Clearing up the Mount Hood situation [View All]

[Donkeyboy75]

Climbing has risks; all climbers know this. These guys did NOT go up thinking "Oh well, if we fuck up, the taxpayers and SAR will bail us out."

Facts:

1) The climbers did NOT knowing go into an exceptionally dangerous situation. They left Thursday, when weather reports did not indicate dangerous conditions.

2) Taxpayers foot little of the bill for SAR efforts. These are often supported privately, and the rescuers themselves are volunteers. Why?

3) Taxpayers do foot some of the bill. Rescue work does give the national guard and mountain divisions of our military good "real-world" training during these efforts.

4) These climbers sought to limit risk as much as possible. They made rangers aware of their specific plans and were fully trained for their climb.

5) The route these climbers took is actually MORE unsafe in the summer due to falling rock and unstable snow conditions.

I'm sorry for those of you out there who are more worried about their purse strings than the fate of these three guys.