BlackSpruce
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Even though I think the ADKHP website winter gathering serves a worthy cause (and great for the local economy), one cannot deny that it unduly pressures inexperienced climbers to exceed their limits by pushing them to reach the true summit of one of the 46 Peaks on a specific winter day. In my humble opinion, this is misguided not to say completely foolish. For many of the participants, this event is an opportunity to bag a peak on their list while in the company of others, and some are teamed with a more experienced climber who is usually working on some kind of list as well. There is nothing wrong with that. That is, not until it is time to turn back and the little inner voice keeps saying: “don’t be the one failure of the day in letting the group down by not reaching the peak”. And this is obvious the months before the event when climbers are overtly pressured to participate and the day after the event when compiling the attained summits is of great importance. Peer pressure causes each of us to make a stupid decision at some point in our lives, this is human nature.
Having completed a handful of winter rounds of the 46, often using a GPS, I fully agree with Doug Paul: “Pushing one's limits is essential to learning. Without it, we become static and won't progress. Mountaineering is not an amusement park (a place where the events are engineered to look dangerous but in reality are very safe), the risks are real. Pushing one's limits increases the risk that one will fail, possibly with serious consequences. One can also fail with serious consequences while staying within one's limits.” Nevertheless when I read reports of a group leader terrorized by spruce traps, of climbers complaining about the lack of trail markers on herdpaths and even about the snow being too deep, my initial reaction is a chuckle. But then I quickly realize that I would not have wanted to be the one to have encouraged such individuals to reach a peak no matter what, as it is their toes and fingers that I would have put on the line.
And what of the responsibility for the safety of the participants? It rests solely on the Forest Rangers and to a lesser extent on other climbers who happen to be on the same mountain (and I speak from my own experiences).
***Here is the link to the 46-Rs winter hiking pamphlet:
http://www.adk46r.org/winter_hiking.pdf
Having completed a handful of winter rounds of the 46, often using a GPS, I fully agree with Doug Paul: “Pushing one's limits is essential to learning. Without it, we become static and won't progress. Mountaineering is not an amusement park (a place where the events are engineered to look dangerous but in reality are very safe), the risks are real. Pushing one's limits increases the risk that one will fail, possibly with serious consequences. One can also fail with serious consequences while staying within one's limits.” Nevertheless when I read reports of a group leader terrorized by spruce traps, of climbers complaining about the lack of trail markers on herdpaths and even about the snow being too deep, my initial reaction is a chuckle. But then I quickly realize that I would not have wanted to be the one to have encouraged such individuals to reach a peak no matter what, as it is their toes and fingers that I would have put on the line.
And what of the responsibility for the safety of the participants? It rests solely on the Forest Rangers and to a lesser extent on other climbers who happen to be on the same mountain (and I speak from my own experiences).
***Here is the link to the 46-Rs winter hiking pamphlet:
http://www.adk46r.org/winter_hiking.pdf
Did I miss something ? Was someone lost or injured on the 12th ? The Ark was filled with, probably, the most experienced group of winter hikers I've ever encountered. Your post smacks of elitism, IMHO. The first 3 times I summitted Marcy in the winter in the 70's was in leather boots, homemade gators, jeans and cotton long johns. I'm pretty sure I survived.
