Hiker killed in Trap Dike

This is really too bad. Sounds like a good kid. RIP

The victim’s father, Mark Potel, said his son slipped while trying to help a fellow student up the dike,

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Good man, maybe a saint now.

While gearing up at the LOJ to climb the TD 4 years ago a ranger approached asking where I was heading. I told her I was climbing the Dike and descending the south slide. After a brief discussion about the wet conditions she wished me a good day.

It had rained the previous 3 days and I had no expectations of completing this climb. As it turned out I completed my itinerary without incident although the crux of the Dike was definitely sketchy.

I wonder, in light of this death, if the rangers will step up their screening of hikers by profiling inexperienced individuals/groups for added attention.

I like what his mom said...“But I know Matt would have said, ‘You don’t interfere with nature. You just leave nature the way it is and deal with it.’ ”

This is a real tragedy. My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Yes, it's an unacceptable tragedy for the parents. The what ifs will be with them forever and no explanation will or can ease the unbearable pain.

BlackSpruce said:

"The trail actually had been closed up to a week before the hike. Then they opened it again, unfortunately -- because it was much more treacherous than usual.”

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Christine, I realize this is not your comment, but what do you think the point of the quote is?

The TD is not an official trail. It's a climbing route. Were climbing routes closed as well during this time?

When several of the wilderness areas were closed no one was supposed to be anywhere on the mountains including the Trap Dike of course.

This past month I am sure Tom that as I did, you did not fail to notice some sort of peer pressure to be the first to climb the new slides and name them. Myself the last few years I have gotten into trouble and laugh at regularly while promoting safety in the mountains. In the present case I do not believe DEC and the Rangers bear any responsibilities and it is natural parents search for a plausible explanation. I personally believe the culprit is peer pressure and the competitiveness spirit which has invaded even leisure sports activities like climbing the 46 the last decade!

Then they opened it again, unfortunately -- because it was much more treacherous than usual

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The NY Post, being the tabloid rag that it is, loves sensationalism, and taking things out of context by clipping quotes like this to do so is par for the course. Probably not the best media source to go to on this, IMO.

My condolences to Matthew's family and friends.

BlackSpruce said:

Hiker dies a hero

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/hiker_dies_hero_Zh2g3YSkvRBhI7umA2gwuO
”

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Christine, Thanks for sharing the article.

Tim Seaver said:

The NY Post, being the tabloid rag that it is, loves sensationalism, and taking things out of context by clipping quotes like this to do so is par for the course. Probably not the best media source to go to on this, IMO.

My condolences to Matthew's family and friends.

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Everyone who reads this article should take it with a grain of salt. Anyone who has lived near NYC realizes what a complete rag this publication is.

All articles have basically the same information as the New York Post and in this case was completely respectful of the family tragedy.



Tim,

All of the last six months regarding a wellknown case the NYP to my surprise was regularly quoted in Le Monde, Liberation and Le Figaro! Cable news have lead a new trend regarding news sources! Nowadays it often seems only newspapers like the Post and the likes can afford ($) to go after the news...

I think the article was respectful to the families, but struck me that it was written by someone with absolutely no idea of the setting. They were trying to get "across" a "gorge" which was still filled with water from Irene (which happened five weeks earlier)? Really?

BlackSpruce said:

I personally believe the culprit is peer pressure and the competitiveness spirit which has invaded even leisure sports activities like climbing the 46 the last decade!

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IMHO I believe you are spot on here. It's everywhere you look.

I keep hoping that no kids go out and kill themselves trying to emulate Alex H's free climbs. It's just more of the same.

but struck me that it was written by someone with absolutely no idea of the setting

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You'll notice this any time the press covers anything you know anything about. It's amazing how far off-target most news coverage is, most of the time.

But back to the issue at hand -- yes, it's terrible. It's a dangerous place. I don't know that competition, exactly, contributed to this, but the popularity of these tough, mystique-shrouded routes has certainly increased.

People are going to say the things they are going to say and there's nothing anyone can do about it. The bottom line is that a young man died and was denied his future. Sad story.

Just as a small point, the Trap Dike isn't really a hike. To characterize it as such - even in the spirit of English understatement - denies the nature of the route. People don't die from falls on "hikes."

RIP.

More details about the rescue in the following Press Republican article:

http://pressrepublican.com/new_toda...worked-at-Paul-Smiths-College-over-the-summer

Love of life leads to death

It saddened me to here of the accident that claimed the life of Mathew Potel. I have enjoyed climbing the Trap Dike a couple of times. It’s one of those places that draw people to visit in order to experience the beauty and thrill of extraordinary terrain and the close proximity of significant exposure. Experienced and inexperienced climbers and hikers alike share the risk of an inattentive moment or a minor miscalculation that ends with a feeling of cheating death and as the adrenaline subsides, what remains is a promise to be more careful in the future. I can remember many incidents in the mountains, at home as a builder or driving to a trailhead where the luck of the draw potentially saved my life. Life happens, shit happens, in and out of the mountains, the difference is, Mathew was one of the privileged ones who got to experience the beauty and grandeur of the mountains. My condolences and heartfelt sorrow goes out to Mathew’s family. It is only human to apply “what if” to all tragedies, but I’m sure, like all of us, Mathew had heard his story and knew the risks……. and choose life.

I'll say it - Where was the rope? I've been thinking about when my kids will be old enough to ascend TD and in my mind, I have always planned to bring a rope to assure their safety and confidence going up it for the first time. Ditto when I get my wife to join me on it.

It's a real consequence section of climbing and I blame, in part, our community bravado for having led people to believe that the route should be done ropeless.

Very sad story.

Chugach001 said:

It's a real consequence section of climbing and I blame, in part, our community bravado for having led people to believe that the route should be done ropeless.

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Oh boy, you have hit on 2 contentious issues discussed over the years elsewhere. Good luck to ya.