if Eric gave this topic the care it deserves, he would have realized that:
A. There was no storm when we stayed on the summit, as has been stated before. What?! No storm?! Oh the details! Here they are! There were only high and localized winds that made descending our chosen route dangerous. In light of the context of good weather where we were, a clear night, and a emergency escape route (what?! really?! I guess nothing went 'wrong' to 'trap' us up there then?!), we felt that we could wait until other safer options became viable. These winds were not forecasted and not predictable under the conditions that we ascended the mountain.
B. I called SAR for Tom, not for me. Eric seems to forget about Tom here. So blinded by the earlier false reports . . . all I can do about that after an attempt to correct them is to pity people who are so easily misled by such a by and large immoral and incompetent industry (which I say based on my ample experience with them in my two unfortunate experiences).
C. There was no storm forecasted when we left Thursday. (somehow I feel like a record here, but he seems to ignore this FACT and seems to prefer the rumor mill of the media reports). AT THE TIME WE LEFT, there was a small chance of mild weather developing late Sunday through Monday. Yes, the weather did break on us, but only after we stayed on the summit past our planned latest descent time as a result of Tom suddenly developing HACE.
D. Claiming that my failure to descend when conditions were deteriorating as a mistake is EXTREMELY judgmental, since at that time I had to choose between staying with Tom at risk to myself, or leaving him to die alone while maximizing my safety. Calling this a mistake, which Eric has done in his loose judgments in generalizing events, is incredibly sloppy for such a serious decision. Or perhaps in a similar circumstance Eric would leave his partner to die. Good for you, Eric, but I have different moral considerations than you and maybe you should consider that decision to be my business.
E. I haven't said everything publicly, there is more to be said that casts a much different light on the circumstances, and that I will be publishing a more full account on SP and please show tact and restraint and wait until all of the cards are out before casting your judgment - since that is what some of you do - Eric, you like to judge. Well, I prefer to learn, understand, and grow from experiences.
F. Eric is talking fast and loose about a very serious and tragic subject, with seemingly no concern beyond his own power trip. Let's just hope for his sake that Karma doesn't exist.
About the only theme that I see coming from Eric is either "don't climb mountains" or "don't climb mountains in winter", both of which reduce risk by completely removing a hazard. Yet the point of my article was to say why I originally chose not to do so, and why after the tragedy, I've decided to continue attempting to mitigate the hazard rather than running from it. He could have just as easily said that his tolerance for acceptable risk is not the same as mine, that we have differing ideas on what is a responsible way to deal with it and left it at that.