Death defying feats, bragging rights, peacock feathers
first off, sad to hear about someone else's tragedy. every person is someone's child.
secondly, there are the simplest of every day lessons to learn, probably already covered: avoid hiking in ovens, drink plenty of water, keep an eye on companions and encourage eachother to drink water and eat enough calories, etc. etc.
I wish to delve a little deeper, perhaps some wild speculations, so caveat emptor... but i'll try to limit my guesses to myself, and whether or not anyone else can identify with me will be completely up to you.
there was something about the advertizing for the survival school saying "find the destination is really yourself". "find out what you're made of" seems to be a common theme of adventure programs - and there are many different levels of risk, from reasonable and measured to who-knows-what out there. reminds me of "Temet Nosce", "know thyself" in The Matrix.
there are many ways to learn to know thyself: listening to family, friends, loved ones reflect back to you things which you might not be able to see in yourself. therapy, 12 step programs, religion, meditation might all be approaches to understand one's own motivations, expectations, fears, strengths, weaknesses etc. These opportunities for social interaction and subsequent reflection could occur in events centered around outdoor adventure, with varying levels of risk. or they could occur in a quiet museum indoors... I believe that the external goings-on are not as important as the listening and other stuff which happens inside.
a couple broad theories about motivation for ALL human behavior:
1) economists: most people make most of their decisions based on self interest. greed, period. it is only competition, the "invisible hand" which restrains this greed.
2) psychology / social biology: 'survival of the fittest' in context of a social animal will involve displays of ability to produce offspring and provide for them...
eventually, directly or indirectly, it's all about sex?
(signifant caveat - i'm not an economist, psychologist, or social biologist)
my guess is that it's all Contests to prove myself and come away with bragging rights.
and in order for a feat to be death-defying, someone within living memory must have died from it, so someone else has to die within the next few years for this collective
"game" to continue to work.
this has been around forever:
if i recall correctly, climbing the Eiger in Switzerland in the 1930s became a death-cult.
more locally, an average of 1 or 2 deaths every decade jumping into Quincy Quarries (MA, until it was filled?).
I jumped (and rock climbed) there in the 80s, from the over-hang, where you absolutely could not help but hit the water, and only after watching dozens of others not hit anything under the surface.
but of course someone has to push it up to the next level, like Russian Roulette. (I think the fatalities occured when some guys had to take a running start off tippy boulders located back far from the edge, and some boulders followed them in, or they didn't clear the rocks below).
and like a writer for a Yankee magazine article on the Quincy Quarry deaths pointed out way back when- it's not the Quarry that's the hazard,
it's the risk-taking competitive behavior of young men that's the enduring "problem". If it wasn't the Quarry, or the BOSS desert march, or Ice Climbing Huntington Ravine, or joinging the Marines, it would be something else... where death is a significant possibility.
it's kind of neat in a way to trip over hidden motivations. it's unnerving to discover self-delusion. shallow comfort to point it out in others. i know i still pay for my "education" which finally yielded a self-awareness of denial.
on a lighter note, I can admit that i got my 4000 footer patches like Peacock feathers - it's a display. within the right group (hikers) it points to something that we have in common, and yet says I'm fitter than many...
so... my tent or yours?
of course, guessing about ultimate motives does NOT detract from the adventure of Quarry jumping, or ice climbing, or bushwacking...
one relief the self-awareness has given me though is that I do not have to labor under the illusions of "MORE". even if i win this competition, there will always be MORE competition, more prestige, more money, etc.
If i have to move 10 feet from where I am right now to be happy, I never will be. (Tim Hansel). (other words to ponder besides happiness might be: contentment, satisfaction, and serenity).
somehow I can get "it": that the Joy is IN the Journey. sure, goals can get me started, but is the peakbagging list serving me, or was I serving it?