Is it that some guys have too much testosterone and not enough brain cells?

I would like to think that we can ponder tragic situations of this type without dissing the unfortunate participants.

For some reason I still hold this seemingly misguided notion that ETS is a civilized corner of the internet and yet consistently posters her seem to thrive off of denigrating anyone who is unprepared or makes bad decisions. For that matter, it seems like dying in the wild is enough to bring down the vitriol of some, regardless of the evidence (or lack there of) of their personal culpability in causing the personal disaster; assumptions and caricatures often suffice in these cases.

Like you, I thought the point of bringing up these cases was to learn from these situations so that we can manage risk better, keeping ourselves and those we are with safer. Kicking people when they are down is not only crass, but it does nothing in achieving this goal.

It's also worth keeping in mind that it's really easy for the friends & family of people involved with the incidents we discuss to stumble across Doug's site.

I've sent 4 or 5 people here who really could learn quite a bit, too. However, 2 of them said they would never return. One woman said too many here are unforgiving of mistakes, and a gentleman called it a site for "self-aggrandizing narcissists" after reading some vitriolic comments. Ouch!