Mount Hood- A footnote

It looks like a sad end to this drama. The same storm also took 4 lives in Washington. People just living nice safe lives in a nice urban environment with manicured lawns. We don't know if they had any emergency preparations we promote that may have made any difference. And now the three. Some people argue they took an uneccessary risk. A risk of not only their own lives, but that of their rescuers. That they chose a dangerous ascent, that they took appropriate equipment, left a note is of little import. People think 'They didn't have to go.' But what people forget, or shamefully never knew, is the 10th Mountain Division in this search WAS FIRST FORMED largely by recreational mountaineers during WW2 and the critical need for their knowledge pushing up the italian boot. Men like David Brower, future leader of the same Sierra Club that largely promoted ascents, including Mount Hood in the 1930s. What happened is of course tragic. A greater tragedy would be for humanity to sit at home, nice and safe like the other 4 victims.

Here Here!
Let's hear it for the original 10th MTN boys; they helped kick butt on Hitler and after it was all done they came home and opened all of the great ski areas here in the US.
If not for mountaineering the 10th Mtn would not have had their influence on the outcome of WWII.

Well said Chris! I always look at climbing, parachuting, SCUBA diving as controlled sports, sort of like driving to work everyday. You are in control as long as nothing else goes wrong, outside of your control.
Besides, unless you live your dreams, you never really lived at all.

Footnote to a footnote. The death count from this storm continues to rise. A family of four, with one more in critical condition, found dead in their home. The cause? A portable generator running in their garage. And these are not the first deaths from trying to stay warm the wrong way.

Plus another person was found dead in her pickup, smashed by a falling tree.

No telling what the final death count might be...

I don't blame them for taking chances, nor do I blame them for risking rescuers lives (they volunteer for such things).

I do question the wisdom of taking unnecessary risks if you are also responsible for a family and children. I don't know if those men had kids or not, but if so, they are now without fathers to provide for them.

I am all for living life to it's fullest, and taking risks where practical. However, once you have kids, you have a responsibility to something other than your own self-enjoyment (or whatever). The difficult part is determining when the risk is unnecessary.

A sad ending indeed.

Greg

I agree with your assesment but being ignorant of high climbing issues I don't understand why they didn't hole up together in the snow cave. Surely they were experienced enough to know help was on the way? With their equipment and knowledge shouldn't they have been able to survive?

Jon

Ditto here to your comments, NightHiker. Also (maybe off topic a bit) speaking of the 10th Mountain Division, it was said a few years back when the war in Afghanistan started that "they don't do mountains now." They just exist as a light infantry force out of Ft. Drum, NY, now recently expanded with a new additional brigade based at Fort Polk, LA under the Army's enhanced brigade restructuring program. Does anyone know if they will or have taken up climbing as a norm again?

I have a daughter, this is how I feel too, I put my daughter first, my families needs second, and myself and my needs and wants a much, much, much distant third..
My daughters mother on the other hand continues to feel that she should come first.. when her selfishness got in the way of the best interest of the family, we had problems.. we are no longer together.. I am the one careing for our daughter, after her mother abandoned us.. so much for maternal instincts.

The only thing I can think is that some people just don't get it, don't want to get it, and arn't going to get it..

Monday morning quarterbacking someting like this gets better after a few more mondays. Who can claim to know all the facts or what they were thinking? As another poster pointed out, there were valid reasons for an ascent this time of year. The one climber suffered a traumatic arm injury. Any injury under those conditions is a whole lot more serious than slipping on wet pavement outside an emergency room. His friends made the decision for a rapid descent to get help with a storm moving in. They failed.