Hey Mohave ! Keeping well I hope. (I was on the Colorado for a few minutes last Monday. La Paz.)
2016 I bought a 3 month policy for helicopter evac. I do not remember where, name or how, so you would have to do the research. It is available. Medical helicopter evac has gotten to be big business, and frighteningly expensive. My nephew is an air EMT/nurse. Most insurances do not cover he flight charge, 50k to 150k County, state, emergency flights are often unpaid, but at auto accidents sometimes two or more choppers show up, The new ambulances chasers are the ambulance for profit.
I go there, knowing the risks, and accepting them. I have shared campsites with bear, elk, moose, horses, wolves, coyotes, rattlesnake, scorpion, bobcat and cougar. The cougars have scared me. I know I am on their dinner invite list. The weather and the water are sometimes killing cold. I would FAR rather die in the wilderness than in a hospital bed. My job is to relish this heaven as many days as I can.
Imagine: Laying in the shade of a tree 50 miles from the nearest light bulb, birds above, paperback book to read, canoe beached, or sleeping cowboy at 6,500 feet, warm as the sun comes up, only eyes and nose poking out. Heaven is here.
Truth, you cannot save a life by being āsafeā all the time. I choose to spend my life. I suspect, Roma was out there for the same reasons.
Sometimes we must face risks to truly feel alive.
I really donāt plan on dying in a hospital and the problem is that once you go in, often you can never get out. That means one has to think everything through very carefully. Iām still haunted by the people that had Covid and said their goodbyes to families and soulmates on IPads.
I guess Iām off the reservation at this point.
Years ago, I flew with critical patients from the Caribbean islands back to Jackson Memorial in Miami or San Juan. It was usually tourists having moped accidents with head injuries or old people put off cruise ships and left on some dock on an island nation. The company I worked for demanded 20 k up front in a cashiers check before transporting them. Point being, it was somewhat true even back then. Itās surprising to me how little people that take cruises realize about what happens if they have a problem like chest pain.
Never been on a cruise and donāt plan to go . Iāve got several lakes and bays close by and can cruise anytime I want.
Nobody with common sense climbs the White mountains solo in winter when the forecast calls for high winds, single digit temps, and snow. He attempted the Pemi loop, which is 31 mile trail with 8 summits. Very strong hikers can do it in a day in summer, most take 2-3 days. He planned for a day hike in winter, packed light, didnāt bring snowshoes, or a PLB, or equipment and supplies to survive overnight if he couldnāt make it out. Christopher Roma was stupid and left his 2 year old son fatherless.
Bad judgment trumps experience.
I cannot disagree with your final statements. I AM a bit different, but it is proving hard to explain. I absolutely do not go into the wild places to challenge them, challenge myself. I go because it feels good, it is there I relax. My blood pressure goes way down. I eat bad food, my ācookingā ??? Awful what I eat. Cliff bars apples and oranges, and canned stuff little better than dog food. I absolutely do not try to cover 31 miles with 12,000 feet of vertical in a day. Nope. I am the lazy sot camped along the river or well off the trail, basking in the sun or reclined in the shade reading. I have spent entire days watching ants, learning how they find food, leave a trail, muster the numbers required to move the crumb I placed. Watching a bald eagle nest building, talonning a fish from the river on the fly. I am where I belong. I travel with my own self rescue, repair gear. I have traveled with the park rangers when it became a clear choice of would they be hauling me out warm or cold because of failed gear, unrepairable. Even that, I just waited for the next scheduled tour to ride out.
I am a lazy sot 11 days to cover a length others do in three days, because, they have a one week vacation and must be back to work on Monday. What a waste.
āā¦a lot of time people who donāt climb mountains assume it is about this great heroic sprint for the summit. And somehow this great ego-driven ambition. But actually itās the reverse. Itās about supplication and sacrifice and humility, when you go to these mountains. Itās not so much a celebration of oneself but the eradication of oneās self consciousness. And so on these walks you lose yourself, you become a vessel of energy in harmony hopefully with your environment.ā ~ Julian Sands
Another practiced outdoorsman who was lost climbing Mt. Baldy when the weather turned bad, although the cause of death could not be determined.
This rescueeās attitude is rare:
-sing
Mature, thoughtful, accepts responsibility for his actions, doesnāt place blame elsewhere, doesnāt expect someone else to pick up the tab. Refreshing to see such honesty.
When conditions become too much:
-sing
At least they were geared up and had purchased Hike Safe cards to cover the rescue. However, what they did is still amazingly dumb.
I donāt understand why this has become such a regular occurrence in recent years. When I moved to NH almost 25 years ago, it used to be that only very serious climbers training for Denali, Everest, etc. would try to climb the Presidential range in the middle of winter.
My opinion expressed early on in this thread is that the greater availability of cell phones, GPS, and PLBs have allowed some to use backup communications capability to go out without optimal skills, conditioning, training and appropriate equipment. Back in 80s and 90s, I used to regularly backpack solo in the White Mountains (a cheap vacation for me) in the āshoulder seasonsā of May and October (to avoid seeing too many people out there). Once I went in, there was no communications. I had to rely on (AMC) maps and compass, the appropriate equipment (including snowshoes), and always several days of extra food and fuel (in case I get weathered in). But, if the weather forecast calls for any chance of strong precipitation and winds, I donāt bother going above tree line (where the trail often gets ālostā). For me, winter camping was a low altitude backwoods excursion and not a alpine adventure. There was much room for mistakes and the possibility of immediate rescue in those days.
Yes, winter mountaineering used to be in the province of a select few adventurers. We now have increasing numbers of people āsumittingā Everest in a given year. The factors are the availability of better equipment and, more importantly, Sherpas for hire and oxygen.
-sing
My husband got into mountaineering fairly late and went with some other Marines to Rainier.
Some people just like to challenge themselves.
You never know anyoneās unique story (possibility of ending up in the mountains in Afghanistan, etc) so what one person thinks is dumb might not be.
I have nothing against that. Given stuff and injuries sustained in my life , I am probably in that category of risk takers. But, if I screw up because of bad prep and/or judgement, I am willing to pay for it.
I donāt, just as no one knows mine either. If I end up in a headline, there will be plenty of others who will make that judgement regardless. Also goes with the territory when one pursues something remotely dangerous and puts one in harmās way.
-sing
Better than dying in your easy chair or a hospital/ old folks home.
My husband pays his taxes and has gone to war five times and would risk his life to save anyone so I guess I just feel he should be rescued if he needed
It.
Saying somebody should pay for it when we donāt do that for the obese or drug addicts or anyone else in society sort of offends me especially post Covid.
Iām all for being responsible and did not use our Tri Care medical benefit for 24 years so if I want to be rescued, I do not think itās asking too much
We are all generally aware if we are pulling the cart or riding in it at others expense, and itās a much bigger picture than making one bad calculation on a hike or an adventure.
Generally, I am not for fracturing society by dividing people into groups of who deserves rescue and who doesnāt because of the sanctity of human life.
Itās an interesting and stimulating conversation though.
These people are billed for medical and emergency care. However, some of these people simply do not have the money or can afford the insurance to pay these bills. We donāt have debtorsā prisons anymore and bankruptcy laws limit what can be liquidated to pay medical bills.
Regarding rescues, Iām sort of neutral on the subject. How stupid or incompetent does a person have to be before they are charged. At present, local jurisdictions seem to make the rules. Some never charge, some always charge, and others make a case by case decision.
Next time I do something stoopid , Iāll make sure Iām in a jurisdiction that wonāt charge for the rescue.