You Can't Legislate Stupidity

With the recent events on Mount Hood, a thought comes back to me that is discussed every year where I grew up. What to do about recreational adventurers who get themselves stuck in precarious life threatening situations?

Every year climbers go up Mt. McKinley trying to reach the highest point on North America, and every year people get 'stuck' there. High Altitude Rescue Teams HART teams go and recover them, much to their own risk. Also at great cost to the taxpayers. I'd hope the climbers on Mt. Hood will give great big thank you to Oregon taxpayers, but they probably won't.

It happens with alot of the 'alternative' sports; the rock climbers and back country skiers and the like. Even the most prepared of adventurers can find themselves in dire straights. And when they fix themselves in a helpless situation, there are dedicated professionals that come to their rescue. Those dedicated professionals are paid for by all of the taxpayers in most circumstances. That doesn't seem right.

How about this......you go into the mountains, have a great time for a few days. Then a giant storm hits that you didn't know about because you didn't thoroughly research the forecast. So you are trapped. In the middle of the storm, a helicopter lifts you out to safety. You land at the rescue base camp and are checked out by physicians.

Then the director of the rescue effort expresses his joy at your well being, and hands you a bill for the $75,000 it cost to rescue you and your buddy.

Seems fair to me, and would probably ensure that people traveling in the back country are actually prepared to meet with unforeseen hardships. It might even deter some of those who shouldn't be going out there in the first place.

Now we have legislation introduced that would require climbers to carry locator beacons. Seasoned mountaineers in the Mt. Hood area are against it, saying it would predispose those who are in tight situations to wait for rescue instead of trying to help themselves and improve their circumstances. It would be like a false crutch I guess.

There are also "naturalists" that, while conceding the advantages to rescue crews, also argue that a requirement to carry locator beacons would be an infringement of their ability to freely pursue their sport without undue interference from the government. I guess they would also say the government shouldn't have interfered on Mt. Hood.