In Canyonlands National Park, Utah, there’s an arch on top of a cliff where you can get a great view of the scenery off to the east and if you’re brave you can get fairly close to the top of a sheer drop of about 1500 feet. Or if you’re nuts you can clamber around on top of this arch and take selfies. This is what we saw when we visited it around Easter 2015. I was seriously afraid for the safety of a couple of young men, if they had looked down and gotten vertigo, they could have fallen to their deaths.
Meanwhile, at Mount Washington NH, at the base of the four mile hiking trail to the summit, there’s a display showing how 120 people met their demise over the last century. Almost every one of them was hiking in late November or early spring, and no doubt ran into a mountain blizzard. But there’s ten feet of snow up there in the winter and it has a reputation for being the windiest place in the country, so you know, how can that really be an “accident?”
I have always taken issue with people who get themselves in a tight spot because they went out climbing or hiking and either took on something they weren’t prepared or skilled enough for, or didn’t foresee weather conditions when they should have, and end up having to be rescued.
Especially mountain climbers. They should bear the cost of their rescue, because they SHOULD be prepared. Hikers can just be ignorant or unprepared people, but climbers should have their act together.
I am undecided with sailors who get in trouble, because even the best and most prepared sailors have had conditions go south on them on the ocean. It can be an unforgiving environment.