- Why this matters, beyond perhaps encouraging examination of our high-risk mountain pursuits, is that how we treat mountain death depends on our perspective on all of the above. I don’t think many of us are truly honest about our relationship with, or closeness to, death in the mountains. Me, I’m with Reinhold Messner, who doesn’t get the credit he deserves for saying: “Mountains are not fair or unfair, they are just dangerous.”
There's no shortage of days of the year where I could die because shit happens. Know of two people whom I've met, not particularly close with but could put a face and voice with the obituary, die last year. Friend lost a close friend in a freak climbing accident (see...) a few years back.
An acquaintance had a fall last weekend. She hasn't shared full details and I don't know her well enough to pry, but I think she slipped on icy trail and slid some distance. She said her shoulder is sore but otherwise ok. The only scare I've had was deliberately sliding a bit and having it go out of control. A tree brought me to a stop. I took a hard hit to my thigh, probably a best case scenario. I don't mountain climb, though my mountain hikes are littered with slightly sketchy spots. A couple years ago someone got hurt between Basin and Saddleback in the Adirondacks, and it took them 40 hours to get him out. There's an infamous steep stretch there I've refused to go up, particularly because I'm mostly alone. Probably the riskiest thing I do is open water swim. One died in a race here this year. In 2019 three died in eight days in races. I've done each of those events. Someone died in a race in Augusta this summer. Actually, the riskiest thing I probably do is ride a bike, especially if it's risk multiplied by duration. But I think it's scarier to hide from risk. Manage it, reduce it as much as possible (satellite communicator hiking, buoy for floating and visibility swimming, and helmet and light biking), but I feel like it's more important to accept some risk than to try to avoid it all. How much risk will be up to the individual.