.

[Mears]

I agree. If you want to take chances,fine,but don't expect someone else to risk their lives to save you unless you are willing to pay for it.

[Spok]

You gotta love those Seattlites! If they're not swilling Starbuck's or campaigning to promote buggery, they're getting lost on a mountain! (Steve and Trapped excepted, of course.)

[Steve_Seattle]

Mountain rescue efforts, like whale stories, always get front-page news in Seattle above and beyond their newsworthiness. .

[Steve_Seattle]

Actually, I was lost in the wilderness once, but found my way out with my map before I became a news story. lol

[11th Earl of Mar]

I agree. Maybe accomplished by a fee for all the climbers to pay when they get a climbing permit.

Otherwise, the money might be really hard to collect. It would be really hard to ask last month's widow to pay for the rescue attempt on her dead husband.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Time to start leaving these guys where they get themselves stuck. Let them contract in advance with a private rescue company for these services if they want them. Tax dollars and public employees aren't supposed to be providing support services for daredevil recreational activities.

[randog]

Do these guys have to pay for rescue? They should.

Hey, if you were in a car wreck would you have to pay for the paramedic that saved your life?

Oh, yeah, I guess you would...

[jra]

That's one of the worst analogies I've ever read.

Wreck while commuting to work = mishap while on mountain climbing vacation?

S-T-R-E-T-C-H . . .

[Axenolith]

Freepers are never lost, merely "temporarily disoriented"...

[Nurse Ratched]

Everybody is a mountaineer these days. geesh

[dirtboy]

I helped carry a climber off Ranier back in 1991. Couldn't for the life of me figure out how he managed to injure himself at about 9,000 feet on a moderately-sloping snow field, but a lot of people don't know how to walk on snow slopes or how to stop themselves if they do fall and start sliding (i.e. a fingernail self-arrest).

I was hiking nearby and offered to help carry the litter. The rangers intially blew me off, but after a quarter-mile suddenly became interested in my help - it's quite a load carrying a dead weight off a mountain.

[randog]

Wreck while commuting to work = mishap while on mountain climbing vacation?

Ok, you wreck WHILE DRIVING ON VACATION. How about you wreck WHILE DRIVING ON VACATION IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Christ...

[randog]

Evidently the #1 font size html tag was a really bad idea. My attempt at sarcasm has failed....badly.

Nevermind....please.

[schu]

FYI, Mount Rainier started a program in the mid 1990’s where climbers pay a fee to climb. It will cost 2 friends and I $110 to climb the mountain this summer, $20 for registration and $30 for climbing permit each. Note that the climbing permit can be used for multiple climbs in the year and I believe part of the fees are used to fund rescues.

[Delmont]

I spend a lot of my time riding my old Mule "Rastas" up in that area near there, the Pacific Crest Trail is a stones throw away. I am glad to see the Oregon National Guard in this, Washington folks shouldn't have to bear all the burden for idiot sticks who get stuck.

[conservative cat]

You gotta love those Seattlites!

The climbers last month were from Connecticut, I believe.

[schu]

If I am not mistaken, I think that most of the rescues $$ resources originate from local rescues, park climbing rangers, military copters or RMI folks. My guess is that much of the funding is from national sources, not local sources. These are opinions only.

That said, the outdoors is wonderful, but dangerous. It does not bother me to pay a small amount so that if I ever get in trouble they’ll come help. Note that having been on over 200 hiking, camping and climbing outings, I have never used these resources, but am glad for those who make themselves available when/if ever needed.