Re: Mt Cook: Does reaching summit outweigh risks?
Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 9:32 pmIt doesn't outweigh the risks under certain circumstances, and that is the judgement that climbers have to make.
The higher the skill level and experience, the better able they are to make that judgement correctly (perhaps barring mental impairment from hypoxia, or oedema etc.).
Should the objective danger of weetbix crumbling because of warming conditions be taken more seriously? Perhaps. Should non-climbing journalists make unsubstantiated claims that a particular climber made a reckless call in this regard? No.
They'd do more public good by making sensationalist claims about the dangers of smoking and road safety issues - both of which kill far more people than mountaineering does.
The higher the skill level and experience, the better able they are to make that judgement correctly (perhaps barring mental impairment from hypoxia, or oedema etc.).
Should the objective danger of weetbix crumbling because of warming conditions be taken more seriously? Perhaps. Should non-climbing journalists make unsubstantiated claims that a particular climber made a reckless call in this regard? No.
They'd do more public good by making sensationalist claims about the dangers of smoking and road safety issues - both of which kill far more people than mountaineering does.